Clients & Profits | Remote Access Newsletter

REMOTE ACCESS Q&A

GUARANTEED GREAT IDEAS!

Remote Access Tips from Real Clients & Profits Users

These Clients & Profits users share their tips on how they work remotely:

Timbuktu Pro “Our remote users use their own internet access to a machine here on our LAN via Timbuktu Pro. It works is as if the remote user is sitting in front of a system here in the office,” says Bill Raab of Larsen Design Office, Inc. “It works slick, and is probably your best bet in many instances.”

Citrix over frame relay “We have a dedicated Frame Relay connection between each location, and those users use Citrix Metaframe. It works wonderfully. Speed is not especially wonderful (we have don’t the fastest frame in the world), but works much better than when we used to mount our C&P volume the old way,” says John O'Regan of Via Marketing. “The beauty of Citrix, of course, is that we can publish it for any user, whether they dial up through a modem or connect through a cable modem or DSL.”

Citrix and Windows NT Terminal Server “We are running Citrix Metaframe on a Windows NT 4 Terminal Server. We have been running this environment for 2.5 years and have found it provides very reliable performance for eight of our PC users. It creates a “virtual desktop” from any location, giving them e-mail, MS Office, SmartPlus media buying, etc. Users can enter time and perform other C&P functions when they are out of the office,” says John Arevalo, CFO of Versant. “The speed is good. It’s almost like being in the office.”

Windows 2000 “We tried remote access a bunch of different ways and found huge success eventually. We tried a couple of variations of remote access (e.g., ARA, VPNs, etc.) which worked ok, but were a hassle to setup and were painfully slow. We finally reached remote Nirvana with Microsoft’s Windows 2000 Terminal Server running on a dual processor Dell server. It’s very fast and simple to install and maintain,” says Troy Hickerson of Strategies. “It is actually faster than working from a PC on the LAN.”

Q. How much slower will Clients & Profits be when I work remotely?

It depends on both the speed of your office’s internet connection and your remote connection. Working on Clients & Profits via Timbuktu/PC Anywhere by modem will be half as fast as working in the office (at best). Cable/DSL connections are about 25% slower. Of course, the more money you’re willing to spend on hardware and ISPs, the faster you’ll be able to work.

Q. Is a full-time internet connection required at the office for remote access?

Yes. The office’s database needs to be available whenever a remote user wants to work.
Q. We can’t afford a high-speed internet connection, but still want to work from home. What’s best for us?
It depends on whether you need to do accounting or not. For creatives and AEs, My Clients & Profits! is the best solution since it’s optimized for low-speed internet connections, such as modems. For stay-at-home bookkeepers, Timbuktu is a better choice.

Q. Our accountant works off-site in another state. What’s the best option for connecting him with our office?

As long as only one person needs to work at one time, Timbuktu is the best solution. These remote access programs don’t require a high-speed internet connection and are

inexpensive. However, printing reports can be a problem (see page 3). Also, they won’t allow several users to work remotely at the same time.

Q. Do I need to have someone on staff dedicated to managing remote access?

No, in most cases. Setting up a remote access system and training users takes some time at first, but once it’s running it needs very little ongoing attention and maintenance.

Q. If I’m working remotely, will a dropped internet connection damage the Clients & Profits database?

No.

Q. We have two offices in different states. Can My C&P! let the two offices work together?

No. My C&P! only handles some production and creative functions, as well as time tracking. Since it’s designed for creatives, AEs, and production staffers, My C&P! doesn’t offer enough billing, accounting, or management functions that people in the remote offices typically need. To truly connect both offices, the only real solution is Clients & Profits SQL.

Q. Do we need to have an HTML expert on-staff to run My Clients & Profits?

No. My Clients & Profits! includes all needed web pages, so no programming is required. In fact, setting up the My C&P! web server isn’t any harder than setting up Clients & Profits.