CrossLoop

CrossLoop is another wonderful resource we’ve discovered …

Have you ever tried getting or giving computer help over the phone?

If you or those you are helping are not particularly “tech-savvy”, this can be problematical. It can involve confusion, mis-communication – and often a great deal of time!

Perhaps this conversation sounds familiar?

“How do you copy cells in Excel?”
“Have you got Excel open now?”
“Yes”
“Ok … go to the first cell you want to copy and click on it.”
“Ok, now what?”
“Drag your mouse to highlight all the cells you want to copy, then right-click your mouse.”
“Tried that … only the last cell is showing highlighted now”
“Did you right-click your mouse?”
“Oh …. right mouse button?”
“Yes”
“Hang on a sec ….. ok done.”
“Select ‘copy’ from the list”
“What list?”
” ….. hmmm … can you tell me exactly what you’re seeing on your screen right now?”
“The Excel page.”
“Yes, but did you right click those cells you wanted to copy? If so you should see a list of options”
“Hang on again …..Yep, got it …”

And so on ….

So many times in one of these conversations a helper has to ask “What can you see on your screen right now?” or “Can you see … ” or “What happened when you did that?” etc. And it all takes time!

You may eventually get to the solution … but the journey can at times be pretty frustrating for both of you. :)

We can highly recommend CrossLoop as a great tool that we’ve found extremely useful – and you may do too.  (We gain nothing from recommending this by the way … it’s just a program we’ve used very successfully ourselves.)

CrossLoop allows you to “see the screen and control the mouse and keyboard on a remote computer. It is as if you are working side by side at the same PC.“

Every connection session has its unique connection number code – this is generated per session, and is not saved anywhere. Just one of the features that makes CrossLoop a secure option to use. And if the helper simply needs to see the other person’s screen, and does not need to control the mouse or keyboard actions, you can select a ‘view only’ connection option – increasing security even further.

Security is an important part of any desktop sharing program, and CrossLoop does address this:

CrossLoop encrypts all files and messages exchanged on our network to ensure user privacy. Only you and your invited friends or family can view or share control of your computer. A CrossLoop session can only begin on your computer by explicitly inviting someone to begin a session. All data sent over the CrossLoop network is encrypted at the endpoints using a 128-bit Blowfish encryption.

There are paid versions available (CrossLoop Home and CrossLoop Pro) for folk who regularly provide computer help across their organisations.

However the free version is probably all that most “informal” computer helpers will need – and is all we have used ourselves so far.

It provides an individual 1:1 connection between the helper and the ‘helpee’s’ computer.

If you need computer help yourself, but don’t have a techie friend or colleague who can help, you can also tap into the wider CrossLoop community. From our reading of the site, some (possibly most) of this help is fee-based. You’ll need to explore the information yourself on their website, as this is not a service we’ve used.

For much more information on all the above, visit the CrossLoop website.