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Remote Desktop Services

Score7.7 out of 10

79 Reviews and Ratings

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What is Remote Desktop Services?

Remote Desktop Services from Microsoft is virtual desktop and remote user session technology.

Categories & Use Cases

Key Features

Learn about the best (and worst!) features Remote Desktop Services has to offer, as determined by TrustRadius' reviewers.
Based on 79 ratings of Remote Desktop Services's features
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Top Performing Features

  • Remote Active Directory® management

    Remotely unlock user accounts, reset passwords, manage Organizational Units, edit Group Policy, etc.

    Category average: 8.3

  • Screen sharing

    Allows participants to share their computer screens with others in the meeting, enabling collaborative work and presentations.

    Category average: 9.3

  • Remote management of servers & workstations

    Server reboot, start/stop services & processes, clear logs, manage disks, shares, etc. without having to initiate remote control.

    Category average: 8.6

Areas for Improvement

  • Session record

    Ability to record session for training purposes.

    Category average: 8.1

  • Access to sleeping/powered-off computers

    Remote access and troubleshooting of out-of-band computers.

    Category average: 6.5

  • Instant message

    Ability for administrator to communicate via instant message with remote user.

    Category average: 8.1

Reviews

What users are saying about Remote Desktop Services.
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Remote Desktop for simple access.

Incentivized
Scott StraderView profile
North America IT Support Manager in Information Technology at Asahi Kasei (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use remote desktop services in our organization for several different things. We use it to access remote PCs. We also use it to access a remote desktop environment with thin clients on our production floor. This allows us to have central application management for anyone to access from many different clients

Pros

  • Simple to use.
  • Easily able to configure for automatic.

Cons

  • Better option for screen visibility.
  • Option to access more than one session in the same window or switch between them.
  • Can be a little laggy at times.

Return on Investment

  • Simple access for "kiosk" users.
  • Fast connection to remote PC's.
  • Ease of IT access.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Omnissa Horizon and LogMeIn Rescue

Other Software Used

Omnissa Horizon, LogMeIn Rescue

Remote Desktop Services A Reliable Workhorse with some limitations

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Employees can securely connect to corporate applications from any location, ensuring productivity for remote and hybrid workers. IT team can maintain and update software centrally, reducing the need for individual workstation updates. We can deploy thin clients instead of high-performance computers.

Pros

  • Remote Access to Enterprise Applications
  • Centralized Management and Software Deployment
  • Running Legacy Applications

Cons

  • Performance of remote display when on limited bandwidth or high latency
  • Simplified provisioning or cloning golden image
  • Easiest way to deploy application within a server farm

Return on Investment

  • Reduced Support Costs
  • Reduced IT Hardware Costs
  • Improved Data Compliance

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Citrix DaaS and Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS)

Good for most uses

Incentivized
Verified User
Manager in Information Technology (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Remote Desktop Services in general for server access but the full system including gateway and brokers is used for controlled access from our corporate systems into our OT environment. The Gateway and broker is used to control access to systems using groups and applying rules and policies to desktop sessions.

Pros

  • Usability
  • Speed and responsiveness
  • Client tools built into standard environment

Cons

  • Configuration
  • Scalability
  • Fault tolerance

Return on Investment

  • Allows management of our OT systems
  • Allows development of our plant systems
  • Allows secure remote user access to controlled systems

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Citrix Gateway and AnyDesk

Remote Desktop Services for Small Business

Incentivized
Sebastian Mejia
Senior Help Desk Technician in Information Technology at Von Rohr Equipment Corp. (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

At my job, I need to manage several physical computers, which also hosts multiple virtual machines. I don't need to access them remotely at all times. And the times that I need to login remotely, I use a VPN connection. So having them with Remote Desktop Services enabled, helps me to access them from the office to perform routinary Windows and drivers and third party programs updates.

Pros

  • Easy remote access within the local network
  • Sporadic remote access through VPN
  • Easy transfer of files between the managed workstations and the computer being used to manage them
  • Built-in solution at no extra cost

Cons

  • Security for remote access.
  • Concurrent access. For example, to provide remote support.

Return on Investment

  • Cost effective as it is a built-in solution and therefore free.
  • Can be integrated with Terminal Server

Alternatives Considered

NinjaOne, Datto Autotask PSA, Splashtop, TeamViewer and LogMeIn Central by GoTo

Other Software Used

TeamViewer, Amazon Seller Central, Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud, SoundCloud

RDS - remote access at its best

Incentivized
Verified User
Manager in Corporate (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We utilize Remote Desktop Services for all of our off-site remote access to our company server for daily work functions. This allows us to perform our necessary work, use our own personal computers or computers that don’t function with programs that are MS based, and do so from remote locations all over the country. We have had issues with some log-outs not happening therefore not allowing individuals to log back in, and when internet connectivity is down at our host location not to be able to connect.

Pros

  • Remote Desktop access
  • Server access
  • Sharing computer for IT issues

Cons

  • Display setting changes for monitor viewing
  • Shared program access for users (i.e. DraftSight)
  • Printer addition without it having to be in the host location

Return on Investment

  • Allowed remote users access from home
  • Shared file access for multipolar users from a centralized location
  • Cost to add additional users when maxed out
  • Purchase multiple licenses for programs to run in virtual machines. Or unable to run on a virtual machine

Alternatives Considered

TeamViewer and Splashtop

Other Software Used

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise, Autodesk Build, busybusy, Google Sheets