ConnectWise Control Puts You in the Driver's Seat
Updated July 23, 2021

ConnectWise Control Puts You in the Driver's Seat

Eric Milles | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with ConnectWise Control (formerly ScreenConnect)

We often need to create an ad-hoc session with a device that is not under our management. Connectwise Control [(formerly ScreenConnect)] gives us a robust resource to control the device, navigate anywhere we need, execute various commands, and engage in an on-screen chat with the client. The session is very simple to create and very user-friendly to initiate.

Pros

  • The ability to execute commands from the Control console is very effective.
  • Sessions have settings to reduce the resolution for times when bandwidth is at a premium. You can manually reduce the data for the session this way.
  • A URL and a 5 digit access code are all that are need to initiate a session for an end user. It is very user-friendly.

Cons

  • When initiating a session, an end user needs approve the download of the agent, approve User Account Control access, and to click to open the client. A streamlined process would be preferred.
  • The technician must click a box at the top of the interface to chat with end-user. This would be better as a constant sidecar to the interface screen.
  • The tools for the session are all at the top of the interface. It would be better if they were at the bottom like a taskbar.
  • Regardless of our management of device, we can access it with end-user assistance.
  • When integrated with ConnectWise Automate, it gives an amazingly, powerful remote management and support platform.
  • It can be branded to marked your company.
  • BeyondTrust Remote Support (Legacy)
We have used Beyond Trust occasionally for one of our White Label clients, but have found it is not as robust as ConnectWise Control. The seamless integration of Control with ConnectWise Automate makes it the best and most effective choice for our technical teams to deploy and manage our client machines.

Do you think ScreenConnect delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with ScreenConnect's feature set?

Yes

Did ScreenConnect live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of ScreenConnect go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy ScreenConnect again?

Yes

We often need to create an ad-hoc session with a device that is not under our management. Connectwise Control [(formerly ScreenConnect)] gives us a robust resource to control the device, navigate anywhere we need, execute various commands, and engage in an on-screen chat with the client. The session is very simple to create and very user-friendly to initiate. The seamless integration of Control with ConnectWise Automate and ConnectWise Manage makes it the best and most effective choice for our technical teams to deploy and manage our client machines.
Support is available and good but is slow at times. Our only disappointment with the product is that support can sometimes take a day or two to get back to you. That speed does not scale for fast paces MSPs that are a 24x7 operation. Support is not frequently needed but is a frustration when it is.
We often need to create an ad-hoc session with a device that is not under our management. We find ourselves doing this more than ever in the COVID world. Many people are working from home on personal machines with their employer, our client's permission and we are facilitating more support for these personal machines. Connectwise Control [(formerly ScreenConnect)] gives us a robust resource to control the device, navigate anywhere we need, execute various commands, and engage in an on-screen chat with the client. The session is very simple to create and very user-friendly to initiate. We do not recommend it for Android, Apple, or Chromebook applications. There is little to no support for these platforms.

ScreenConnect Feature Ratings

Remote Administration
9.4
Screen sharing
10
File transfer
5
Instant message
10
Over-the-Internet remote session
10
Initiate remote control from mobile
10
Remote management of servers & workstations
10
Remote Active Directory® management
Not Rated
Centralized management dashboard
10
Session record
10
Annotations
Not Rated
Multi-platform remote control
10

Using ConnectWise Control (formerly ScreenConnect)

70 - As a Managed Service Provider, we often need access to machines that we don't yet directly manage. ConnectWise Control provides that access. We also need to troubleshoot offline machines occasionally. The link to smartphone camera feature helps us to see what the client sees, giving us visibility beyond the client's description of the machines activity.
2 - Our internal systems administrator and his assistant support ConnectWise Control for us. They have extensive experience in working with this and similar products. It is low maintenance and requires occasional version updates, but little more.
  • New client onboarding so that we can add our RMM agent to the divice.
  • New seat additions to managed clients to add our RMM agent.
  • Troubleshoot unmanaged machines for contracted clients.
  • The newer feature that allows a SMS message to activate the clients smartphone camera so that we can view an offline machines behavior.
  • We don't take advantage of the command line functionality of it.
We will continue to use ConnectWise Control for the foreseeable future. It is an excellent too for ad hoc control of laptops, PCs, servers, and Macs. There are others out there, but they are fare inferior, in my opinion. The user interface is quite intuitive and is easy for system administrators and clients to navigate. It is top drawer for us.

Evaluating ConnectWise Control and Competitors

  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
I was not involved in the decision making process. We have been using it for many years. I have checked boxes for the reasons why I know we keep it.
I was not involved in the process.

ConnectWise Control Implementation

I have never heard any war stories about it being a problem.
  • Implemented in-house
Not sure - I was not present during implementation, but I can't imagine it would have.
  • I was not part of the implementation team.

ConnectWise Control Training

Configuring ConnectWise Control

Very versatile. We are able to make minimal changes when modifying for use.
I do not directly configure.
Some - we have done small customizations to the interface - We have added our company branding to the interface.
No - we have not done any custom code
None

ConnectWise Control Support

ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
We did not. We have alternate resources.
I personally do not engage in support issues with them. That is not my role.

Using ConnectWise Control

ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • Establishing a connection with a client end point.
  • Naviation
  • Controls inside application.
  • I really can't think of any.
Yes - It is a little awkward, do to the size of screen you have to work on from a mobile platform. Navigation is a very big challenge.

ConnectWise Control Reliability

Easily used in small office or across an enterprise environment.
In my 5 years of using the product, I am only aware of one time when the service was down and is was due to a backbone outage upstream.
Very responsive and even has controls to reduce resolution during low bandwidth connections.

Integrating ConnectWise Control

  • ConnectWise Automate
They are cousin services and the integrations are easy to maintain and deploy.
  • Not at this time
Not at this time.
  • File import/export
  • ETL tools
File transfer integrations and tools are fantastic!
Use it to it's full, robust potential.

Relationship with ConnectWise

I was not around for the sales process.
Vendor support is prompt and thorough.
I am not in sales. Unknown.
Use them.

Upgrading ConnectWise Control

Comments

More Reviews of ScreenConnect

  1. Home
  2. Remote Desktop Software
  3. ScreenConnect Reviews
  4. User Review of ScreenConnect