Secure Virtual Assist Overview

This section provides an introduction to the Secure Virtual Assist feature. This section contains the following topics:

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What is Secure Virtual Assist?
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Benefits of Secure Virtual Assist
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How Does Secure Virtual Assist Work?
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Launching a Secure Virtual Assist Technician Session
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Performing Secure Virtual Assist Technician Tasks
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Enabling a System for Secure Virtual Access

What is Secure Virtual Assist?

Secure Virtual Assist is an easy to use tool that allows SRA users to remotely support customers by taking control of their computers while the customer observes. Providing support to customers is traditionally a costly and time consuming aspect of business. Secure Virtual Assist creates a simple to deploy, easy to use remote support solution.

Benefits of Secure Virtual Assist

Secure Virtual Assist provides the following benefits:

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Simplified and effective customer support - Support staff can use Secure Virtual Assist to directly access customers computers to troubleshoot and fix problems. This eliminates the need for customers to try to explain their problems and their computer’s behavior over the phone.
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Time and cost savings - Secure Virtual Assist eliminates the need for support staff to visit customers to troubleshoot problems and reduces the average time-to-resolution of support calls.
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Educational tool - Trainers and support staff can use Secure Virtual Assist to remotely show customers how to use programs and tools.
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Seamless integration with existing authentication system - Ensures that the customers are who they say they are. Alternatively, the local database of the SRA appliance and tokenless two-factor authentication can be utilized.
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Secure connections - 256-bit AES SSL encryption of the data by the SRA appliance provides a secure environment for the data and assists in the effort to be compliant with regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA.
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Greater flexibility for remote access - Using the Secure Virtual Access functionality, support staff can access their personal systems located outside the LAN of the SRA appliance.

How Does Secure Virtual Assist Work?

The following sections describe how the Secure Virtual Assist feature works:

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Basic Operation
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Remote File Transfer
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Chat Feature
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Email Invitation
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Secure Virtual Access
Basic Operation

Secure Virtual Assist is a lightweight, thin client that installs automatically using Java from the SRA Virtual Office without requiring the installation of any external software. For computers that do not support Java, Secure Virtual Assist can be manually installed by downloading an executable file from the Virtual Office.

For basic screen sharing support, administrative privileges are not required to run Secure Virtual Assist. For full installation of the client, administrative rights may be necessary, but full installation is not necessary to use the service.

When a user requests service as a customer, Secure Virtual Assist should not be run while connected to the system via RDP for Windows 7 and Windows Vista platforms. Secure Virtual Assist runs as a service for proper access to the customer’s system, so correct permissions cannot be set if it is run from an RDP connection.

There are two sides to a Secure Virtual Assist session: the customer view and the technician view. The customer is the person requesting assistance on their computer. The technician is the person providing assistance. A Secure Virtual Assist session consists of the following sequence of events:

1
The technician launches Secure Virtual Assist from the SRA Virtual Office.
2
The technician monitors the Assistance Queue for customers requesting assistance.
3
The customer requests assistance by one of the following methods:
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Logs into the SRA Virtual Office and clicks on the Secure Virtual Assist link.
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Receives an email invitation from the technician and clicks on the link to launch Secure Virtual Assist.
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Navigate directly to the URL of the Secure Virtual Assist home page that is provided by the technician.
4
The Secure Virtual Assist application installs and runs on the customer’s browser.
5
The customer appears in the Secure Virtual Assist Assistance Queue.
6
The technician clicks on the customer’s name and launches a Secure Virtual Assist session.
7
The customer clicks on a warning pop-up window that gives the technician control over the customer’s computer.
8
The technician’s Secure Virtual Assist window now displays the customer’s entire display. The technician has complete control of the customer computer’s mouse and keyboard. The customer sees all of the actions that the technician performs.
9
If at anytime the customer wants to end the session, they can take control and click on the End Virtual Assist button in the bottom right corner of the screen.
10
When the session ends, the customer resumes sole control of the computer.
Remote File Transfer

Secure Virtual Assist includes a Remote File Transfer feature that enables the technician to transfer files directly to and from the customer’s computer. The technician launches the File Transfer process by clicking a button in the Virtual Assist taskbar in the top left corner of the Secure Virtual Assist window. The File Transfer feature supports the upload and download of multiple files.

Chat Feature

Secure Virtual Assist includes a chat feature that allows the technician and customer to communicate using an instant message-style chat function. Either the technician or the customer can initiate a chat session by clicking on the Chat button in the Secure Virtual Assist taskbar.

Email Invitation

From the technician view of Secure Virtual Assist, technicians can send email invitations to customers that contain a direct URL link to initiate a Secure Virtual Assist session. The technician can optionally include a unique message to the customer. When the customer clicks on the email link to Secure Virtual Assist, only the technician who sent the invitation can assist that customer.

Secure Virtual Access

Secure Virtual Access, as part of the larger Secure Virtual Assist feature, allows technicians to gain access to systems outside the LAN of the SRA appliance, such as their personal systems. After downloading and installing a client from the portal page for Secure Virtual Access mode, the personal system will appear only on that technician’s Secure Virtual Assist support queue, within the SRA management interface. While Secure Virtual Access must be enabled per-portal, this functionality provides greater remote access flexibility for support technicians.

Installing and using Secure Virtual Access requires administrative privileges.

Launching a Secure Virtual Assist Technician Session

To launch a Secure Virtual Assist session as a technician:
1
Log in to the SRA Virtual Office. If you are already logged in to the SRA customer interface, click on the Virtual Office button.
2
Click on the Virtual Assist button.

3
If the Virtual Assist plug-in is installed, the Virtual Assist window is displayed automatically. See Step 9.

4
If the Virtual Assist plug-in is not installed, the File Download window displays, and Secure Virtual Assist attempts to automatically install. Click Run to launch the program directly, or click Save to save the installer file to your computer, and then manually launch it.

When downloading through IPv6, the File Download window displays IPv6 information.

5
When you launch the installer, you may see an additional warning message. Click Run.

6
A pop-up window asks if you would like to install Secure Virtual Assist as a standalone client. Click Yes to save the application. A shortcut will be added to your desktop and a link to the application will be added to the program list on your Start Menu. Click No to launch Secure Virtual Assist without saving the application for future use.

7
If you clicked Yes to save the application, you will be prompted to select a location to save the file. Select an appropriate location, such as C:\Program Files\SonicWALL.

8
When Secure Virtual Assist launches for the first time, you may see a security warning pop-up window. De-select the Always ask before opening this file check box to avoid this window in the future. Click Run.

9
The Secure Virtual Assist standalone application launches.

10
The technician is now ready to assist customers.

Performing Secure Virtual Assist Technician Tasks

To get started, the technician logs into the SRA appliance and launches the Secure Virtual Assist application.

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NOTE: Each technician can only assist one customer at a time.

Once the technician has launched the Secure Virtual Assist application, the technician can assist customers by performing the following tasks:

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Inviting Customers by Email
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Assisting Customers
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Using the Secure Virtual Assist Taskbar
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Controlling the Secure Virtual Assist Display
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Request Full Control
Inviting Customers by Email

To invite a customer to a Secure Virtual Assist session by email:

1
To invite a customer to Secure Virtual Assist, use the email invitation form on the left of the Secure Virtual Assist window.
 
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NOTE: Customers who launch Secure Virtual Assist from an email invitation can only be assisted by the technician who sent the invitation. Customers who manually launch Secure Virtual Assist can be assisted by any technician.
2
Enter the customer’s email address in the Customer E-mail field.
3
Optionally, enter Technician E-mail to use a different return email address than the default technician email.
4
Optionally, enter an Additional Message to the customer.
5
Click Invite. The customer will receive an email with an HTML link to launch Secure Virtual Assist.
6
Customers requesting assistance will appear in the Assistance Queue, and the duration of time they have been waiting will be displayed.
Assisting Customers
1
A pop-up window in the lower right task bar alerts the technician when a customer is in the assistance queue.
2
Double-click on a customer’s user name to begin assisting the customer.

3
The customer’s entire desktop is displayed in the bottom right window of the Secure Virtual Assist application.

The technician now has complete control of the customer’s keyboard and mouse. The customer can see all of the actions that the technician performs.

During a Secure Virtual Assist session, the customer is not locked out of their computer. Both the technician and customer can control the computer, although this may cause confusion and consternation if they both attempt “to drive” at the same time.

The customer has a small tool bar in the bottom right of their screen, with three options.

The customer has the following options during a Secure Virtual Assist session, each enabled after clicking the corresponding button.

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Active - Toggles to the View Only mode, where the technician can view the customer’s computer but cannot control the computer.
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Chat - Initiates a chat window with the technician.
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End Virtual Assist - Terminates the session.
Using the Secure Virtual Assist Taskbar

The Technician’s view of Secure Virtual Assist includes a taskbar with a number of options.

In Windows, the taskbar contains the following buttons:

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Refresh - Refreshes the display of the customer’s computer.
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File Transfer - Launches a window to transfer files to and from the customer’s computer. see Using the Secure Virtual Assist File Transfer for more information.
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Chat - Launches the chat window to communicate with the customer. The technician can also use the dedicated chat window in the bottom left window of the Secure Virtual Assist application.
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System Info -Displays detailed information about the customer’s computer.

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Reboot Customer - Reboot the customer’s computer. Unless you have Requested full control, the customer will be warned about and given the opportunity to deny the reboot.
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Switch Screen - Switches to a second monitor if the customer’s computer has more than one monitor configured.

In MacOS, the taskbar contains the following buttons:

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Refresh - Refreshes the display of the customer’s computer.
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Auto Scale - Adjusts the screen to fit the window size.
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Full Screen - Adjusts the screen to fill the entire window.
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System Info -Displays detailed information about the customer’s computer similar to that shown for a Windows computer.
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Reboot - Reboot the customer’s computer. Unless you have Requested full control, the customer will be warned about and given the opportunity to deny the reboot.
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Chat - Launches the text chat window to communicate with the customer. The technician can also use the dedicated chat window in the bottom left window of the Secure Virtual Assist application.
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File Transfer - Launches a window to transfer files to and from the customer’s computer. see Using the Secure Virtual Assist File Transfer for more information.
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Hide Toolbar - Hides the taskbar from view.
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Gray Color - Displays everything in grey monochrome
Controlling the Secure Virtual Assist Display
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Full Screen - Hides all of the Secure Virtual Assist toolbars and displays the customer’s desktop on the technician’s entire screen with the Secure Virtual Assist taskbar in the top left corner.

If the Secure Virtual Assist taskbar doesn’t display, move your mouse to the top middle of the screen. Right-click on the taskbar and click Restore to exit full-screen mode.

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Auto Scaling - Zooms the display to fill the entire Secure Virtual Assist window.
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Zoom - Zooms the display to one of several presets or allows you enter a specific value.
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True Size - Zooms to 100%.
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Side Bar - Toggles the display of the side bar with the email invitation and chat windows.
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Top Bar - Toggles the display of the top bar with the customer queue and toolbar.
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All Bars - Displays both the side bar and top bar.
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No Bar - Hides both the side bar and top bar.
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NOTE: A number of these options can be configured from the pull-down menus at the top of the Secure Virtual Assist application.
Request Full Control

Technicians can request full control of a customer’s desktop, allowing them to reboot the system, delete files, or over-write files on the customer’s computer without the customer being repeatedly prompted for permission. Select Request Full Control under the Commands menu to issue a request that will appear on the customer’s desktop.

Using the Secure Virtual Assist File Transfer

The File Transfer window is used to transfer files to and from the customer’s computer. The file directory of the technician’s computer is shown on the left and the customer’s computer on the right.

The File Transfer window functions in much the same manner as Windows Explorer or an FTP program. Navigate the File Transfer window by double-clicking on folders and selecting files. The File Transfer window includes the following controls:

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Desktop jumps to the desktop of the technician’s or customer’s computer.
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Up navigates up one directory on either the technician’s or customer’s computer.
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Download transfers the selected file or files from the technician’s computer to the customer’s computer.
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Upload transfers the selected file or files from the customer’s computer to the technician’s computer.
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Delete deletes the selected file or files.
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NOTE: When deleting or over-writing files, the customer is warned and must give the technician permission unless the technician has elected Request Full Control and the customer has confirmed.
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New folder creates a new folder in the selected directory.
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Rename renames the selected file or directory.

When a file is transferring, the transfer progress is displayed at the bottom of the File Transfer window. Click the Exit button to cancel a transfer in progress.

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NOTE: File Transfer supports the transfer of single or multiple files. It does not currently support the transfer of directories. To select multiple files, hold down the Ctrl button while clicking on the files.

Enabling a System for Secure Virtual Access

If Secure Virtual Access has been enabled on the Virtual Assist tab on the Portals > Portals page of the management interface, users should see a link on the portal to set-up a system for Secure Virtual Access. To enable Secure Virtual Access within the SRA management interface, see Configuring Per-Portal Virtual Assist Settings .

To configure Secure Virtual Access on a system:
1
Login to the portal through the system you wish to configure for Secure Virtual Access and click the Virtual Access link.

2
A file should download with parameters to install the VASAC.exe file that will provide the needed client for Secure Virtual Access mode. Save and run the file.

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NOTE: Running the file directly from this dialog box may not work on some systems. Save the file to the system and then run the application.
3
Fill in the necessary information in the provided fields to configure the system in Secure Virtual Access mode and click OK.
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Server: This should be the name or IP address of the appliance the technician normally accesses the Virtual Office from outside the management interface (Do not include “https://”).
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Portal: The name of the portal the technician would normally login to.
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Computer Name: This is an identifier for the system to help differentiate between other systems that may be waiting for support in the queue.
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Password: This is a password the technician must enter prior to accessing the system through the support queue.

4
After installation, the VASAC client should be left running in the desktop tray.

This system’s identifier name should now appear in the technician’s support queue displayed on the Secure Virtual Assist > Status page within the management interface.Upon double-clicking the system listing, the technician will be prompted to provide the password established during system set-up to gain Secure Virtual Access to the system.

Ending Secure Virtual Access Mode

Disconnecting from a Secure Virtual Access session will place the system back in the support queue for later access by the technician. From the personal system-side, the user/technician may uninstall or terminate the application from the tray option icons.

An administrator can forcibly remove a system from the queue. If this occurs, the Secure Virtual Access system should no longer attempt to connect to the support queue and should display an error message.

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NOTE: For tasks and information on using Secure Virtual Assist as an end-user, refer to the Dell SonicWALL SRA User’s Guide.