Working From Home

There are several mechanisms that allow you to run Adminsoft (and other software) working from home. In the first instance, we recommend that you discuss this with your normal IT support provider and with us at Adminsoft. 

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Windows Remote Desktop over your VPN

If you already have a VPN to access your work network, and Windows Remote Desktop has already been enabled on your desktop computer in your office, then this may already be set to go. Your IT company may prefer that you use this mechanism, and will set up Windows Remote Desktop for you (if it is not already).  This is quite simple to do, and you may have sufficient in-house technical know-how to do it yourselves.  (See System Settings (Control Panel) > Remote Desktop)  Note:  Windows Remote Desktop is not available on the 'Home' version of Windows - you must have the 'Pro' version on both computers.

Microsoft Quick Access

This is Microsoft's equivalent of Team Viewer or Chrome Remote Desktop, and is available as a standard feature in all versions of Windows 10 and 11 (i.e. both 'Home' and 'Pro').  It will let you remote into a spare desktop computer in your office (which can be your own office computer, if you have have left it running - and configured to respond to a remote log-in).

Chrome Remote Desktop

This is a reasonably secure and simple tool provided by Google as an add-on extension to their "Chrome" browser.  It is completely free - for both personal and commercial purposes.  The extension is fairly easy to install and use.  We recommend this mechanism, if none of the above are already in place.  Chrome Remote Desktop has two modes:

  • Remote Access:  This allows you to access your work computer from home (or vice versa), or from another remote location.
  • Remote Support:  You can use it to allow a remotely located person to "look over your shoulder" at your screen while you discuss something over the phone - e.g. a colleague or manager who is working from home at the time.  (They need to have Chrome Remote Desktop installed on their own computer - but using their own Chrome account, not yours.)  This facility can be used as an alternative mechanism for Adminsoft to provide you with remote support.

We have provided a separate page on our website, which shows you how to install and use Chrome Remote Desktop

Taking a Work Laptop Home

If you have a work laptop computer, then this obviously should form part of your solution.

If your computer network has a VPN that allows remote access, then you should be able to use this to access (and edit) Word, Excel, and other document files that are stored on your server, much the same as when working within the office. (It may be a bit slower, but fast enough to be useable.)

If you have a very fast (1Gb fibre) internet connection at home (and your VPN uses high-performance hardware), then it might be possible to run Adminsoft over your VPN. (You will probably need to use an Ethernet cable to connect to your router at home, as your home WIFI may be too slow.  Even then, in our experience, most users find that Adminsoft runs too slowly in this configuration - because it has high band-width requirements (having been designed to run in a Local Area Network environment).

If you also have your own desktop computer in your office, then you should connect to this remotely using one of the above mechanisms - e.g. Windows Remote Desktop over your VPN, Microsoft Quick Access, Chrome Remote Desktop, or Team Viewer, as this will be MUCH faster.  Alternatively, you could perhaps remote into a spare computer that is left running in the office for this purpose.

Using Your Own Home Computer

If you plan to use your home computer to connect to your work VPN, then this will need to be set up by the person / company that provides your IT support.

The Chrome Remote Desktop and Microsoft Quick Access mechanisms, mentioned above, do not require a VPN, and so are much easier to implement.  Users with modest computer literacy are normally able to set this up for themselves (by following the instructions provided). 

Team Viewer and TSplus Remote Work

These both enable you to remote into your desktop computer in your office from home (or into another computer that has been left running for this purpose) like 'Windows Remote Desktop'. They only permit one remote user to access an office computer at any one time.

TeamViewer is a popular commercial product (that has significant ongoing licence fees). If your company already has a licence for this, and it is already installed on your work desktop computer, then it would be sensible to use this. Otherwise, it is better to use one of the free solutions already mentioned above (or perhaps 'TSplus Remote Work').

TSplus Remote Work (a different product from 'TSplus Remote Access' - see below) is very similar to Team Viewer in many aspects, but has considerably cheaper licence fees.

Citrix, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, and TSplus 'Remote Access'

All three products facilitate remote (and local) access by multiple users simultaneously.  They also support access using tablets and phones - and even Macs or Linux - if you need to run Adminsoft using non-Windows devices (both remotely or from within the office).

They all require a dedicated server (which can be a virtual machine) on your network.  Users can log into it remotely (using your VPN for extra security) or from within the office, and run applications like Adminsoft in their own unique session.  Alternatively, the dedicated server can be hosted in the cloud.  (We have a facility to sync the Adminsoft data between a cloud server and local file server or NAS drive in your office.)

Citrix and Microsoft RDS both have considerable up-front costs for hardware and its installation / configuration.  They require a full-blown 'server' - both full-spec server hardware and Microsoft server licences.  They also will require significant ongoing maintenance by your IT company.  Both can be implemented on a hosted (cloud based) server.  But, while this would reduce the initial outlay, it will increase the ongoing costs.  If you already have a full-spec Windows server in your office (with sufficient capacity), then the hosted (cloud server) option would obviously be unnecessary.

The TSplus Remote Access option is significantly more affordable, both for set up and whole-of-life costs.  It has much cheaper licence fees, and can run on any dedicated high-end Windows 10 / 11 computer (I7 or Xeon CPU with 32GB RAM) - rather than a full-blown 'Windows server' with all its associated ongoing costs.  TSplus is the option we recommend, if you wish to go for a solution like this.  We have a working relationship with TSplus, and would be very happy to discuss the various options with you (and their respective prices), if you wish to explore this.  Note that TSplus will also work in a hosted (cloud) server architecture.  We are open to setting up a NZ based hosted server for this purpose, if several clients are interested in sharing the costs.

Printing Work Documents and Reports to your Printer at Home

Firstly, it is worth asking yourself whether you do actually need to print something, or whether a PDF would suffice.  (During Corvid-19 lock-down, you may not be able to quickly replenish your printer paper or toner, if you run out.)  You should be able to print anything to a PDF, by using the "Microsoft Print to PDF" print driver (Windows 10) - or a PDF driver like "CutePDF Writer" or "PDFCreator" if you are still running an old Windows 7 computer.

If you do need to print Adminsoft reports, draft invoices, work email, MS Word documents, etc. to a local printer at home, then there are two mechanisms:

  • If you are using Windows Remote Desktop over a VPN, then your home printer is normally added automatically to the printer list on your work computer,.so you can easily select it as the output device.  If this is not the case, please ask your IT support person / company to configure this for you.
  • Otherwise, you can use Google Cloud Print (a feature of the Chrome browser).  If you are using Chrome Remote Desktop as your mechanism for remote access, then set this up on the Google account that you are using for this !!!  If you have already set up Google Cloud Print for your private Chrome account, then you can easily share your printer with your new work account (that you will use for Chrome Remote Desktop).

The procedures for installing Google Cloud Print will depend on whether your home printer connects directly to your router (via cable or WIFI) and supports Google Cloud Print, or is connected directly to the computer you are using at home.

  • In both cases, you will need to install the "Google Cloud Print Driver" on your work computer.  This can be downloaded from hhttps://tools.google.com/dlpage/cloudprintdriver
  • If your home printer supports Google Cloud Print (and is connected directly to your home router:
    • Google Cloud Print must be enabled on your printer. You should be able to check / enable this (probably somewhere in its advanced settings).  Most modern printers have a web interface, which you can open in your browser by entering your printer's local IP address into your browser's address field / panel.
    • The printer must also be "registered" with the Google account that you are using. (With Brother printers, this is also done through your printer's web interface. See "Network > Protocol > Google Cloud Print > Advanced Settings".)
  • If you have a printer that is plugged directly into your home computer, or does not support Google Cloud Print, then you will need to install Cloud Print Service on your home computer. Do this from https://tools.google.com/dlpage/cloudprintservice   Helpful information on this can be found at https://windowsreport.com/google-cloud-print-windows-10/
  • Relevant Google documentation is at:  https://www.google.com/cloudprint/learn  and  https://www.google.com/cloudprint#printers
  • Google have also provided some special help pages for Cloud print help  and also an installation checklist