There are several options available to provide remote access to Front Desk. Depending on your individual needs, some options may be more suitable than others.
Unless you are currently hosting your system or database externally, the below remote access solutions will require your main Front Desk database computer in the practice to be turned on and connected to the internet.
Some common remote access options include:
1. Front Desk Web Appointment Book
If you only require access to your Front Desk appointment book, you can set up the Front Desk Web Appointment Book. This will permit access to your appointment book via a web browser on desktop and smartphone devices. Self-install instructions can be found here.
If the Web Appointment Book is already set up in your practice and you require assistance determining your Web Appointment Book URL, please contact our helpdesk.
2. Access your Front Desk database remotely over the internet
It is possible to set up a copy of Front Desk on a remote PC, which can connect to your database while outside of the office. This requires the configuration of a secure network protocol. This option requires that you are running a business-grade internet connection that has a fixed IP address.
Please contact Smartsoft to arrange a time for remote access configuration.
3. Remote Desktop or other remote control apps
Microsoft Remote Desktop and other tools such as Google Chrome Remote Desktop allow users to remotely control PCs in the practice that are running Front Desk.
Microsoft Remote Desktop provides the best user experience however it is not trivial to set up, often requiring the assistance of an IT professional. Most of the other solutions are self-install and configure.
Google Chrome Remote Desktop is free and easy to set up, and the remote-control app is available to download on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. Click here to view setup instructions.
Other popular remote control solutions include Team Viewer and Log Me In which can have associated costs.
Note that remote control solutions will interrupt anyone at the practice that is using the computer you are connecting to, meaning that only one person can control that computer at one time. If you are remotely controlling individual machines in your office, they will each need to be left on when access is required.
If you have further questions, please feel free to contact our helpdesk team on 1800 18 18 20 and dial 1 after the prompt.