Why we evolved from an alternative for LogMeIn to remote software for everyone – Taking Stock in 2020
RemoteToPC started out mainly as an affordable LogMeIn alternative. Coming from the IT industry we were looking to create an affordable alternative for LogMeIn and to the ever-increasing cost of remote computer access software. We found ourselves in the middle of a lot of well-funded competition and we had to work hard to carve out a name for ourselves. One thing we did to try and stand out was to offer other built-in features such as monitoring and alerts (Sort of like LogMeIn Central had) with every installation. As far as we know we were the first entry level remote access company to do that, so in that sense we had an impact on the industry, being the first to move in that direction with Remote Access for IT. We stuck with our “Made by IT for IT” tag-line and focus up until earlier this year. Now we just want to be go-to remote access software for everyone.
RemoteToPC has always had some customers outside of the IT world. Mom and pop businesses, insurance companies, local governments, non-profits, churches, law-firms, just about everyone who does work on computers also appreciated our affordable and reliable remote access solution. But we also maintained our focus on IT, partly because that’s what made us different, but also because that’s what we knew, and that’s the industry sector that we wanted to help. So we sort of had a mission to help companies that were like us have affordable reliable remote access.
We started to re-evaluate that focus and direction in late 2019 and with the pandemic of 2020 it became clear to us that we had a much broader audience that needed RemoteToPC. In March and April, we were inundated with new signups from a broad range of customers, particularly by business people who needed to get to their work computers from home. They needed to stay connected with work, and they needed a safe, easy and affordable way to do it. Even IT customers were asking for more features geared towards providing office workers remote logins to their work computers.
As things went forward it became clear to us that as the types of users that relied on RemoteToPC broadened we needed to also broaden the product offering of RemoteToPC to be a “An Affordable Remote Access Solution for Everyone”. That’s more than just a new tag-line, it comes with new features such as remote-printing, access from any device and dual-monitor remote access. Actually, it’s not just limited to two monitors. Users can now pop-out their remote screens inside of the RemoteToPC viewer application and place them in whatever local monitor they want. It makes it hard to tell you’re not right in front of the remote computer. So, the goal has been to try and get out of the way of the user experience, working towards remote seamless integration.
In addition to those kinds of general-office user features, we also added the ability to remote into Mac computers. We’ve broadened our viewer to be universal, so now users can connect to a PC or Mac host computer from any device, smart-phones, tablets, Linux systems and of course other PCs and Macs.
One thing we’re really proud of is that unlike other remote access software providers we added all these features without raising our prices. It’s inspiring to us when we regularly get feedback from our customers telling us how much they appreciate RemoteToPC, love our customer service, and appreciate our new features. This is a big reason why we do what we do. We believe that people are more important than things. We’re still located in Fort Worth Texas; we still block hostile countries IPs and still strive to offer excellent customer service.
During the pandemic authorities pretty much told us what was essential, by pointing out “essential jobs”. Well, we think your job is essential, and we’re here to offer you and the world a fast, safe, and easy to use and affordable remote access solution. Our philosophy on this is that we think being able to work remotely on whatever you do to get your job done is essential. That’s what motivates us. That’s why we’re here, for people to use our remote access software to connect and use PCs and Macs remotely from any device. We work hard on making sure that when you need to connect, it works, every single time 24/7/365, it works, and works well. That’s always been our focus from day one. To make sure the core functions of RemoteToPC, the remote connection itself worked reliably for our customers.
That’s what we think the new-normal is about, people and connections, and that ultimately, people are more important than things. That’s how we view our customers.
