Webex vs. SimpleHelp: The Remote Access, Web Conferencing Showdown

There are many contenders for services providing remote access and web conferencing. Juggernauts such as Cisco are the visionaries behind Webex, which provides one of the most popular options available for these services, though there are others, such as SimpleHelp, which offers much of the same features.

Others, such as LogMeIn and TeamViewer, are certainly worth mentioning but a match up between the big dog and underdog makes for a better showdown.

Webex: Overview & Pros and Cons

Webex, by Cisco, is one of the early contenders for web conferencing and online meetings, which has expanded into specialized services focused on online events, e-learning, remote desktop sharing, and collaborative tools.

Their flagship offering, their web conferencing service, supports HD video across a multitude of devices. Built-in features such as Meeting Space allow participants to share, review, and discuss recordings to improve the effectiveness of the presentation. Other functions such as remote control, whiteboards, chat, file transfers, and applications have made it the stand-out in this type of service.

Other features included with the specialized services aim to help institutions and businesses offer a learning center to educate employees and customers. Remote access gives the ability to offer online technical support. Collaboration tools are available for team projects.

Pros

• User and end user trust due to dominance in the industry
• Extensive training and support
• Wide selection of top-rated apps

Cons

• Costly in the long-run with basic plans
• Enterprise solution is equally costly when scaling
• Features are often too overwhelming for many users

SimpleHelp: Overview & Pros and Cons

SimpleHelp provides:

• Remote support
• Remote access
• Web presentation

The aim of SimpleHelp is to provide an alternative to Webex that has many of the same features at a fraction of the cost. Features such as the remote support are simplified for the user and end user, such as allowing for a connection via the web (or desktop application) in a secure, feature rich environment that has cross platform support.

Remote access, with this service, is taken to the large scale via a single installation to the server, which allows scaling to thousands of machines. Likewise, with self-hosting, presentations can be firmly controlled on the flow of data, security, up time, and user access.

Pros

• One time cost
• The ability to install on your server
• White labeling for branding

Cons

• Relatively unknown (at this time) in the market
• Support and updates are charged as per customer
• No free option

The Showdown

Ultimately, the choice between these services is very reliant on the needs of the individual though if you are comparing features and benefits, along with total cost for a business, it appears that SimpleHelp is an obvious solution.

Webex, by all means, is a very powerful service but the cost to scale the service quickly inflates the price over the long term, especially if one decides to increase the number of participants and number of users in need of remote access.

Small and medium sized businesses are those which would benefit greatly from SimpleHelp, which makes it a helpful solution for the majority of you out there.