Remote Desktop

Hi @LaurenAcquaviva, what a cool question! We do something similar to this for some of the test versions of Smokeball that the team uses internally to make sure everything is working before we launch a new feature. 

In our case we just use the built in Remote Desktop features that come with Windows 10 and Windows 11 Pro (AKA Windows RDP). The machine that runs Smokeball needs to be using Windows 10 or 11 Pro. You can then use just about any computer or even a phone or tablet to to connect to the machine running Smokeball. 

You can read more about how to set up Remote Desktop for Windows here. Here’s a more in depth article with how to get your paralegal to connect from any internet connection. 

There’s some complexity and risk here around how to make sure your paralegal can securely connect to the machine running Smokeball over the internet. While Smokeball might be super secure, the RDP connection your paralegal uses might not be. 

I don’t know enough about the risks and compliance requirements for data security in your jurisdiction to say whether it is or isn’t safe to use this approach to get your paralegal connected to Smokeball.

In our case; we use test data on the Smokeball programs that we RDP into so the security risk for keeping data private isn’t an issue. We also have a few other layers of security (that I won’t tell the whole internet about).

So I’d encourage you to seek advice from someone with more IT experience and who knows your specific setup to make sure it’s safe and compliant. 

Dear Lauren,

In the past I have used LogMeIn to remote into my office computer. It worked for me, and solved my issues during covid and remote working. Perhaps give this a look? 

Best,

Emily Prazak