3am Labs delivers new remote access wares

3am Labs has enhanced its lineup of remote access software and services including a feature that now grants access to fellow workers, IT professionals, and other third parties without users having to reconfigure security.

The new Guest Invite feature, part of the enhanced versions of both LogMeIn Pro and LogMeIn IT Reach, is intended to simplify the ability to access, manage, and support remote systems. Explaining how it works, a company spokesman said a link is delivered by e-mail to an invitee who then clicks on it to gain temporary access to a user's computer. The link is active only for a designated period of time and access can not be granted without a user's consent.

Users can then grant either view-only access or full keyboard and mouse control and have the right to end a session at any time. If the link is not activated immediately, authorization times-out after 30 seconds and the guest must then contact the user again, company officials said.

Guest Invite links are managed through an interface that lists the links by name and allows the user to instantly disable or re-enable each link.

"These improvements are about making it easier to access remote data and tools, increasing collaboration with others, and making the distinction between a local and distant computer irrelevant," said Michael Simon, CEO at 3am Labs.

The new versions are seen by some industry observers as a way to gain advantage over market leader Citrix, which purchased the GoToMyPC remote management technology from ExpertCity last summer.

"This is an interesting idea to be able to bring people in when you are working collaboratively on something, or a quick IT fix, and to bring them in at different access levels and for a certain amount of time. It is a very nice feature to bring into a market that is continuing to evolve," said Steve Drake, program director at IDC's mobile software practice.

3am Labs also improved the interface for LogMeIn Pro and LogMeIn Free by adding larger buttons, a layout that is designed to be more intuitive, and easier-to-use controls for color depth and speed, according to company officials. Users also do not have access to "getting started" wizards that make Guest Invite and File Share easier to use.

Users with remote access through a LogMeIn IT Reach secondary user account can receive the enhanced LogMeIn Pro interface. The administrators of the secondary user accounts can retain the complete LogMeIn Reach dashboard and diagnostic toolset.

The File Share feature allows friends or colleagues of LogMeIn users to access and share large files by e-mailing a secure link to a specific file. Links can be set up to expire after a certain length of time or after a designated number of downloads and can be managed in a single interface, company officials said.

More information about the products is available at www.logmein.com.