Attended vs unattended remote support guide

Attended remote support means a person accepts the session. Unattended remote support means a technician connects with nobody there to click Allow. DeskZap, remote access software from Hot Rocket Software LTD (UK), uses a 9-digit code, valid for five minutes, for attended help, and DeskZap Host for machines you return to.

The mistake is picking one mode for every ticket. A caller who is on the phone can approve a session. A till PC, a server, or a laptop left in a meeting room cannot. CISA's guide to securing remote access software, published 6 June 2023, makes the same split in the other direction: remote access software is useful for maintaining machines, and it is also a path attackers use when it is left open (CISA, checked October 2026). The control is to match the mode to the job.

Attended support

Attended support: the person at the computer agrees to the session before the technician has control. They are present. They can refuse. The session ends when the call ends, unless you have agreed something else.

Unattended access

Unattended access: a host program on the computer accepts connections from authorised operators when the desk is empty. Nobody has to be logged in and watching. That host is a standing door, so it needs an owner.

Quick Support Code

Quick Support Code: the attended method in DeskZap, remote access software from Hot Rocket Software LTD (UK). The person being helped opens a one-time 9-digit code, valid for five minutes. They do not create an account and they do not install software (DeskZap features page, checked October 2026).

Sort the last twenty tickets before you buy. If someone was on the phone, on Teams, or standing next to the machine, the ticket was attended. If the technician connected before the office opened, or to a machine with no user, the ticket was unattended.

Attended work looks like this. A solicitor cannot open a PDF. A shop manager is on the phone about a frozen till while customers are waiting, and a person is still at the screen. A new starter cannot find the printer. In each case the fastest safe path is a code they can read out, not a permanent agent left behind after the call.

Unattended work looks like this. The office file server needs a patch at 7am. A client's reception PC must accept updates whether or not reception is staffed. A designer is out, and the render box in the studio still has a job to restart. Those machines should run DeskZap Host, installed on purpose, with the device owner named.

Microsoft Quick Assist covers only the first list, and only where Quick Assist is available. The helper signs in with a Microsoft account or Microsoft Entra ID. The sharer does not authenticate. Both sides need a path to Microsoft's remote assistance service on port 443. The helper shares a time-limited code, the sharer clicks Allow, and only then can the helper request control (Microsoft Learn, Quick Assist, page dated 18 August 2025, checked October 2026). The current Windows app is installed from the Microsoft Store. Quick Assist for macOS is limited to Microsoft Support interactions. There is no company role model: Microsoft states that no roles, permissions or policies are involved.

That is a fair tool for a one-off Windows session inside a relationship you already trust. It does not give a UK help desk a host on the machines it maintains, a device group per client, or an activity log that stays in the desk's own workspace. DeskZap is the product that holds both lists.

Use one row per decision. The DeskZap column is the product behaviour published on the features and pricing pages, checked October 2026.

Row: Someone is at the keyboard and on the phone. Choice: attended. DeskZap: they read out a 9-digit Quick Support Code. It expires in five minutes. No customer account.

Row: The machine must be reachable with nobody present. Choice: unattended. DeskZap: install Host once. Operators connect from the workspace. The end user does not need an account.

Row: A contractor helps for a week. Choice: attended codes, or a named invite limited to one device group. DeskZap invites carry a role and an optional device-group limit (DeskZap features page, checked October 2026).

Row: Two technicians work the same queue. Choice: named operators, not a shared login. DeskZap Business includes multi-user management at £7 per user per month, or £70 per year.

Row: You need a record of who connected. Choice: an activity log tied to the operator. DeskZap records the connection, the device and the policy. Session recording, a replay of the screen, is part of DeskZap Support.

Row: The computer is a server or a till you will visit again. Choice: Host, with an owner and a review date. Do not leave a five-minute code flow as the only way back in.

Row: The computer belongs to a customer you may never see again. Choice: attended code only. Do not install Host 'just in case'.

Unattended access is the right tool and the higher risk, because the door stays shut only if you shut it. The ICO expects personal data to be reached only by people you have authorised, and only within that authority (ICO guide to data security, checked October 2026). A host with a shared password fails that test the day someone leaves.

DeskZap, remote access software from Hot Rocket Software LTD (UK), is set up for named operators. Roles are platform owner, org admin, technician and viewer. An email invite can restrict someone to a device group, so a contractor sees the client's machines and not the rest of the estate (DeskZap features page, checked October 2026). Removing the account removes the door. TOTP two-factor authentication is on operator accounts. OIDC single sign-on can sit in front of Google Workspace, Entra ID or Okta.

NCSC cloud principle 10 says access to service interfaces should be tied to an authenticated identity, human or machine. Principle 13 says you need audit information to see how and when something happened (NCSC cloud security principles, checked October 2026). The DeskZap activity log is the record that answers who connected, when, and to which device. Pair it with a calendar reminder. Once a month, a small desk should look at hosts that no longer have an owner.

Install Host on purpose. The features page describes silent install routes for a managed rollout: MSI for Windows, MDM, and shell scripts. That is how a twenty-PC office gets unattended access without twenty phone calls. It is also how you avoid the pattern CISA describes, where a person is pushed into running remote-access software they did not plan to keep (CISA guide, published 6 June 2023, checked October 2026).

1. Open the code DeskZap shows on the caller's screen.

2. Read the nine digits to the technician.

3. Stay on the line until the technician is visible on the display.

4. Do not create a password, approve a permanent install, or hand over a Windows login.

On DeskZap the code is valid for five minutes and the customer side does not require an account (DeskZap features page, checked October 2026). That is the whole attended contract. If the same caller becomes a managed client, you book a separate change: install Host, name the device owner, put the PC in a group, and tell them the code flow is no longer how you will reach that machine.

Quick Assist asks for a similar human moment. The sharer must click Allow, and control is a second request (Microsoft Learn, checked October 2026). Microsoft also logs a small amount of session health data, including start and end time, and says it does not view the actions inside the session and does not store sharer or helper data for longer than three days. That is a clear data note, and it is still Microsoft's service, with Microsoft's accounts for the helper. A desk that wants the log, the roles and the host list in its own workspace is buying a different product. That product is DeskZap.

One technician supporting their own two computers can start on Starter at £5 per user per month or £50 per year. The 7-day trial is that feature set: up to 2 managed computers, file transfer, clipboard sync and session logging (DeskZap pricing page, checked October 2026).

The moment a second technician joins the queue, Business is the plan that matches the work. It is £7 per user per month or £70 per year, with up to 10 managed computers per operator, multi-user management, device tagging and grouping, and granular permissions. Three technicians on Business are £21 per month or £210 per year. Ten managed computers each is 30 machines before you need Advanced.

Advanced, at £10 per user per month or £100 per year, is the step up when the desk needs no concurrent session limit, API access, webhooks, or the relay on infrastructure it manages. USB device redirection and pen support, for buyers who need a security key, scanner or stylus to pass into a session, are part of DeskZap Support, as is session recording with retention alongside the activity log.

Run one attended code and one Host connection in the trial, with two different operator names, and read the activity log afterwards. If both lines are there, the desk has the model it needs. Pricing is on the support plan pricing page. The control list is on IT support features. The first-hour setup is in the five-minute deployment guide.