How to give Remote Access in the Coviu Desktop Application

This article covers how you would provide remote access to your client, allowing them to interact with games, assessments and other resources e.g. Boom Cards or Super Duper.

NOTE: To provide your client with remote access, you will need to install our Coviu Desktop Application. Visit this page to learn more.

Last Updated: Aug 2024

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Click below to see how to use Boom in a Coviu call and how to give your clinet remote control.

Why is there a Desktop Application?

Coviu is generally used as a Web application where clients go to a Web address, sign in, and offer their virtual care services.

However, there are a number of limitations that a Web application has to deal with and they all relate to the limitations of system access by a Web browser.

The biggest limitation is that a Web application is unable to offer remote control to another video call participant. Remote control means that a clinician shares their whole desktop or an application window with a remote participant and gives them control over their mouse and keyboard input. The remote participant can then interact with applications on the computer of the clinician.

Use cases

The most common use case for remote control is probably in school aged services where a clinician wants a remote child to interact with games or other interactive materials on their computer e.g. Boom Cards. This is very common in speech therapy, but also in use for occupational therapy and mental health assessments.

Another use case could be in audiology where a hearing device is connected to a patient's computer and the remote clinician can get access to the device settings to "tune" it to the patient's needs (also called "remote fitting"). In this use case, the patient will have the desktop application installed on their computer and allow the clinician to remote control their computer.

Steps for using Remote Control

To enable the use of Remote Control, follow these instructions:

Start the installed and configured Desktop Application.
Sign into your account.
Enter a video call and connect with a client.

From within the video call:

Click the APPS & TOOLS button toward the bottom right corner.
In the menu that appears, click Start a screenshare.
You will need to share your whole Desktop screen to enable remote control.

When in the "screenshare" or "share a website" application, there is a button on your toolbar (at the top right hand side of the call screen) which looks like a computer screen (See example below). Click this button to share your screen and mouse with your client.

A pop-up will appear on your screen to identify who is gaining shared access.
- If more than one client is in the call, all participants will be listed. The mouse can only be shared with one client at a time, thus, a provider would need to stop mouse control with one client before initiating with another.

As the clinician, you will be prompted to confirm that you are allowing your client to have access to your screen.
The clinician will see a note at the bottom of their screen that tells them who is controlling their computer. They can stop this access by clicking the Stop button.
Provider view:

At the same time, the client will have a notification that they are controlling the screen of the provider and they to can stop the remote control by clicking the Stop button.
Client view:
Once the clinician initiates the shared controls, the clinician will have a new screen pop out. This is the screen that allows the shared mouse control that the client and clinician will work from. To best utilize the pop out screen as the working screen, the clinician has a few options:
- If working on two monitors: Move the popout screen to a second monitor to use in session.
- If working on one monitor:
  - Overlay this screen with the original Coviu platform room so that you can see the student video feed in the platform and work on the shared popout screen (if you are working on one monitor).

- - Switch between screens: On Windows, users can use the alt+tab keys to switch between windows. This can be used to switch between the main Coviu window and the pop-up window. On Mac, users can use the cmd+tab keys to switch between the main Coviu window and the pop-up window.
  - Side by side: On Windows, users can tile two windows side-by-side. To move one window to half of the screen, either drag the title bar to the left or right hand edge of the screen, or press start-left or start-right.
  - Windows 11 also has "snap layouts" explained in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b11saSsXwPs

NOTE: The Desktop Application has a "Boom Learning" and a "Super Duper" Application button built-in. These buttons (in APPS & TOOLS) open up a screen share with the Boom Learning or Super Duper website in an overlay, so you don't have to screen share your whole computer. The buttons also automatically activate the sound in the screen share, so your client can hear the sound associated with shared games and activities.

Pro tip: Log into your Boom Learning or Super Duper account before starting use of the app!

More Support Options

You have completed another Coviu help article. You now know how to offer remote control to your desktop or a Boom application on your Enterprise platform.

If this is not what you were looking for, explore our knowledge base and search for another article from here.

If you still require any assistance, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our friendly Customer Success team using any of the contact methods available here.

Author: KM