Expand your Chromebook's capabilities with TeamViewer

Google Chromebooks originally carved out a niche market of people looking for inexpensive, lightweight computers with considerable battery power. Even their ways of work, namely the G-Suite of Google apps, changed how people worked with documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Yet, until recently, it’s been difficult for IT to support Chromebook users.

As the market has grown, Chrome OS developed, and manufacturers added more features. Most Chromebooks can download Android apps. Many can hook into docking stations and power true work-from-home setups.

Chromebooks have become a viable device for workers. Moreover, over 60 percent of US students use Chromebooks to get schoolwork done in classrooms and at home. They all want to see the primary benefits of Chromebooks, including:

• Lower cost (on average) than laptops
• Smaller size and greater portability
• All-day battery life
• Frequently updated operating system and apps

2020: Year of the Chromebook?

Chromebook popularity was made even clearer during the pandemic as workers and children had to find ways to work from home. IT departments were left to figure out how to support devices and an operating system that hadn’t been on their networks before, whether the organization purchased these Chromebooks in a rush or workers were left to use what they had laying around the house.

And what if those workers, who are now working from home, are dependent on having a powerful workstation at their disposal, like engineers, architects, or graphic designers? Chromebooks can do a lot of things (and that list is growing all the time), but none can run those sorts of heavy-duty applications natively. They simply weren’t built for that.

With TeamViewer, you can minimize many of the common challenges Chromebooks face, like:

• Lack of robust processing power
• Lack of available enterprise-level apps
• Lack of interoperability with other platforms and operating systems

Widening the Capabilities

Because Chrome OS is tied to both Android and Linux, TeamViewer has been available to provide remote control through your Chromebook for quite some time. This makes working from home more productive since you can remote in to a more powerful office workstation and use those applications and files as though you were there, without any lag.

How’s that possible? The only data being shared are the image changes on the screen. In other words, Chromebooks don’t have to have powerful graphics cards, terabytes of storage, or fast processors in order for you to work remotely with resource-intensive applications. And that alone vastly expands the capabilities of the Chromebook.

Remote workers can also access network resources without having to expand your VPN costs. Unlike VPN, with TeamViewer Remote Access, no data leaves your premises so there’s no strain on VPN bandwidth.

Supporting Chromebooks Remotely

Providing support to Chromebooks has never been the platform’s strong suit, especially remotely. There simply hasn’t been much of a need. Until now, the Chromebook’s primary use case was in schools, where devices tended not to leave the building and there were plenty of adults to monitor usage and help when problems came up.

But now that Chromebooks are more widely used at home for distance learning and in business settings, IT departments are seeing the need to support not only their investment in Chromebooks but also their networks. After all, Chrome OS is still an unfamiliar operating system to many — not to mention all the challenges that inherently come with working remotely.

With TeamViewer, technical support or help desk personnel can remotely access Chromebooks from a PC, Mac, or mobile device to see what’s happening both while it’s attended in use or unattended without an active user. In attended mode, support providers can use pointers to help guide users through solving their problems or train them how to use new tools.

Chromebooks Supporting Chromebooks

Remote connections between Chromebooks is a rare capability, especially with cloud-based providers. TeamViewer has recently made this capability possible, so you can stay connected even if you have many Chromebook users. Technical support can experience the benefits of Chromebooks, like portability and battery life, while still helping their customers.

Chromebook-to-Chromebook connections can also change how teachers interact with students that are used to getting more attention in classroom settings. Plus, many teachers use school-issued Chromebooks. With TeamViewer, they can connect to their students’ computers to give feedback, teach lessons, and guide them through challenges, just as they would if they were still in the classroom. Of course, this also helps ensure students stay on task.

2020 has brought a set of remote work challenges that no one could have predicted. Working remotely with Chromebooks and TeamViewer can be a great way to overcome them effectively, efficiently — without bloating an already-stressed IT budget.

With TeamViewer, you can support Chromebooks, use Chromebooks to provide support to other users, and help your organization become nimbler in the process by leveraging Chromebooks’ cost savings and portability.