ISL Light vs. Remote Desktop Services

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ISL Light
Score 9.3 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
ISL Light is remote support and remote access software that enables SMBs and large enterprises to offer fast and efficient support and maintenance for Windows, Mac and Linux computers as well as mobile device support for Android and iOS.
$34.90
per month (billed annually) per concurrent user
Remote Desktop Services
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Remote Desktop Services from Microsoft is virtual desktop and remote user session technology.N/A
Pricing
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
Editions & Modules
Standard
$34.90
per month (billed annually) per concurrent user
Self-Hosted
$44.90
per month (billed annually) per concurrent user
Premium
$54.90
per month (billed annually) per concurrent user
Enterprise (Managed Private Cloud)
$23,976
per year 20 concurrent users
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsISL Online's pricing model considers the number of licenses purchased, which determines the maximum number of concurrent users within the organization. A concurrent user is defined as anyone running one or more sessions simultaneously from any device. There are no restrictions on the number of ISL Light users within a company or the remote devices managed. For example, with three licenses, an unlimited number of people in a company can use ISL Light and can access an unlimited number of remote devices, but only three users can use it concurrently. When one of these three users ends their session, a fourth user can begin their session, and so on.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
Features
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
Remote Administration
Comparison of Remote Administration features of Product A and Product B
ISL Light
7.8
Ratings
4% below category average
Remote Desktop Services
8.9
Ratings
9% above category average
Screen sharing7.10 Ratings9.30 Ratings
File transfer6.70 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Instant message6.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication8.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Access to sleeping/powered-off computers6.70 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Over-the-Internet remote session8.60 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Initiate remote control from mobile7.40 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Remote management of servers & workstations8.50 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Remote Active Directory® management8.70 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Centralized management dashboard8.20 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Session record8.20 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Annotations8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Monitoring and Alerts7.90 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Multi-platform remote control8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
Small Businesses
Getscreen.me
Getscreen.me
Score 9.7 out of 10
Getscreen.me
Getscreen.me
Score 9.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Remote Desktop Manager
Remote Desktop Manager
Score 9.0 out of 10
Remote Desktop Manager
Remote Desktop Manager
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Remote Desktop Manager
Remote Desktop Manager
Score 9.0 out of 10
Remote Desktop Manager
Remote Desktop Manager
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
Likelihood to Recommend
7.5
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(0 ratings)
6.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.1
(0 ratings)
6.6
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(0 ratings)
5.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(0 ratings)
3.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
Likelihood to Recommend
Perfect for remotely accessing user machines. Better than any of the competitors such as Anydesk etc. Feels a lot safer and the auto rollout makes it perfect for large organisations and small Cannot think of a case when it's less appropriate!
Read full review
Remote Desktop Services provides access to work environments from any device. This allows us to ensure business continuity in case of disaster. It provides admins more control over access and security. Remote Desktop Services simplifies software updates and compliance management by reducing the need to act on end users devices.
Read full review
Pros
  • Prikaz strani na kateri se nahaja uporabnik
  • Prikaz kontaktov uporabnikov
  • Zgodovina pogovorov s strankami
  • Možnost spreminjanja statusa dosegljivosti
  • Nalaganje datotek, zajemov slik,..
  • Klepetalnik, ki je enostaven za uporabo
  • Nas obvesti, da smo dobili sporočilo, tudi če smo izven klepetalnika
  • Display the page the user is on
  • Displaying user contacts
  • Customer conversation history
  • Ability to change availability status
  • Uploading files, capturing images, etc.
  • An easy-to-use chatbot
  • Notifies us that we have received a message, even if we are outside the chat room
Read full review
  • Relative ease of setup: in comparison to some of the other solutions on the market (Citrix, etc.), Remote Desktop Services is rather easy to set up and get configured in your environment.
  • Feature set: Microsoft offers a good deal of the same features many competitors offer in the same space including a mobile app and the ability to have a "native" app feel for a remote application.
  • Inexpensive Licensing: in comparison to other solutions on the market Remote Desktop Services is inexpensive.
  • Move LOB applications closer to their server counterparts: this goes for all remote solutions, but if you have a line of business application that makes a great deal of calls across the network to your data center, your remote office users will likely benefit from the performance and stability side by moving those client side applications into the data center.
Read full review
Cons
  • Need a control toggle at least on AlwaysOn. User moves the mouse and you lose all control instantly.
  • Clipboard features are a bit wonky still, and your clipboard seems to get emptied a lot. So if you're trying to copy and paste you might lose something
  • Passwords for the systems are saved per machine, so if you work from multiple devices it can be tricky if you have complex passwords
Read full review
  • Advanced configuration is required.
  • Off-site access from a different network is very insecure unless a VPN can be used.
  • It's complicated and relatively costly for multi-user environments, as each user or device requires a CAL on top of the server licensing.
  • Incredibly complicated licensing strategy from Microsoft.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
We are renew the license for 10 years now and we do not see why would change that. It just gets better with every new version.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Usability
It is very easy to use. You hardly need any computer knowledge to learn how to use it, as everything is displayed in easily recognizable icons. Although its appearance does not look cutting-edge, it could have a more modern look, but it must be said that everything is understandable, and with just a couple of taps on each icon that appears, you already know what each thing is for, and it allows you to use it skillfully and fluidly. Everything is perfect in this regard.
Read full review
Once set up it works well and is extremely easy for users. Getting it right can be difficult, it is easy to setup insecurely. Maintenance can be difficult with only a single broker and with manual switchover required for redundant gateways. Troubleshooting access issues can also be difficult
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
During the entere time of use, I have never come across any availability issues.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Performance
High performance!
Read full review
There are some third party tools available that allow you to manage multiple connections.
Read full review
Support Rating
We had issues with mouse skipping on mobile devices. Support is immediatly availabe, they examined our case and in one of the new versions of the app this problem was gone.
Read full review
As with any Microsoft Server product, support for Remote Desktop Services requires a paid support package. These are license-based and very costly, on top of the already costly product licensing. Microsoft's licensing is complicated to begin with, so setting up licensing alone essentially requires a licensing expert's counsel. There is community documentation and support available on Microsoft websites, as well as community websites.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
It was so easy!
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
In our specific case user console simplicity in ISL light is a major positive for ISL light. ISL always on agent for unattended access is vastly superior to TeamViewer's solution. TeamViewer has become bloated in recent years, changing things for the sake of changing them, rather than improving their offering. One advantage TeamViewer has is a copy-paste file function that does not require the use of cumbersome file transfer tool.
Read full review
We used RDS on-site primarily because of how easy it is for users to transition from their own desktop to a remote desktop. However, from off-site, there are VPN and other security considerations to take into account, and the process gets a little more complex. In this situation, especially if you're trying to support a user who is outside the local network, it can be easier to use something like Chrome Remote Desktop or TeamViewer. However, the Windows functionality of RDS is totally unmatched.
Read full review
Scalability
Easy to deploy onto new devices. Ability to group devices so they can managed remotely efficiently.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • We can now help our customers within minutes. Sending a technician could take hours or even days.
  • We can immediately help customers who are stuck and unable to refuel so that they can continue their journey.
  • We can now quickly resolve warranty cases, so that it hardly costs us any money.
Read full review
  • Remote Desktop Services has had a major positive ROI impact at our firm. There were a number of times when our staff was traveling abroad to business meetings with a laptop that had missing presentations. But once they had internet access, a Remote Desktop Services connection is established, and presentation data can now be shown directly from their laptops as if theyr'e sitting in our office.
  • Remote Desktop Services has made it possible for Mac staff users to use their computing devices to access our network system to run Windows applications and access all our network data.
  • Remote Desktop Services has made it possible for our staff to successfully work remotely from outside the office. There were many occasions when emergencies came up which prevented staff from coming into the office to work. But as long as they have a computer with an internet connection, they used Remote Desktop Services to connect to our terminal server and successfully ran the programs to modify data files on the network without losing a beat.
Read full review
ScreenShots

ISL Light Screenshots

Screenshot of remote access control in ISL Light.Screenshot of unattended access setup. Access can be allowed to as many computers as desired.Screenshot of a connection with a remote client, which can be set up by sending an email or sharing a link.Screenshot of interactions with the Windows UAC on a remote device.Screenshot of the dual panel File Manager, used to transfer files.Screenshot of the web console where remote desktop sessions can be managed from a web browser.