Remote Incident Manager (RIM)

Here are answers to some common questions concerning RIM. When faced with an issue, please refer to this document whenever possible. If your question is not covered in this document, please Contact us.

Compatibility

What Windows versions are supported?

We support Windows10 and above, as well as Windows Server2016 and up.

What Mac OS versions(s) are supported?

RIM supports Mac OS Ventura along with future versions, be they Intel or Apple Silicon. You as a Mac user can provide support to Windows targets, and Windows users can provide support to your Mac.

What about Mac OS versions before Ventura?

Some features of RIM depend on functionality newly introduced in Ventura, making compatibility with previous versions difficult to implement.

Installation

Why so many permissions requests on Mac OS?

This is unfortunately beyond our control, as Mac OS requires that we use their avenues for requesting the necessary permissions needed for RIM. We have no control over the UX, so can only go as far as providing as much instruction as we can.

Connection Information

Generally speaking, how responsive is RIM?

The roundtrip latency during an RIM session is extremely minimal. Because we don’t rely on a central service, most of the time your connections are direct from one computer to another - this is what is known as peer-to-peer. If your network configuration doesn’t allow for peer-to-peer connections, we fall back to any number of relays located around the world rather than relying on one central server. Thus, even then your latency will still be farely minimal.

Where are your relays located?

Currently, we offer relays in the following locations:

• U.S.
  • Virginia
  • California
• Teronto, Canada
• London, England
• Warsaw, Poland
• Bangalore, India
• Singapore
• Sidney, Australia
• Sao Paulo, Brazil

General Session Troubleshooting

The target machine to which I am connected doesn’t respond properly to keyboard commands that work fine on my keyboard. What’s going on?

This could be due to either one of these possibilities:

• A conflict in keyboard layouts: On rare occasions, if a keyboard layout is different enough from your own it may confuse RIM. Should that occur, please contact us with a report containing information about the keyboard layout of both machines.
• If the target machine is using JAWS 2024, its unified keyboard processing sometimes interferes with use of the CTRL key for silencing speech. Although we deployed a fix for this, issues sometimes may still arise.
  • This issue can be resolved by disabling unified keyboard processing in the JAWS settings center.
  • Unified keyboard processing is not necessary if the target user is not also using ZoomText or Fusion.
• If the target machine is using NVDA and has “Handle keys from other applications” unchecked, RIM will not be able to process keyboard input from the controller.
  • Note that this setting is on by default, and in most cases it is advisable to leave it on.

When starting a voice conversation on Windows, RIM uses the internal microphone no matter which microphone I select in sound settings. What’s wrong?

This may be due to the Intel® Smart Sound Technology for Digital Microphones on some newer Intel processors. Disabling this should fix the issue. In order to disable Intel® Smart Sound Technology for Digital Microphones, do the following:

1. Go to the run box (Windows+R).
2. Type devmgmt.msc
3. In the devices tree, expand “Sound, Video and Game Controllers.”
4. Right click on “Intel® Smart Sound Technology for Digital Microphones.” Choose “Disable Device” from the context menu.

The target is using Zoom Text. How do I experience the visual output as rendered by this magnification?

This is accomplished by switching ZoomText to compatibility mode. This mode allows screen enhancements to be shared via tools like Teams or Zoom, as well as RIM. You can activate it via the ZoomText menu: Help > Advance > Display adapter. In the open dialog, select compatibility mode, and ZoomText will restart. We recommend switching the Display adapter back to its regular mode after the RIM session is complete for optimal performance and magnification quality.

After a computer is reimaged and has been reconfigured with the same computer name, is there anything that needs to be done to get RIM up and running again?

Simply remove the machine from your account, reinstall RIM, then add the machine back into your account.

Pricing and Payments

So, getting help from a person over RIM is totally free, right?

You bet! The subscriptions and/or one-off payments are for individuals and organizations seeking to offer remote assistance. No need to worry about getting a subscription if you’re the person receiving help. In fact, you do not even have to set up an account if you are merely receiving help.

I don’t really do remote assistance regularly, but I may be helping a friend or family member on occasion. Are there any options that don’t involve a subscription?

Certainly! We do accommodate as many use cases as we can.

• Anyone can assist a user over RIM for free for up to 30 minutes a day. So if you need to help someone install some software, fix a problem real quick, or send over a few files, we’ve got you covered. These minutes don’t have to be used in one sitting.
• There are, of course, going to be situations where a particular issue requires a little more time. Or maybe you’re assisting someone learning a new piece of software and might be connecting on and off over the next few days or weeks. That’s where our passes come in.
  • Incident passes allow you to connect to a single target as many times as is needed over a 24 hour period.
  • Day passes allow you to connect to multiple targets over a 24 hour period.
  • Pro passes allow you to leverage all of RIM’s pro capabilities with non-recurring 1 week, 2 week, or month-long terms.
  • Packages of prepaid hours allow you to have a set number of hours available to be used entirely on your own time.
• You can accumulate several of these passes and hourly packages and use them whenever the time calls for them. If you have multiple day passes, for instance, you do not need to use them consecutively. Similarly, You don’t need to use your prepaid hours in one session or 24 hour period.

I purchased a package of prepaid hours. What happens to my free daily allotment?

Good news: Your free 30 minute daily allotment is not going anywhere! When you start a keyword-based session, RIM will start off by using your free 30 minute daily allotment. Your prepaid time will be used after your free 30 minutes is up.

How long will my prepaid hours last? Are they tied in with my subscription?

Prepaid hours are entirely separate from your subscription. That being said, your prepaid hours will remain in your account for one (1) year past the date they were first used.

How do I go about bringing RIM to the attention of my place of work?

We’ve assembled a Self-Advocacy Kit (SAK). A packet of e-mail formatted letters you can send to appropriate individuals on behalf of yourself or an employee. For the record, RIM provides the same functionality as less accessible mainstream solutions. As such, RIM can replace an existing infrastructure, rather than be used alongside one. It is therefore considered a reasonable accessibility accommodation and should be provided to you by your organization. Accessibility isn’t a favor, it’s a right to inclusivity.

What payment methods do you accept?

We process payments through FastSpring, so we are able to directly accept a variety of international payment methods including major credit cards, PayPal, Alipay, and many more.

How do these passes work? Does the clock start immediately upon payment, or on the day I initiate the session?

Passes only begin when the controller initiates the session. So if the target’s machine fails on them requiring a trip to the shop and a same-day turnaround is not possible, you can simply hold off until the machine is back in good shape and your day pass will still be waiting for you.

So this means these passes don’t expire?

No. Rest assured that your accumulation of day passes will be waiting patiently for you to activate them whenever you’re ready.

What happens if I connect to another machine on the day an incident pass has been used?

That depends. If the machine is within your subscription, I.E. if you’re accessing your home machine while on the road, then it’s business as usual. Any other connections that aren’t the initial target you connected to will work under the usual 30 minute allotment.

I hold an active personal subscription. Would I still be able to assist a user outside the group of targets for up to 30 minutes, or via a pass?

Yes! Your 30 minute daily allotment is still present for any machine outside of your subscription. Additionally, acquiring a subscription does not replace any existing passes you may have.

I have a personal subscription, and the target computer underwent a hardware upgrade. Will Rim count this as a machine switch?

Only if RIM needs to be reinstalled. So, while a hard drive upgrade or any other situation requiring a Windows reinstallation would be considered a machine switch, upgrading the ram would not.

Our company bought the pro subscription, but we have two techs - one that does help-desk during the day, and a system maintenance tech that works in the evening. Would we be able to assign the evening sysadmin a controller seat?

Definitely. In situations where multiple technitions will be using RIM, we offer up to two (2) additional controller seats for $50 a month per seat - $500 a year per seat - to accompany the pro plan if needed. This will make it easier for multiple controllers at different workstations or offices to provide remote support.
If you have multiple controller seats, you can purchase additional channels for them so that sessions can run simultaneously. Each additional channel is $50 a month, or $500 a year.

Security

Are RIM sessions encrypted?

Yes. All sessions across all platforms, be they direct peer-to-peer connections or connections using a relay, are encrypted end to end using Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS). This is the same technology seen in the HTTPS protocol that modern websites implement for security.

Can Pneuma Solutions eavesdrop on sessions relayed by the public cloud?

No. Session key negotiation and encryption are performed end to end between the controller and the target. In other words, everything is encrypted before it even leaves your device. That way, the cloud service merely relays the data as is, making it impossible for the service to decipher the data.

What measures have been taken to prevent remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities?

All RIM code which is exposed to input from the network is written in memory-safe programming languages including Rust and JavaScript.

Is RIM HIPAA-compliant?

Yes. The best configuration in this case would be an on-premises deployment, so please get in touch with us if your use case depends on this.

Do any ports need to be opened on the target or controller?

No and no.

What connections would need to be allowed on a network in order for RIM to function?

When utilizing the public cloud, an https connection to getrim.app is required. In optimal cases this is enough for RIM to establish a peer-to-peer connection between the controller and the target. However, it helps to allow UDP connections through ports 19302 and 3478 (the standard STUN and TURN ports). This ensures that if a relay is being utilized, RIM will not have to fall back to a tcp connection on port 443.

Does RIM run in the background, and if so will it appear in my Command+Tab list?

RIM runs in the background in order to process automatic updates, receive unattended/prompted connection requests, and enable use of the global Option+Shift+Backspace keyboard command. It will not phone home for any other purpose, and no personally identifiable information is transferred.
RIM will not appear in your Command+Tab list, but it will appear in the status menus that contain your battery, WiFi connection information, etc.

Remote Accessibility Module

Is there anything the target machine needs to configure for first-time use of the Remote Accessibility Module?

Not at all! There are no dialogue boxes, permission request screens or anything of the sort.

Does the Remote Accessibility Module work on secure screens such as the lock screen?

Yes! Since the RIM host runs with elevated privileges, this allows us to leverage the Remote Accessibility Module for secure screens. The only exception to this is FileVault’s logon window.

Unattended Sessions

Are voice conversations supported during unattended sessions?

Yes. However, they cannot be initiated unless the end user is physically present to accept a permission request. This allows for voice conversations while ensuring maximum privacy and security.

If I delete an unattended machine from my controller account, will it automatically revoke permission on the target?

Yes. Once an unattended target is removed, the change will be effective immediately. If the target machine is powered down or otherwise not connected to the internet, the change will be effective as soon as an internet connection is established on their machine.

The target machine rebooted after installing updates and drivers, and it requires a password to log in. How does the session continue from here?

In most instances, particularly when FileVault disk encryption is enabled, the target user will need to manually enter the password. RIM cannot start on an encrypted Mac before it has been fully logged in.

I have multiple machines playing the part of the controller. Will the list of machines set up for unattended access populate across all machines?

Yes. The list of machines configured for unattended access is stored within your account, so it will populate automatically.

Tips and Tricks

Welcome to the Tips and Tricks section of our FAQ! We’re thrilled to share some handy insights and nuggets of wisdom to enhance your RIM experience. That said, as with all great adventures, there are a few caveats to keep in mind:

1. The tech world is like a box of chocolates – always full of surprises. Our tips are based on a number of factors, including but not limited to the version of RIM and operating system version used by the creator of the tip. As RIM evolves, some of these tips might become less relevant. Stay updated with the latest version for the best experience!
2. One Size Doesn’t Fit All. Our software is designed to cater to a diverse range of needs, but every user’s journey is unique. What works like a charm for one might be less enchanting for another. Feel free to adapt these tips to your specific needs and preferences.
3. While some of these tips may come from us, many of these tips come straight from our vibrant community of users (like you!). While we celebrate this shared knowledge, remember that these suggestions are based on personal experiences and might not have been vetted by our tech wizards.

If you’re ever in doubt or have questions, our support team is just a message away. We don’t bite, we promise!

By using these tips, you acknowledge and agree to the above disclaimer. Now, go forth and explore the potential of RIM with these tricks up your sleeve!

Listening to the microphone audio of one of your personal machines (Windows)

In the interest of ensuring maximum privacy, RIM does not support voice conversations during fully unattended sessions. There however may be times where you may want to hear audio coming from a device near one of your remote computers. For example, you may have a clock radio near your desktop, and you may be using your laptop on the porch. While the quality may not be the greatest, RIM can make for an excellent makeshift wireless audio solution!

Setting up your target machine to listen to its microphone audio will involve piping the microphone audio through to its speakers. As you’re aiming to hear the microphone from within a remote session, we first need to lower your speaker volume to avoid a feedback loop. In order to do that:

1. Open the run box (Windows+R).
2. Type sndvol, then press enter.
3. Press the end key to reach 0%, then press up arrow once to reach 1%. As you can see, RIM does not take the actual volume of the target machine into consideration when outputting its audio.
4. Exit out of volume mixer.

With your volume now lowered, it’s time to enable your microphone’s listen function.

1. Open Windows Settings (Windows+I). Search for microphone. Locate Microphone Privacy in the list and press Enter. Make sure that “Microphone Access” and “Let apps Access your microphone” are both toggled on.
2. Press Windows+R again, and this time, type mmsys.cpl to open the sound settings.
3. Once in sound settings, access the recording tab (Ctrl+Tab).
4. Select the microphone or line-in device you want to listen to, then access the properties with Alt+P.
5. Once in the properties, CTRL+Tab to the listen tab, and check the “Listen to this Device” checkbox.
6. CTRL+Tab one more time to the Levels section, and adjust the gain of the microphone to a level that will be sufficient for you. Press enter when done.

That’s it! You should now hear the microphone’s audio along with the rest of the remote machine’s output.