How to govern attended and unattended remote access. When it comes to remote access, most organizations just follow general guidelines. But for larger environments, that's often not enough. In this video, we'll walk you through a practical framework for choosing the right remote access mode, covering consent standards, privilege roles, and how to collect evidence that aligns with your KPIs. Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to NinjaOne's IT Video Hub and our YouTube channel for more tech content like this. Step one: set mode selection rules. Start by documenting when to use attended versus unattended access. If you've used remote access before, your past cases are a great starting point. When to use attended remote access. Attended access is when the user is present on their device while a technician connects. It's best for customer service and IT help desk teams that need to resolve issues right away. When to use unattended remote access. Unattended access is when technicians connect to a device without the user present. Ideal for IT maintenance, updates, and non-urgent fixes. With these guidelines set, your team can consistently determine which mode to use. Step two: refine the processes for both attended and unattended remote access. Next, let's make sure both access modes are efficient and secure. Enforce consent and etiquette in attended sessions. For attended sessions, clear communication is key to faster resolutions and happier users. A few best practices. Always prompt the user for consent before connecting. Talk through what you're doing before taking control. Confirm the issue, affected apps, and expected outcome up front. Wrap up by reviewing the fix and next steps before ending the session. Lock down unattended access. For unattended sessions, the focus shifts to security and compliance. Here are some key practices to put in place. Limit access to approved technicians only. Require multi-factor authentication. Log every connection. Use time-bound approvals or access tokens for one-off access. Review technician group membership monthly to prevent permission drift. Step three: define data handling and file transfer rules. Data transfers during remote sessions are easy to overlook, but defining clear rules around them is critical. It strengthens security, keeps your team consistent, and ensures everything is auditable. A few rules worth setting. Define when file transfers are allowed, such as for patches or diagnostics only. Specify where transferred files and session recordings must be stored. Set guidelines for redacting personally identifiable information and other sensitive business data. Require ticket references for every file transfer to maintain traceability. Step four: capture session evidence and outcomes. Consistent session documentation makes audits and monthly reviews a lot smoother. At a minimum, each session record should include: a log of commands run and configuration changes made, the session start and end times, a link to the related support ticket. For unattended sessions, include the maintenance task ID and affected targets where applicable. Step five: review the monthly performance of remote sessions. The last step is setting up a regular assessment process. A simple one-page report covering these metrics is a good place to start. First contact resolution, FCR. Mean time to resolve, MTTR. Repeat visit rate. Attended versus unattended session ratio. Common failure causes. Use these insights to fine-tune your process and coach your team. Attended and unattended access work best together. By standardizing how you choose modes, handle consent, manage roles, and capture session evidence, you can scale your remote support without sacrificing security or user experience. For more information, check out our official blog post on how to govern attended and unattended remote access, linked in the description below.