Software that lets a user control a local computer from a remote location via a network connection. The software is installed at both ends, and both local and remote users can control the machine. Each user sees the same screen display as if they were both looking at the same machine.

Also known as "desktop sharing," "remote desktop sharing" and "application sharing," remote control software is used to provide instruction and technical support to remote users at their computers as well as take control of an unattended computer from a remote location.

Remote Control Vs. Remote Node
In remote control, only keystrokes and mouse movement are sent from the remote machine, and only screen changes are sent back to the remote. All application processing takes place in the local computer.

In contrast, a remote node setup is the normal way remote users log in to the company network. All data flows to the remote machine as if it were a local PC. With high-speed connections, remote node is the preferred method; however, if an enormous amount of data on the network must be processed by a remote user who has only a dial-up connection or perhaps a slow computer, the remote control method can be used. Instead of passing all the data to the remote PC, the user's unattended local PC performs the processing under the control of the remote PC. The remote user will not have the actual data files, but will have the results of the processing on the remote screen, which can be captured and saved. See application sharing, Remote Desktop and VNC.