Agents can issue connection requests to controllers (connect to the controllers), as opposed to ordinary connections. The agent that has issued a connection request is displayed as an icon in the Agent Manager window on the controller. Simply double-clicking this icon on the controller starts Remote Control on the agent. This enables you to quickly service requests from agents. In various situations, such as when you access the help desk, you can issue a connection request from the agent to multiple controllers simultaneously. This helps reduce the time required to solve a problem because the agent can connect to the controller best able to service your request more quickly.

The advantages of this feature are as follows:

• Communication charges on the agent
  Since the agent initiates the connection procedure, the agent can shoulder the communication charges required for support.
  
• Enhanced security
  Since this feature is independent of the ordinary connection function, you need not start the agent in order to issue a connection request to the controller. The agent only connects to the controller to which it has issued a request to start Remote Control. This helps prevent illegal access to Remote Control.
  
• RAS environment and DHCP environment (environment in which IP addresses are assigned dynamically)
  If an agent is in an RAS or DHCP environment and has no fixed IP address, you must report the agent's IP address to the controller by telephone or mail. This task is not required when an agent issues a connection request to the controller.
  

Before you can use this feature, you must set up the controller and agents as described in the following figure.

Figure 1-8 Settings needed for an agent to issue a connection request to a controller

For information about the settings on the controller, see 4.4.4 Receiving connection requests from agents. For information about the setting on the agent, see 5.3 Connection requests issued to controllers.