I’ve wanted an alternative to the remote connectivity solutions for years. They all have huge problems, be that they cost huge amounts of money, take a lot of expertise to setup or require extensive user management, then there is the security question (yes we are all looking at you RDP). MoxyViewer has provide us with a complete solution to all these questions and the barrier to entry for the users is almost non-existent.

The lab structure for the NMR Facility, Spectroscopy Lab and the Structural Biology Facility is spread over four laboratories, three office areas and two buildings across the UNSW campus. In normal times this would be challenging to support users on the twenty plus instruments we have in our various labs. However, we have now added the “work from home” and social distancing factors which has complicated life very much. We have added another twenty computer work stations to the remote access list allowing students to access computer resources while not in the lab as the rooms are too compact to allow users into them. Moxy has proven to be versatile and scalable and a pleasure to administer and use.

MoxyViewer is the solution we never knew we needed.

Here at the Biomedical Imaging Facility at UNSW in the Mark Wainwright Analytical centre we have been granting remote access of our image analysis computers to our users for a long time. This is with the intention of supplying easy access to powerful computing power as part of our service, but until recently a crucial part was missing, ‘easy access’. Other solutions we had previously relied upon came with a wide-range of complications. Such as relying on our non-technical users to establish a VPN when off campus, expensive graphics cards not being utilised during remote sessions, administrative burden of controlling access and also having a record of what machines were accessed and when, just to name a few.

Thankfully, MoxyViewer has solved all of our remote access problems. It is an easier and more intuitive solution for our users and has freed up more time for our staff. Not only is it free, it is a more elegant solution than those demanding payment. We have expanded use of MoxyViewer now to also include access to our instruments, and I personally use it across all my devices.

As Manager of the Flow Cytometry Facility at UNSW in the Mark Wainwright Analytical centre coping with essential services remotely has been a challenge. We have projects involving Covid-19+ samples from known positive patients and we also have families, with small children at home learning to home school. MoxyViewer has been crucial to our capabilities of working remotely and from home during this time, we are able to log in to the computers driving the instruments that are analysing these samples from home. It’s a safe option rather than going in ourselves, it has minimised the use of PPE, enabled me to train the operators up so they are capable of running the instruments themselves. We have troubleshot software ‘quirks’ that would otherwise be difficult to explain and transferred files on a daily basis.

We used other programs but as soon as the trial period ended we were stuck if we did not pay. MoxyViewer is free and easy to install, we even installed it remotely for our colleagues that were in the lab while we were at home. The refresh rate is very good, no lag, it makes it easy to drive the software for the user and create templates prior to their arrival minimising their exposure to samples in the lab.

We have found it so useful, thank you Unilab for providing us with the tools we need to remotely access all our instruments and support our researchers.

The Electron Microscope Unit at UNSW is using MoxyTouch screens for users to sign-in and out of labs and for communication with our users. We have found them straightforward to set up and run and the support has been very responsive. It’s great that the screen display content is easy to customise and use. This makes it simple to keep the information up to date and relevant.Our users have found the interface easy to navigate and understand. We have one MoxyTouch unit in a lab that is not always staffed. The Alert widget allows our users an extra way to contact staff quickly in the event of a problem and also makes it clear to other users that there has been a problem.

We are excited about all of the capabilities that this system promises and are continuing to develop its use within the EMU.