Can Microsoft Remote Desktop be monitored?

I may be hiring some remote employees and would like a way to track that they are working when they say they are.

Is there a way to track how and when someone connects via remote desktop to a computer? Is there a way remote desktop can record or piggyback/watch a session to see the work done?

When I say remote desktop, I mean the default RDP that comes with Windows.

Basically, I want to have some sort of backup for the employee so when he says he works 9-5, I can verify that he was on the computer doing something.

EDIT: Adding here as this came up, that the machines I wish to track that are getting remoted into are Windows XP machines.

EDIT 2: We got rid of those XP machine and are now using Windows 10. I would still be interested in a way to do what I'm asking for Windows 10. So far we still have been going off of the trust system but I would still like a concrete way to tell. The email answer might let me know when they get on and off, but not if they are away from keyboard. The employee could log on and walk away and log out at 5pm and it would look like they are working. I'm thinking more of an idle tracker or something.

Today I’m going to discuss our unique approach to user activity monitoring on the modern network. Most corporate networks these days are hybrid, meaning some employee workstations are hosted in the cloud [e.g. Windows Virtual Desktop, DaaS, Remote Desktop Session Hosts / Citrix XenDesktop Hosts in Azure] and some are hosted on premises [physical desktops, on-premises virtual desktops, and Remote Desktop Session Hosts / Citrix XenDesktop Hosts].

Because of this, we have designed our solution’s architecture to support user activity monitoring in such heterogeneous networks. How so? Let’s dig deeper.

Terminal Server User Activity Monitoring – Soft Audit

In this use case, an organization uses Remote Desktop Session Hosts or Citrix XenDesktop Session Hosts to provide session-based workspaces for its employees. Management simply desires a “soft audit” of routine teleworker activity on a daily and weekly basis to correlate remote work with the hours that employees self-report when working offsite.

In this scenario, our Remote Desktop Commander Suite can be deployed without installing its optional agent service. User session data is collected remotely over the network, and aggregated into user time tracking reports like so:

You can monitor Terminal Server User Activity in a detailed fashion… Or you can monitor Terminal Server Users at a higher, executive level.

Note that we offer even more helpful information related to performing these kinds of “soft audits” in another article on viewing Remote Desktop sessions.

Remote Desktop User Activity Monitoring – Hard Audit

Of course, for more highly regulated industries, or special HR scenarios, more intensive user activity monitoring may be warranted – going well beyond the basic need to simply view Remote Desktop sessions. In this case, the Remote Desktop Reporter agent can be deployed on all Remote Desktop Session Hosts, Citrix XenDesktop Session Hosts, or Windows Virtual Desktop hosts, and Group Policy can be employed to launch a special in-session process that does periodic screen captures, as well as capture detailed information regarding program window captions and websites visited, inbound/outbound UDP/TCP activity, and program use, as shown below:

During a hard audit of user activity, administrators can step through screen captures When stepping through a full session recording, administrators can review all network connections and program window captions during the session. Administrators can also review what programs were running at given times in the user session. In order to find recorded sessions with specific activity, Remote Desktop Commander provides a search tool that can query by window title, port use, or program use.

Live RDP Session Monitoring

In some cases, managers may need the ability to do “live” or “spot check” RDP session monitoring of multiple user sessions from different terminal servers, Windows Virtual Desktops, or on-premises physical workstations all at once. Fortunately, the newer shadowing and remote assistance architecture in Windows Server 2012, Server 2016, Server 2019, and Windows 10 makes this possible. With a few clicks, a manager can keep an eye on multiple user sessions at once, no matter the system they are connected to, and zoom in/out to observe user activity tacitly in the background.

View and Monitor Multiple RDP Sessions At Once With the MiniView Dock

Virtual Desktop User Activity Monitoring

Of course, all of the above scenarios can be replicated if you also need to monitor virtual desktops or physical workstations. The Remote Desktop Commander agent can be deployed in the exact same manner, and once it has been so deployed, you can conduct both soft audits and hard audits of user activity in these environments as well, including the recently announced Windows Virtual Desktop platform in Azure.

Don’t Break the Bank To Monitor User Sessions

Many companies that specialize in user activity monitoring price their tools between $500 and $1000 a server. I think this is extremely expensive, and is cost prohibitive for most organizations.

Fortunately, for only $9.99 per server per month, and $1.29 per workstation per month, you can start auditing user sessions in your organization.

Interested? Find out more or start a monthly subscription.

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