Handling Support Requests When the User Is Away: Caisey's Unattended Diagnostics

Every MSP has been there: a user calls in with a critical issue, but they're about to step into a meeting, or they're out sick and their machine needs a quick check. Traditional screen-sharing tools grind to a halt because they require someone at the keyboard to accept the session. Caisey takes a different approach. Because Caisey runs as an agent on enrolled endpoints, you can start diagnostics and even apply fixes without the user being present—as long as your approval policies are set up in advance. This article walks through a real-world scenario and shows how to make unattended support work for your team.

The Scenario: User Away, Machine Needs a Check

Imagine a user named Sarah. She's an accountant who works from home, and she's called in sick today. But her laptop is still enrolled in your MSP's fleet, and you've noticed from your monitoring dashboard that her machine hasn't synced with the domain controller in 24 hours. You suspect a DNS issue, but Sarah isn't available to click "Accept" on a screen-share request.

With Caisey, you don't need Sarah to be at the desk. The agent is already running on her laptop, and it can execute commands and gather information as long as your policy allows unattended sessions. You can pull event logs, test network connectivity, and even restart a stuck service—all without interrupting Sarah or waiting for her to return.

How Caisey Works Unattended

Caisey's architecture is built around enrolled endpoints. Each device runs a lightweight agent that maintains a persistent connection to the Caisey cloud UI through a bridge. This bridge isn't just a screen-share pipe; it carries commands, session context, and approval requests. When you initiate a session from the Caisey console, the agent checks the device's policy to see if it can run without interactive approval.

If the policy allows unattended access, the agent executes your commands and streams the output back to you. If the policy requires approval for certain actions, you'll see a pending request that stays in the queue until the user or a delegated approver accepts it. This means you can run read-only diagnostics immediately, but for more invasive fixes, you might need to wait—or you can pre-approve specific actions for trusted technicians.

Setting Up Approval Policies for Unattended Work

Caisey's approval-based remote support gives you granular control over what can happen without a user present. In the permissions settings, you can define rules like:

• Allow read-only commands (e.g., Get-Process, ipconfig) without approval.
• Require approval for any command that modifies system state (e.g., Restart-Service, Set-ItemProperty).
• Allow a specific technician or group to run unattended fixes on a subset of devices.

These policies are enforced by the agent, and every action is logged in the session history. For example, you might set a policy that says: "For devices in the 'Accounting' group, allow unattended diagnostics but require approval for any change." That way, you can still check Sarah's DNS settings, but you'd need to request approval to flush the DNS cache.

Running Diagnostics Without a User Present

Let's walk through a practical example. You're in the Caisey console, and you select Sarah's laptop from your enrolled endpoints. You open a remote session, and because your policy allows read-only commands, you can immediately run:

ipconfig /all
Test-Connection -ComputerName dc01 -Count 4
Get-EventLog -LogName System -Newest 20 | Where-Object {$_.EntryType -eq 'Error'}

The output streams back in real time. You see that the DNS server is set to an old address, which explains the sync failure. Now you need to change the DNS settings—a write operation. Your policy requires approval, so Caisey queues a request. You can either wait for Sarah to approve it (if she's reachable by phone) or, if you have a delegated approver in your MSP, they can approve it on her behalf. Once approved, the agent applies the change and you can verify the fix.

This workflow is far more efficient than waiting for the user to return. It also preserves a full audit trail, which is critical for compliance and for explaining what you did to the user later.

Contrast with Screen-Share Tools

Traditional remote support tools like TeamViewer or AnyDesk are designed for interactive sessions. They require the user to accept an incoming connection, and if the user is away, the session stalls. Some tools offer unattended access, but they often require you to have pre-set a permanent password or to use a separate agent that may not have the same context or approval granularity.

Caisey's remote troubleshooting approach is different because it treats each session as a structured workflow. The agent knows the device's state, the session history is recorded, and approvals are enforced at the command level. This means you can safely run unattended diagnostics without leaving a backdoor open. The bridge connection is encrypted and controlled by the Cloudflare Worker control plane, and every action is tied to your technician identity.

Best Practices for Unattended Support

To get the most out of Caisey's unattended capabilities, follow these practices:

1. Define clear policies for which devices allow unattended access. Not every machine should have it—maybe only corporate-owned laptops, not personal devices.
2. Use groups to apply policies consistently. For example, create a "VIP" group for executives and a "Standard" group for everyone else.
3. Log everything and review session transcripts. Caisey stores conversation and command history, so you can always see what was done and why.
4. Communicate with users when you run unattended sessions. Even if they're away, send a follow-up email or leave a note in the ticket.
5. Test your policies on a non-production device first to ensure the agent behaves as expected.

Conclusion

Unattended diagnostics are a game-changer for MSPs. Instead of waiting for users to be available, you can proactively check and fix issues on enrolled endpoints. Caisey makes this possible without sacrificing security, thanks to its policy-driven approval system and complete audit trail. The next time a user is out sick or in a meeting, you can still keep their machine healthy—and that's the kind of responsiveness that sets your MSP apart.

Ready to see how Caisey handles unattended sessions? Explore the remote endpoint diagnostics page to learn more about the agent's capabilities and how to configure them for your fleet.