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What is the difference between the Revealed Agent and the Hidden Agent?
What is the difference between the Revealed Agent and the Hidden Agent?
A
Written by Arick Disilva
Updated over 6 months ago

To learn how to switch from one Agent to another, check out this article: How to switch from Stealth/Hidden Agent to Revealed/Visible Agent or vice versa.

Check out this article for detailed agent specifications and supported platforms.

When downloading the Agent, you will be given the option to choose "Yes" or "No" when asked if you want the users to know they are being monitored:

  • Choosing "No", gives you our Hidden Agent, which runs silently in the background, and starts monitoring users as soon as they login to windows.

  • Choosing "Yes" will guide you to download our Revealed Agent, which will allow the user to know they're being monitored, and will require them to login and start their time, in order to clock in for monitoring.

We've created a table below that shows you more details about the differences between the two:

Feature

Revealed Agent

Hidden Agent

UI

Has a user interface:

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Has no user interface.

Clock-in

User is monitored only when they sign in into the Teramind Agent and clicks the Start button.

Users are monitored as soon as they are logged on, either on the domain or local machine (no need to login to Teramind).

Clock-out

User can stop monitoring by clicking the Stop button.

Monitoring cannot be stopped by the user.

Projects and Tasks

Users can create new tasks and sub-tasks and set the active task as they switch between different tasks. They can also view a history of tasks from the agent's interface.

User cannot create or choose a task. An admin can set up tasks that get assigned automatically based on the user's application / website usage.

Default Task

There is no default task set by the system.

Admin can set a default task for all users.

Data Capture

Tracks a user and not the computer. Multiple users can login from the same machine and still be tracked separately.

It will create a new employee account for each logged on user, which have to be licensed separately for Cloud accounts.

User Profile

You need to add the user/employee on the dashboard and create a user profile for them.

User/employee added automatically when the agent is installed. However, you can still edit the employee’s profile.

Computer Names

Computer names do not have to be unique.

Computer names must be unique. If you monitor multiple computers with the same computer name, only the first one will be monitored.

Offline Recording

Not supported.

Supported.

Offline Policy & Rules Enforcement

Supported. However, the user has to be on an active session when the network connection was disrupted.

Supported.

Locked Session

Revealed Agent does not count productivity and session time for locked sessions.

Productivity and session time are counted for locked sessions.

Use Lockout

By design, it doesn't support the Employees > Lock or the Rule > Lock Out action. You can, of course, lock out a user from using the remote control.

Supports these actions as well as lock out using the remote control.

Installation Methods

Supports only simple installation. Can only be installed by running the installer locally.

Supports advanced installation. Can be installed remotely through Remote Dashboard, GPO or PSEXEC.

Installation Privilege

Can be installed by the user

An admin will need to install the agent.

Installation Location

Uninstall Protection

Password protected mode isn’t supported. User can remove the agent with the Teramind Agent Removal Tool.

You can optionally install the Teramind Hidden Agent in a password protected mode. User cannot remove the agent with the Teramind Agent Removal Tool.

Use Case

Monitors employees non-obtrusively and transparently. Perfect for monitoring remote employees, contractors and freelancers.

The Hidden Agent is useful when you do not want your users to know that they are being monitored.

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