Managers + Employees

Manager-initiated screen view

A manager can request a live look at an employee\'s screen. The employee has to actively approve every session. There\'s no way to make it silent, no way to skip consent.

Before enabling this feature

For managers — request a screen view

1. Go to Dashboard → Employees.
2. Find the employee. In their row, click View screen.
3. A modal appears with two disclosure panels:
   • Your responsibility — the ground rules for you as the manager.
   • The employee will see — a preview of what they\'ll be shown.
4. Optionally add a reason. This is shown to the employee alongside the disclosure. Reasons like "help with the shipping form" are much more likely to be approved than blanks.
5. Click Send request. A "Waiting for approval…" state appears with a Cancel button.

The employee has 30 seconds to respond. If they don\'t, the request auto-expires.

What happens after approval

You transition into a full-screen call view showing the employee\'s picked screen. Standard call controls apply:

• You can\'t control the employee\'s mouse or keyboard — this is view-only in v1.
• You have a hangup button that ends the session for both of you.
• If recording is enabled for your org, the session is automatically recorded and a REC pill shows in the header.

For employees — respond to a screen-view request

1. You see a full-screen modal with a red border. Your browser tab flashes "🔴 Screen-view request".
2. The modal shows:
   • The manager\'s name.
   • Their reason for asking (if they gave one).
   • A jurisdiction-appropriate consent disclosure explaining what approving means and how to stop.
3. You have three options:
   • Approve & share screen (green) — your browser\'s screen picker opens next. Pick a screen or window.
   • Deny (gray) — the manager is notified. That\'s the end.
   • Ignore — after 30 seconds the request expires. No penalty.

What happens after you approve

Your browser prompts you to pick a screen or window. Once you pick, the manager starts seeing your picked view. On your side:

• A small floating red pill appears in your screen\'s top-right corner: "Screen being viewed · Manager Name · 00:42 elapsed". This is deliberately impossible to close.
• You can keep working — the pill floats above everything but doesn\'t block interaction.
• Click STOP on the pill to end the session at any time.
• If your org has recording enabled, the pill shows a REC badge and "being recorded" text.

How to opt out of screen-view requests entirely

Employees can pre-emptively block all screen-view requests to their account. Any manager who tries gets an error and the attempt is logged.

Contact your DeskTrust admin, or (if your version supports self-serve) toggle Block screen-view requests in your profile settings. This is a hard opt-out — no one can override it except an admin acting on your behalf.

What\'s logged

Every request writes an audit row, no matter the outcome:

• requested — manager sent the request.
• approved — employee approved and picked a screen.
• denied — employee clicked Deny.
• expired — no response in 30 seconds.
• cancelled — manager withdrew the request before the employee responded.
• revoked — employee ended a live session via the STOP button.
• ended — manager or other event ended a live session.

Each row includes actor, target, jurisdiction, IP, user agent, and any reason text. Admins can view the full log at /dashboard/screen-view-audit.

What Manager View is NOT

• Not silent. The employee always sees a modal and a persistent indicator.
• Not automatic. Every session requires an explicit click.
• Not "remember for 24h". Each session is a fresh approval.
• Not remote control. View-only in v1 — no mouse or keyboard input from the manager.
• Not the same as DeskTrust\'s screenshot capture. Screenshots are always-on, unattended. This is opt-in per session.