Display names and Alias

Irak
Irak Posts: 9 ✭✭

When I change the name of Alias/Dislay name in team viewer it done not seem to update the names in the team viewer manager How do I get these to update to the current names?

Comments

  • Scotty
    Scotty Posts: 493 Staff member 🤠

    Hi Irak,

    Thanks for your post.

    When you first create a contact in the contacts tab, by default it will be the "Alias" set on the computer unless you change it. However, the names of devices in the computers and contacts list are separate to the Alias. This is so that each user can set their own names for the same device to help them organise their contacts list. Also, if the alias is changed, the name in your contacts list will not as these are separate.

    Because of this, there is no way to make the management console reflect the alias. You will need to go into the properties of the device and rename it manually for this name to change.

    I am sorry for any hassle.

    -Scotty

    Senior Moderator
    Did my reply answer your question? Why not accept it as a solution to help others?
  • Irak
    Irak Posts: 9 ✭✭

    I think then there is need for a rescan function. Users move computers and we no longer know where they are . If we rename them as in the picture I have enclosed it has no revelenceteam error.png

  • Scotty
    Scotty Posts: 493 Staff member 🤠

    Hi Irak,

    The issue here is that TeamViewer does not "Scan" int he first place. It only suggests the existing alias if it is added from that device, if you add if from anywhere else, it will not pull any name automatically.

    I will put this through as a feature request for you, but please note that the "Alias" and "Display Name" are not the same and were intended to be separate.

    -Scotty

    Senior Moderator
    Did my reply answer your question? Why not accept it as a solution to help others?
  • bcatoe
    bcatoe Posts: 13 ✭✭

     If I had set an alias, then I would understand why changing the Display Name would not then change in the management screen (Computers and Contacts).  If I have not set an alias, then I don't understand why the new name would not go to the management screen.  What is the point of allowing me to change the Display Name on the host machine if it doesn't show up anywhere...or does it show somewhere and I'm just missing it?

  • daclueless
    daclueless Posts: 2 ✭✭

    I found a way to fix it, so it shows only the machine name:

    Using Regedit.exe

    Delete the key:  Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\TeamViewer\BuddyDisplayName

     

     

     

     

  • It's really sloppy that doing a reinstall of teamviewer on a machine doesn't change the registry values if the machine name has been changed since the original install. 

    That is all.

  • itsupporta
    itsupporta Posts: 2 ✭✭

    i did request something like this a few times already but for some reason...

    alias name should always be %computername% unless specific name is set in user buddy list.

    now its a total mess in our client list as the name doesnt match the computername

     

  • Reinout
    Reinout Posts: 3 ✭✭

    Is this never solved? 

    We use Intune Autopilot: Autopilot first installs Windows, and gives the computer a random name like Desktop-DD4HXYZ. Then Intune installs all applications (so also Teamviewer), after that the computer reboots and renames the computer to the Device Serial number.

    However in the TV console the computer Alias is still the old name:
    Alias in the TV consoleAlias in the TV console

    However the computername is changed to the device serial number, and also the displayname is changed to the (new) computername.

    Knipsel.PNG

    So now if a user cals we can not ask him/her for the computername. For the user there is no way to determin what the (old) displayname was. So how can we find it?

    In 2017 a request was made to do a resync so the computername in the TV console does reflect the CURRENT computername/DisplayName. 

    When will this be initiated?

    Regards, Reinout

  • bcatoe
    bcatoe Posts: 13 ✭✭

    I have zero confidence that it will ever be 'fixed' because Teamviewer doesn't consider it to be broken.  Their excuse is that they say it was designed this way on purpose.  They are saying they purposely designed it so the display name seen by the user and the name seen by the admin system are NOT related.  Why they would do this, I cannot fathom.  If we were to override the name with an alias, then fine, that's an added feature.  However, we are NOT doing that so the names should stay tied together.  I've said before in other threads and it still applies.  Teamviewer's group management functions are a sidecar that was duct taped onto an excellent remote control program.  I've yet to see Teamviewer actually 'fix' any of these issues.  


    @Reinout wrote:

    Is this never solved? 

    We use Intune Autopilot: Autopilot first installs Windows, and gives the computer a random name like Desktop-DD4HXYZ. Then Intune installs all applications (so also Teamviewer), after that the computer reboots and renames the computer to the Device Serial number.

    However in the TV console the computer Alias is still the old name:
    Alias in the TV consoleAlias in the TV console

    However the computername is changed to the device serial number, and also the displayname is changed to the (new) computername.

    Knipsel.PNG

    So now if a user cals we can not ask him/her for the computername. For the user there is no way to determin what the (old) displayname was. So how can we find it?

    In 2017 a request was made to do a resync so the computername in the TV console does reflect the CURRENT computername/DisplayName. 

    When will this be initiated?

    Regards, Reinout


     

  • Reinout
    Reinout Posts: 3 ✭✭

    Since Teamviewer probably doesn't consider it to be broken, we have changed the install procedure: 

    In stead of assign the TV MSI to all devices in Intune, we assigned it to all users: this means that the computer is configured completely by Autopilot. However since the TV msi is deployed to a user instead of a device, the TV software is installed after the device is renamed. So now we got the correct computername.

    The only caveat is that the software is installed after the user is logged on (the first time).

    Regards,


    Reinout

  • TonyTiger
    TonyTiger Posts: 1
    edited February 2021

    Hi Reinout, it's been a while, but I found your post useful. I'm also performing an Intune (Now called MS Endpoint Manager) Autopilot type deployment, where the machine is renamed. However in this case the machines didn't support TPM, so was using a deployment package and the machine was manually renamed to location name for a Kiosk.

    Same issue though. Machine in Partner portal still showed the name before the rename, so support had no way of identifying it.

    We could not use "All Users" or "All Devices", but my solution was still all about timing. i.e. Installing TeamViewer after the computer was renamed. We had already assigned a Dynamic Device Group called "Kiosk" to all Kiosk policies, rather than "All Devices", as we had other computers that we wanted different policies applying for the Kiosks than other computers.

    E.g. (device.deviceManufacturer -contains "XXXX").

    So I created a new Dynamic Device Group called "Kiosk - TeamViewer" with an exclusion for the original machine name

    E.g. (device.deviceManufacturer -contains "XXXX") and (device.displayName -notMatch "Desktop-.*")

    This way, TeamViewer isn't installed until after it is renamed and rebooted.

    Just thought I'd share in case anyone else has the same issue.