HyperView bills for connected time. Adding users and installing the HyperView Server on more machines doesn't change your bill. Only sessions do. Here's what counts as a session, what uses time, and how to stop time running when nobody needs it.
How time is counted
A session is timed in seconds, from when it opens to when it closes. At the end of the billing period, all session times are added together and the total is rounded up to the nearest minute. Individual sessions aren't rounded. That total comes out of your plan, or goes into overage. Plans are quoted in hours.
What a session is
A session is a person or an automated caller connected to a system. Both are billed the same way: an AI agent taking a screenshot uses plan time just like a person working at the desktop. The Kind column shows which is which: HUMAN or AUTOMATION.
What uses time
Activity | Uses session time |
Connecting to a system from the console | Yes |
An automation session, from open to close | Yes |
A remote support session | Yes |
A recording in progress | Yes: it opens a session |
Viewing the Systems list, thumbnails and details | No |
Editing a system's alias, folder, tags or owner | No |
Inspect (system info, installed apps, processes, windows) | No |
Get logs | No |
Transfer files | No |
Send command | No |
Inspect, Get logs, Transfer files and Send command from the Systems list don't open a session, so they're free however many systems you use them on. The same work inside an automation session is covered by that session. Commands like exec and spawn add nothing on top.
When the clock runs
A session uses time from when it opens until it closes. Nothing pauses it, including idle time.
A person's session runs until it's ended from the session viewer.
An automation session runs from open to close, including idle time between calls. If a script crashes and leaves it open, it keeps running until its idle timeout ends it.
Automation sessions have two settings that close them without the caller:
idle_ttl_seconds: how long the session can sit idle before it ends.expires_at: when it ends regardless.
NOTE: Set both on every automation session, so a script that stops calling can't keep time running.
To spot sessions left open, check Active Sessions on Admin > Billing. If it's higher than the number of people you expect to be working, something has been left open.
Sessions that cross midnight
Time is counted against the day it happens. A session from 23:50 to 00:10 adds ten minutes to each day. A session that runs over several days is reported as one session per day.
What this means in practice
Installing is free, so install the HyperView Server on everything you might need to reach, and close sessions when you're done.