Remotely obtaining exclusive control of a device by remotely establishing communication with the device over a network, requesting to obtain remote exclusive control of the device's capabilities, and determining whether remote exclusive control of the device's capabilities can be obtained based on whether or not another user already has exclusive control of the device's capabilities. In a first case where it is determined that remote exclusive control can be obtained, authenticating a user requesting to obtain remote exclusive control of the device's capabilities, providing the user remote exclusive control of the device's capabilities after the user has been authenticated, and temporarily deferring requests by users other than the user who has obtained remote exclusive control to perform operations utilizing the device's capabilities during a period in which the user maintains remote exclusive control of the device's capabilities. In a second case where it is determined that remote exclusive control cannot be obtained, denying the user's request to obtain remote exclusive control, adding the user to a reservation queue of user's requesting to obtain exclusive control of the device, and when the user ascends in the reservation queue to be the next user to obtain exclusive control, the user is notified that he can now obtain remote exclusive control of the device.