Expanding your remote workforce may have a significant impact on IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and corporate processes. Progent has two decades of background assisting SMBs to design, configure, administer, tune, and troubleshoot IT environments that support at-home workers. Progent can help your Allentown company to select the appropriate tools and adhere to best practices in creating and operating a secure virtual solution for telecommuters that promotes collaboration and returns maximum value. Progent offers services that go from as-needed guidance for helping you over challenging IT bottlenecks to full project management or co-management to help you carry out mission-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can assist Allentown, Pennsylvania businesses to with any facet of building a high-performing telecommuting environment by delivering network infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud connectivity, helpdesk services, security monitoring, data protection solutions, and unified management.

Network Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Setting up the physical and software infrastructure required for an at-home work environment can be especially challenging if you must manage a mix of personal equipment like PCs and laptops, Internet routers, and wireless APs from various vendors and with a variety of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's experience delivering online help for both legacy as well as modern IT products in virtual office solutions enables you to make efficient use of your existing network infrastructure and provides you with fast access to expertise for implement essential upgrades. Support services available from Progent to help your company to implement a productive telecommuting ecosystem include:

  • VPN technology makes it possible to create a secure connection for authenticated remote workers to use IT assets located at your company data center or in a public cloud. Progent can help your company to deploy and manage VPN connections between your at-home workforce and your various network resources by providing online VPN configuration consulting. For businesses with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall consultants can help your remote workers to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect software to provide safe VPN connections for a wide range of devices including Microsoft Windows, macOS, Apple iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms enable a telecommuter to see and use a data center computer's desktop. This technology gives network managers more control over the computing ecosystem of at-home employees and offers them a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI consulting.
  • Routers connect at-home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, local wireless connectivity, and firewalls. Progent offers expert online consulting for configuring routers from a variety of manufacturers. See router configuration support from Cisco-certified experts.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, typically supporting the whole family and visitors, are commonly used by at-home employees to access their Internet router for work. This can cause performance and cybersecurity issues. Progent can assist businesses to resolve these problems by delivering services that include Cisco Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco Meraki WiFi installation expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access point setup help.
  • Internet access methods affect the speed and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate data center. Line-of-business applications may require backup Internet access in case the normal connection fails. Progent can provide guidance for identifying ISPs, picking sensible service packages, and configuring high-availability Internet connections. See Internet connectivity solutions.

IP Voice Solutions for Teleworkers
Expanding the corporate PBX environment to accommodate remote users is critical to maintaining a productive work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-centric digital PBX products are used by small and mid-size businesses to support teleworkers. Many larger organizations rely on Cisco's current or older products for VoIP solutions. Progent can help organizations of any size to plan or maintain a telecommuter VoIP service that provides the versatility, convenience and security needed for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants offer high-level support to help organizations optimize their current Cisco VoIP environments to support a growing remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) delivers enterprise IP telephony features to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia applications used throughout the network. CUCM supports other combined media services like messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team collaboration networks. For details about Progent's CUCM expertise, refer to Cisco Unified CM consulting services.
  • CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing agent and has been replaced by CUCM. Progent can help your company to maintain your existing CallManager environment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. To find out about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other older VoIP platforms, see Cisco CallManager consulting.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with public telephony networks and with users operating beyond the corporate firewall like telecommuters. Progent can provide consulting expertise for Cisco's legacy IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products as well as for current Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway integration expertise.
  • Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to update your WAN infrastructure to support these solutions and deliver as-needed deployment and debugging expertise.

Video Conferencing for Telecommuters
A wide range of video conferencing platforms from leading vendors support virtual discussions, video and voice conferencing, chat, and content sharing for both onsite workers and at-home workers. Many organizations utilize multiple products to accommodate their different partners and customers. Progent can assist your organization to manage your existing conferencing environment and enhance the productivity of your at-home workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular unified communications platform that supports presence, IM, voice and video conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified consultants who can assist your company to deploy and manage Skype for Business client software to accommodate your remote workforce. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business integration experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's group video phone platform for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime runs on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later editions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 simultaneous users for voice/video calls. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Offered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex services include sharing specific content or screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint, session recording, plus editing and playback for training. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Webex and for additional video conferencing solutions from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a portal for conferencing, contacts, and content with capabilities that include video calling, threaded chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's support services for Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 apps, visit Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Voice/Video Conferencing Apps supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver integration and debugging expertise for these conferencing platforms and assist your business to optimize your WAN infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Software for Telecommuters
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 families, providing a powerful environment of productivity apps that create a consistent user experience for sharing data and ideas throughout a corporate network and on a wide selection of endpoint computers. Progent has provided online consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their original releases and can assist your company to configure these flagship collaboration platforms to maximize the effectiveness of your remote workforce.

SharePoint Deployment Experts for At-Home WorkersSharePoint utilizes web sites to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing by offering policy-based access to data, business processes, and utilities for looking through company-wide information silos. SharePoint enables you to build protected web portals that allows at-home workers to view and edit aggregated business intelligence by means of Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To find out about Progent's SharePoint support services, visit SharePoint configuration and application development consulting.

Exchange Deployment Consultants for At-Home WorkersExchange and Exchange Online offer secure collaboration features including public folders, shared mailboxes, and shared calendars and contacts. Progent's Microsoft certified Exchange experts can show you how to activate and utilize these features for your at-home workers. For details about Progent's Exchange consulting services, go to planning and configuration expertise for Exchange.

Microsoft Onedrive Integration Experts for At-Home WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft's shared cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote users can store files to OneDrive, and co-workers anywhere can retrieve them safely via a browser. Included with Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables at-home employees to co-author files. Edits made offline are automatically uploaded when you reconnect to the Internet. For information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft OneDrive, see Onedrive integration consulting.

Public Cloud Integration Services for Teleworkers
Progent can provide advanced remote support for helping businesses to create, maintain and optimize integrated hybrid network architectures that incorporate internal data centers, remote workers, branches, and cloud resources. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all modes of cloud service such as Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help at-home workers resolve problems with cloud access, authentication, and security.

Microsoft Azure Integration Services for TeleworkersMicrosoft Azure is a leading family of cloud software and services that enables you to utilize infrastructure, virtual servers, and key apps hosted on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure offers over one hundred services services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-powered VMs, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can assist you to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity management with Azure AD, and plan data backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to create protected connections to Azure for telecommuters by configuring and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. For details about Progent's expertise for Microsoft Azure, refer to Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365 Integration for TeleworkersMicrosoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of client productivity software and cloud-based services available by subscription. Office apps and cloud services are provided in a selection of bundles intended for users ranging from individuals and small offices to large enterprises. Progent can provide quick and affordable remote access to experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible client devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can help your business to assess the numerous subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your at-home workers to achieve top business value. For information about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 consulting support.

Exchange Online Integration Services for Remote WorkersExchange Online is one of the most popular applications in the Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online provides the advantages of lower spending for physical infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and other advantages inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has designed Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate seamlessly with local deployments of Exchange, enabling you to create hybrid information systems. Progent's Exchange experts can provide as-needed help to get you past tough technical roadblocks and can also provide end-to-end project management outsourcing to make sure your teleworkers have convenient and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. For information Progent's consulting expertise for Exchange Online, refer to Exchange Online integration and support consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for Remote WorkersAmazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud computing arena and is the industry's biggest source of cloud-based services. Progent offers rapid and affordable online contact with cloud connectivity consultants who can assist your organization to plan, deploy, manage, and debug hybrid information networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with on-premises resources and with other public clouds like Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help you to build a high-availability network architecture to make sure your employees have a consistent computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, from home, or on the move. To learn about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, visit Amazon AWS integration services.

Google Cloud Platform Integration Services for At-Home WorkersGoogle Cloud Platform (GCP) is a popular suite of cloud computing services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can help your organization to extend your current IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA consultants can help you make your mission-critical apps cloud friendly so your teleworkers can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can assist your business to deploy virtual machines on Google Cloud Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage solution with GCP Storage, and simplify identity management for remote workers with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent's experts can also assist you to use GCP's unified management technology to administer and track your Google Cloud environment. For information, go to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration support.

Help Desk Call Center Support for Telecommuters
An emergency, enterprise-wide switchover to a telecommuter business model, which might be the result of an epidemic or as a component of a disaster recovery process, can overstretch even a high-performing in-house Call Desk. Progent's Call Center services allow organizations to outsource or supplement their Support Desk with Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

  • Progent's Standard Call Center services leverage Progent's extensive team of online IT support specialists along with world-class trouble ticketing and tracking technology to offer an economical, state-of-the-art Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer an end-to-end solution that addresses all aspects of remote Level 1 PC technical support from initial help requests through trouble ticket creation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal enables teleworkers to check or revise the status of their active tickets, add details, and upload screen captures and relevant files. Desktop support services are delivered at a substantial price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical service rates, and Progent makes available the option of rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT experts to resolve complex issues. For details, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size companies.
  • Progent's Call Desk Supplemental Service allows your company to expand your existing Help Desk organization by splitting responsibilities for Support Desk services seamlessly between your regular support personnel and Progent's nationwide roster of desktop support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Call Center service uses a collective support solution based on the leading professional services automation (PSA) tool for handling service requests and trouble tickets, assigning ownership, monitoring progress, and producing management reports. For information about how Progent's Call Center Augmentation Services can help your business to provide best-in-class IT support to your teleworkers, refer to Progent's Call Desk augmentation Services.

Security for Teleworkers
Work-from-Home staff members commonly utilize their personal devices and often work in an unsecured physical space. This increases their susceptibility to cyber attacks and calls for careful configuration of firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, extensive user training, and the development of policies based on best practices. Progent's seasoned roster of IT security support consultants can assist your business to design, configure and maintain an effective security solution that protects vital information assets in networks that incorporate remote workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls allow you to create a network environment that can be securely accessed by on-premises users and by teleworkers, mobile users, suppliers, clients, and other stakeholders. Modern firewall appliances allow you to assign and control appropriate permissions to various classes of users and to scale your network and modify your security as your business evolves and as cyber threats become more sophisticated. Progent supports both current and legacy security devices from all leading manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall integration expertise, go to firewall configuration and support services.

Remote Security Monitoring for TeleworkersOnline Endpoint Monitoring makes it possible to watch over the disparate computers used by remote workers and either block or spot and respond to modern cyber attacks such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight software agent is installed on each protected endpoint, monitoring all activity and utilizing advanced AI technology from SentinelOne to identify new attacks before they can spread. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the targeted device from the network to quarantine the threat. Since the ProSight ASM agent is self-contained, endpoints remain protected even when they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. For more information about ProSight ASM, see remote endpoint monitoring for at-home workers.

Two-factor Authentication Services for Remote WorkersProgent's Duo MFA service plans incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication. Duo enables one-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Android, and other personal devices. With Duo 2FA, when you log into a secured online account and give your password you are requested to confirm your identity on a unit that only you possess and that is accessed using a separate network channel. A broad selection of out-of-band devices can be utilized for this second means of ID validation including a smartphone or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You may register several validation devices. To find out more about Duo identity validation services, see Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for telecommuters.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the exposure of your network to all classes of external and internal security attacks for a network that includes telecommuters. Progent can deploy online, automated security analysis scanning for rapidly and affordably detecting a broad range of security gaps that can be found via the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment experts, which can be managed by security experts with advanced credentials such as CISM, CISSP, and GIAC, can assist your business to evaluate your processes and governance policies and review your network architecture to allow you to design top-level protection for your teleworkers.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To read or download a white paper about critical things to focus on for protecting a network that includes telecommuters, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for At-Home Workers
Data Protection covers backing up and restoring vital data so as to prevent data loss and reduce restoration time and effort in case of storage problems due to equipment issues, software glitches, operator mistakes, malware, or other causes. Dependable data protection strategies can be especially challenging to design and manage in hybrid environments that incorporate local data centers, public clouds, and an at-home workforce.

  • Backup/Restore solutions for remote workers must cover multiple types of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide quick online help from consultants knowledgeable about a broad range of platforms for protection Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iPads and smartphones. Leading backup/recovery products maintained by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up resources spread throughout a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud storage and features fine-grained restore and unified management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies commonly envision scenarios that call for a rapid switch to telecommuting. Progent's expert disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity planning specialists can assist you to develop, document and test a DR/BC strategy that addresses the process of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises computers. Endpoint Manager features a centralized environment for safeguarding critical data by managing onsite, mobile, and home-based endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and securing off-premises computers and applications. Remote endpoint devices can be user owned or company owned. Network admins managing the endpoint devices of telecommuters can use Intune to deploy and validate applications on devices, push updates and certificates, set up policies for permission to access data and networks, manage passwords, establish VPN connections, determine how home-based workers share information, set up threat defense, ensure security compliance, and erase sensitive data from lost, stolen or decommissioned devices. Microsoft Intune can be used with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X computers. For details about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can assist your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the devices of your at-home workers, see Intune teleworker device management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform that allows network administrators to keep remote endpoints up to date and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint administration along with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for authorization control, application management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with devices based on Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises product through a perpetual license. Top capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include fast remote provisioning of new notebooks, immediate onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated management reporting and performance analytics, an email encryption gateway, and tight integration with Microsoft apps and cloud products. For information about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To contact Progent about creating and maintaining an efficient telecommuter environment for your Allentown, Pennsylvania business, phone 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.