Atlanta At Home Workforce Integration Consulting Partner

Enlarging your telecommuter workforce may have a major effect on network infrastructure, security/compliance, and corporate processes. Progent has two decades of experience helping small and mid-size businesses to plan, deploy, administer, tune, and debug IT environments that support work-from-home employees. Progent can assist your Atlanta organization to select the appropriate technologies and follow leading practices in creating and maintaining a secure virtual solution for telecommuters that facilitates teamwork and delivers top value. Progent can provide support services that go from as-needed guidance for helping you over challenging technical roadblocks to full project management or co-management to help you carry out mission-critical tasks.

Progent can help Atlanta, Georgia companies to with any facet of building a high-functioning work-from-home ecosystem by providing network infrastructure configuration services, IP voice troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform customization and training, cloud integration, Call Desk augmentation, security and compliance, backup/restore solutions, and streamlined management.

Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Configuring the physical and software infrastructure required for a remote workforce can be particularly complex if you must manage a mix of personal equipment like desktop computers and laptops, Internet routers, and wireless APs from different vendors and with a variety of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's experience delivering remote help for both legacy and current IT products in remote office venues enables you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and offers fast access to top-tire consultants for implement essential updates. Support services available from Progent to assist your company to create a high-functioning telecommuting infrastructure include:

• Virtual Private Network technology allows you to create a secure tunnel for authenticated at-home workers to access IT assets situated at your corporate datacenter or in the cloud. Progent's consultants can assist your company to deploy and maintain VPN access between your at-home workforce and your various IT resources by providing remote VPN integration consulting. For organizations using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA consultants can help your remote workers to set up Cisco's AnyConnect software for safe VPN tunneling for a broad selection of devices such as Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products enable an at-home worker to view and interact with a remote PC's desktop. This provides IT managers substantial control over the digital environment of at-home employees and offers them a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's virtual desktop consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI expertise.
• Routers attach at-home computer networks to the Internet and typically support VPN connections, home wireless networks, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier online support for deploying routers from a variety of manufacturers. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified experts.
• Home Wireless networks, often shared by families and visitors, are commonly used by at-home employees to access their router for work. This can create performance as well as security issues. Progent can assist you to mitigate these issues by providing services that include Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi installation expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access point setup assistance.
• Internet connectivity solutions impact the performance and availability of connections between at-home workers and the company network. Business-critical processes might demand redundant Internet connections in the event the primary connection breaks. Progent offers guidance for selecting service providers, choosing sensible service bundles, and setting up redundant Internet connections. See Internet access solutions.

IP Voice Solutions for At-Home Workers
Extending the business PBX environment to include remote users is vital to supporting a productive at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-centric digital PBX products are popular with small and mid-size businesses to server teleworkers. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's modern or older platforms for IP voice solutions. Progent can assist businesses of any size to design or maintain a telecommuter IP voice environment that delivers the versatility, convenience and protection required for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts can provide high-level support to help businesses tune their existing Cisco VoIP systems to handle a growing remote workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) delivers enterprise IP telephony capabilities to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia applications used across the network. Unified Communications Manager supports other combined media services such as unified messaging, video conferencing, and customer interaction networks. For details about Progent's CUCM expertise, see CUCM consulting services.
• CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM. Progent can help you to maintain your existing CallManager deployment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony products. To find out about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other legacy IP voice products, visit Cisco CallManager consulting services.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with PSTN networks and with users working outside the corporate perimeter like at-home workers. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration consulting.
• Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your WAN infrastructure to support these VoIP solutions and deliver online configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for Telecommuters
A wide selection of voice/video conferencing products from leading vendors enable virtual meetings, video conferencing, chat sessions, and content sharing for both onsite users and at-home workers. Many companies use a mix of products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent can assist your organization to maintain your current voice/video conferencing environment and enhance the engagement of your remote workforce.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications product that supports real-time presence, instant messaging, voice and video conferencing plus the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help you to set up and maintain Skype for Business clients to accommodate your at-home employees. For details about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business consulting experts.
• FaceTime is Apple's group video phone app for compatible iOS and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime runs on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later editions of FaceTime support as many as 32 simultaneous users for voice/video sessions. For details about Progent's consulting services for Apple FaceTime, visit Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center provides remote conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex services include sharing granular content or screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, session recording, plus revision and playback for training. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Webex as well as for other video conferencing solutions from Cisco, refer to Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams provides a portal for conversations, contacts, and content with capabilities such as IP voice and video calling, threaded chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support expertise for Microsoft Teams and for other Office 365 products, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Other Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver integration and troubleshooting services for these products and assist your business to tune your network infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for Telecommuters
Microsoft's collaboration products are closely integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office suites, providing a powerful environment of applications that deliver a cohesive user experience for exchanging information across a corporate network and on a broad range of endpoints. Progent has provided online consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their first publication and can assist your company to tune these flagship collaboration products to maximize the effectiveness of your at-home workers.

SharePoint uses web entities to facilitate collaboration and information sharing by providing policy-driven access to data, business processes, and tools for searching through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint enables you to build secure portals that enables remote workforce to view and update consolidated corporate intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For information about Progent's SharePoint support services, see SharePoint configuration and application development expertise.

Exchange 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 support services, visit planning and configuration consulting services for Microsoft Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft’s shared cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, similar to GoogleDrive. At-home workers can store files to OneDrive, and colleagues anywhere can share them securely via a browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive allows at-home employees to co-author files. Edits made offline are uploaded when you go back online. For details about Progent's support services for OneDrive, refer to Onedrive integration experts.

Cloud Integration for Telecommuters
Progent can provide fast and affordable online assistance for helping businesses to create, manage and troubleshoot integrated network architectures that combine physical data centers, at-home workers, branches, plus cloud services. Progent offers expertise for all types of cloud service such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help remote workers resolve issues with cloud access, identity, and security.

Azure is a popular family of cloud services that allows you to use IT infrastructure, servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Azure includes over 100 cloud-based services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can help you to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity control with Azure Active Directory, and design backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also help you establish protected access to Azure for teleworkers by setting up and debugging firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. To learn about Progent's support services for Microsoft Azure, visit Azure consulting.

Office 365, rebranded Microsoft 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of business productivity applications and cloud services available by subscription. Office apps and services are provided in a selection of bundles intended for customers ranging from students and households to large enterprises. Progent offers fast and affordable remote access to experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can assist you to assess the numerous subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your remote workers to achieve top business value. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Office 365, see Office 365 integration expertise.

Office 365 Exchange Online is among the most widely used cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Office 365 product line. Office 365 Exchange Online provides the advantages of reduced costs for physical infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and additional benefits inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to operate seamlessly with local deployments of Exchange, allowing customers to create hybrid information systems. Progent's Exchange consultants can provide occasional help to get you through tough IT roadblocks and also offer end-to-end project management outsourcing to ensure your at-home workers have easy and secure access to your Exchange Online deployment. For information Progent's support services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, refer to Office 365 Exchange Online configuration and troubleshooting consulting.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud computing market and is the world's biggest provider of cloud-based services. Progent can provide fast and economical online contact with cloud connectivity experts who can help your organization to plan, deploy, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud services with local data centers and with other popular cloud platforms like Azure. Progent also offers the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to assist your company to create a high-uptime network model so 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 expertise for Amazon AWS, visit Amazon AWS consulting expertise.

Google Cloud is a popular collection of cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help your business to extend your current IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's database consultants can help you make your key apps cloud ready so your remote workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent can help you to deploy virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage system with GCP Storage, and simplify identity management for telecommuters with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent can also assist you to utilize GCP's management technology to control and track your GCP environment. For details, see Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting support.

Help Desk Call Center Services for At-Home Workers
A fast, company-wide switchover to a telecommuter business model, which could be driven by a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery preparedness plan, can overstretch even a high-performing in-house Help Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services allow organizations of any size to outsource or supplement their Call Center with Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

• Progent's Standard Help Desk services utilize Progent's extensive network of online technical support specialists combined with enterprise-class trouble ticketing and follow-up software to provide an economical, advanced Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that handles all facets of remote Level 1 PC technical support from help requests through ticket generation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows teleworkers to check or edit the status of their current tickets, add details, and append screenshots or relevant files. Support services are delivered at a significant discount off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop service charges, and Progent offers the option of rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to deal with complex problems. To learn more, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small businesses.
• Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Service enables you to expand your current Call Center staff by sharing responsibilities for Help Desk support services seamlessly between your regular IT support staff and Progent's extensive roster of desktop support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's co-managed Call Center service is based on a co-sourcing support solution based on the leading professional services automation (PSA) tool for managing service requests and trouble tickets, establishing ownership, tracking progress, and producing management reports. To find out how Progent's Help Desk Call Center Supplementation Services can help your business to deliver best-in-class IT support to your telecommuters, go to Progent's Call Desk supplementation Services.

Security and Compliance for Teleworkers
At-home workers often use their personal computing devices and work in a physically unsecured environment. This increases their vulnerability to cyber attacks and demands judicious use of firewalls, remote security monitoring, and the enforcement of security policies that adhere to leading practices. Progent's veteran team of certified data security experts can help you to design, deploy and manage a modern security environment that protects critical information in networks that incorporate at-home workers.

• Firewalls enable companies to build a network that can be safely utilized by on-premises users as well as by teleworkers, mobile workers, vendors, clients, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances permit you to configure and control appropriate access rights to various classes of users and to scale your network and modify your security as your business evolves and as network attacks grow more complex. Progent works with both new and legacy firewall devices from all major vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall support services, go to firewall configuration and support expertise.
• Remote Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to watch over the disparate computers used by remote workers and either reject or identify and respond to the latest cyber attacks such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a small-footprint software agent is installed on every secured endpoint device, monitoring all activity and using state-of-the-art behavioral threat analysis to identify new attacks on arrival. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the impacted endpoint from the network to contain the malware. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoints stay secure even when they are offline. To learn more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, go to remote endpoint security monitoring for an at-home workforce.
• Security Audits can assess the vulnerability of your information system to all types of external and local security threats for a network that includes remote workers. Progent can deploy remote, automated cybersecurity inventory software for rapidly and affordably uncovering a broad range of security weaknesses that can be found via the Internet. Progent's security assessment consulting services, which can be managed by data security professionals with advanced credentials including CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your company to evaluate your operations and policies and assess your WAN infrastructure to allow you to design the highest level of security for your an at-home workforce.

Data Protection for Telecommuters
The field of Data Protection covers backing up and restoring vital information in order to prevent data loss and reduce restoration time in case of storage system failures resulting from equipment breakdowns, programming glitches, human error, malware, or any other reason. Dependable data protection strategies can be particularly difficult to design and maintain in hybrid networks that incorporate private data centers, public clouds, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Restore strategies for remote workers must cover diverse kinds of user-owned endpoints. Progent can provide quick remote help from consultants knowledgeable about a broad array of products for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktop computers as well as laptops, iPads and handhelds. Leading backup/restore products maintained by Progent's backup/recovery experts include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up resources spread throughout a hybrid network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services, a backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud-based storage and features granular restore and unified management.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plans typically anticipate scenarios that require a temporary changeover to a work-at-home environment. Progent's expert disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity consultants can assist you to create, document and validate a DR/BC plan that includes the process of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Remote Workers
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the title Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud-based management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing local computers. Endpoint Manager offers a centralized platform for safeguarding corporate data by managing onsite, mobile, and home-based endpoints.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and securing off-premises computers and software. Remote endpoint devices can be personally owned or company owned. Network admins managing the endpoint devices of telecommuters can use Intune to provision and authenticate applications on managed devices, push patches and certificates, configure policies for accessing information and networks, manage passwords, create VPN tunnels, determine how home-based workers share data, establish threat protection, ensure compliance, and delete corporate data from lost, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Intune runs with Apple iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. For details about Intune and to find out how Progent can help your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the endpoint computers of your at-home workers, refer to Intune mobile endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced centralized MDM platform that allows network managers to keep offsite endpoints up to date and secure. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for authorization control, app management, and configuration management of endpoints. Workspace ONE runs with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or popular distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises product via a one-time purchase. Key capabilities of Workspace ONE include rapid remote provisioning of out-of-the-box laptops, quick onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of devices, unifies reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and seamless integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based services. To learn about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management consultants.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Expertise
To get in touch with Progent about creating and maintaining an efficient work-from-home solution for your Atlanta, Georgia organization, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.