Expanding your at-home workforce may have a major impact on IT infrastructure, security/compliance, and company culture. Progent has two decades of background helping small and mid-size businesses to plan, configure, administer, optimize, and troubleshoot IT environments that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Atlanta organization to select the right technologies and adhere to leading practices in building and maintaining a safe virtual office ecosystem for teleworkers that promotes teamwork and delivers maximum value. Progent offers support services ranging from on demand expertise for getting you past occasional IT bottlenecks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can help Atlanta, Georgia organizations to with any aspect of creating a high-performing telecommuting environment by delivering infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud integration, helpdesk augmentation, data security, data protection solutions, and centralized management.

Network Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Configuring the physical and software infrastructure required for an at-home workforce can be particularly challenging if you have to manage a combination of worker-owned equipment like desktop computers and laptops, routers, and Wi-Fi APs from an assortment of manufacturers and with a mix of OS software and firmware levels. Progent's experience delivering online support for both legacy and modern technologies in virtual office solutions allows you to make efficient use of your existing network infrastructure and offers fast access to top-tire consultants for implement necessary updates. Services available from Progent to assist your company to implement a productive telecommuting infrastructure include:

  • VPN connectivity allows you to establish a safe tunnel for authenticated remote employees to access IT assets located at your company datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent can help you to deploy and manage VPN connections between your teleworkers and your various network resources by providing remote VPN integration support. For organizations using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall experts can assist your at-home workers to set up Cisco's popular AnyConnect software for safe VPN connections for a wide range of endpoint devices such as Windows, macOS, Apple iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms enable an at-home worker to see and interact with a data center PC's desktop. This provides network managers significant control over the digital environment of at-home employees and offers them a consistent and more productive work experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI solutions.
  • Routers attach home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, local wireless networks, and firewalls. Progent can provide top-tier remote consulting for setting up routers from all major vendors. See router integration support from Cisco-certified experts.
  • Home Wireless networks, typically supporting an entire household and visitors, are frequently used by telecommuters to access their router for work. This can create throughput as well as cybersecurity issues. Progent can help businesses to mitigate these issues by providing expertise that include Cisco Aironet integration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi installation expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi AP setup assistance.
  • Internet access solutions impact the performance and availability of connections between telecommuters and the corporate network. Line-of-business processes might demand backup Internet access in the event the normal connection fails. Progent can provide guidance for picking Internet service providers, selecting sensible bandwidth and data volume packages, and configuring redundant Internet connections. Refer to Internet connectivity integration services.

IP Voice Solutions for Telecommuters
Extending the business PBX system to accommodate teleworkers is vital to maintaining a productive at-home workforce. A variety of cloud-centric IP voice platforms are popular with SMBs to support teleworkers. Many larger organizations rely on Cisco's current or legacy platforms for IP voice solutions. Progent can help businesses of all sizes to design or maintain a remote IP voice environment that delivers the versatility, convenience and protection needed for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts can provide high-level support to help organizations optimize their current Cisco IP voice systems to handle a growing at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) extends advanced IP telephony features to devices such as IP phones, media processing products, VoIP gateways, and mixed media apps used across the network. Unified Communications Manager supports additional mixed media services like unified messaging, video conferencing, and customer interaction networks. For more information about Progent's CUCM support, see Cisco Unified Communications Manager expertise.
  • CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM. Progent can assist you to maintain your existing CallManager environment or upgrade smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. To learn about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other older IP voice products, visit Cisco CallManager consulting.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with PSTN networks and with users operating beyond the corporate perimeter such as telecommuters. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 product lines and for modern Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration consulting.
  • Additional VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can help you to enhance your wide area network infrastructure to support these VoIP solutions and deliver on-demand configuration and debugging services.

Voice/Video Conferencing for Telecommuters
A broad selection of video conferencing platforms from major vendors enable virtual discussions, video and voice conferencing, chat, and content sharing for both local users and teleworkers. Many organizations utilize multiple conferencing products to meet the needs of their various partners and clients. Progent can assist your organization to maintain your current conferencing ecosystem and optimize the engagement of your at-home workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular unified communications platform that supports real-time presence, IM, voice and video calling and conferencing plus the seamless integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent can provide the skills of Microsoft-certified specialists who can help your company to deploy and manage Skype for Business clients to support your remote employees. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business consulting experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's group video phone platform for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac devices. FaceTime runs on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer versions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 concurrent users for voice/video sessions. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Apple FaceTime, refer to 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 capabilities include sharing discrete content or computer screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based capture, plus revision and playback for training. For details about Progent's support expertise for Webex as well as for additional video conferencing products from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a hub for conversations, contacts, and information with capabilities that include voice/video conferencing, threaded chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Teams and for other Microsoft 365 apps, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Voice/Video Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver integration and debugging services for these products and assist you to optimize your WAN architecture to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for Teleworkers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 suites, providing a powerful ecosystem of applications that create a cohesive user experience for sharing data and ideas throughout a corporate network and on a wide selection of endpoints. Progent has delivered remote consulting services for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their original releases and can help your company to deploy these flagship collaboration platforms to optimize the effectiveness of your at-home workers.

SharePoint Deployment Consultants for Remote WorkersSharePoint utilizes web entities to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing by providing policy-based delivery of data, workflow, and tools for searching through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint allows you to build secure portals that allows remote workforce to see and edit aggregated corporate intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social networking web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To find out about Progent's SharePoint consulting expertise, visit SharePoint configuration and application development expertise.

Exchange Integration 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. To learn about Progent's Exchange consulting expertise, go to deployment expertise for Exchange Server.

Microsoft Onedrive Deployment Consultants for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft's shared cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote workers can save files to the OneDrive service, and colleagues can share them safely through a web browser. Included with Office and Microsoft 365, OneDrive allows at-home employees to jointly author documents. Revisions created offline are uploaded when you go back online. To find out about Progent's expertise for OneDrive, go to Onedrive configuration consulting.

Cloud Integration Services for Telecommuters
Progent offers affordable online assistance for helping organizations to create, manage and troubleshoot integrated network models that combine physical data centers, remote workers, branch offices, plus public cloud resources. Progent offers expertise for all modes of cloud service delivery such as Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help at-home workers resolve issues with cloud connectivity, authentication, and security.

Microsoft Azure Integration for Remote WorkersAzure is a leading platform for public cloud services that allows you to utilize IT infrastructure, servers, and critical apps hosted on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure features over 100 cloud-based services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can help you to set up VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity management with Azure Active Directory, and design backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to create protected connections to Azure for remote workers by setting up and debugging firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. For details about Progent's consulting services for Azure, go to Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Integration for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of business productivity software and cloud-based services available by subscription. Office applications and cloud services are marketed in a selection of bundles designed for customers ranging from students and households to major enterprises. Progent offers quick and affordable online contact with consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can assist your business to assess the numerous subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your remote workers in a way that delivers maximum business value. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, refer to Microsoft 365 integration support.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Integration Services for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most popular applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online provides the benefits of reduced spending for data center infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and additional benefits associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has designed Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to run transparently with local deployments of Exchange, enabling you to build hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's certified Exchange experts are available for as-needed help to guide you past tough IT bottlenecks and can also provide end-to-end project management outsourcing to make sure your telecommuters have easy and secure access to your Exchange Online deployment. For details Progent's consulting expertise for Exchange Online, go to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online configuration and support expertise.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for TelecommutersAmazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's biggest provider of cloud services. Progent can provide fast and economical online access to cloud connectivity consultants who can assist your business to design, deploy, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises resources and with other public clouds such as Azure. Progent also can provide the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help your company to build a high-uptime network architecture to make sure your employees have a productive computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, from home, or on the move. For information about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, see Amazon AWS consulting expertise.

Google Cloud Integration for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud (GCP) is a leading suite of public cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist your business to scale your current IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA experts can help you make your mission-critical apps cloud ready so your remote workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud services. Progent's consultants can help your business to deploy virtual machines on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage system with Google Cloud Storage, and simplify access control for at-home workers with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent's consultants can also assist you to utilize GCP's unified management technology to administer and monitor your GCP ecosystem. To learn, visit Google Cloud Platform integration expertise.

Help Desk Call Center Support for Telecommuters
An emergency, company-wide changeover to a telecommuter workforce, which might be the result of an epidemic or as part of a disaster recovery process, can overwhelm even a well-staffed internal Call Desk. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for businesses of any size to outsource or supplement their Call Desk by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

  • Progent's Standard Call Desk services utilize Progent's nationwide network of online technical support specialists along with enterprise-class ticketing and follow-up software to offer an economical, advanced Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer an end-to-end solution that handles all facets of online Level 1 PC technical support from help requests through ticket creation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows teleworkers to check or revise their active tickets, add details, and upload screen captures and relevant files. Desktop support services are provided at a substantial price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 desktop support rates, and Progent offers the option of rapid escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to deal with complex problems. For details, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size businesses.
  • Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Service allows your business to supplement your current Call Desk staff by splitting delivery of Help Desk Call Center support services transparently between your in-house support staff and Progent's extensive team of PC support engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's shared Call Desk service uses a co-sourcing support solution utilizing the number one professional services automation (PSA) platform for handling service requests and trouble tickets, establishing ownership, monitoring progress, and producing management reports. For information about how Progent's Help Desk Call Center Supplementation Services can enable your company to provide world-class IT support to your at-home employees, see Progent's Call Desk supplementation Services.

Security for Telecommuters
At-home workers commonly utilize their personal computing devices and often work in a poorly secured physical environment. This situation multiplies their susceptibility to cyber threats and calls for careful configuration of corporate firewalls, AV tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote endpoint monitoring, thorough user education, and the creation of security policies built on best practices. Progent's seasoned group of IT security solutions experts can help you to design, implement and manage a compliant cybersecurity solution that guards vital information resources in networks that incorporate telecommuters.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable companies to create a network environment that can be securely utilized by on-premises users and by at-home workers, mobile employees, vendors, customers, and other stakeholders. Next-generation firewall appliances permit you to configure and control different access rights to various classes of users and to expand your network and modify your security profile as your business evolves and as network attacks become more sophisticated. Progent supports both new and legacy security appliances from all leading vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall support expertise, visit firewall integration and support expertise.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring and Management for TelecommutersOnline Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the disparate computers used by an at-home workforce and either reject or identify and mitigate modern threats such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight agent is installed on each secured endpoint, watching all activity and using advanced AI technology from SentinelOne to detect zero-day threats at inception. When an attack is spotted, ProSight Active Security Monitoring instantly disconnects the impacted device from the network to contain the malware. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoints stay secure even if they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. For details about ProSight ASM, see remote endpoint monitoring for teleworkers.

Two-factor Authentication Services for TelecommutersProgent's Duo authentication managed services incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against compromised passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables one-tap identity verification with Apple iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. With 2FA, whenever you sign into a secured online account and enter your password you are requested to verify your identity via a unit that only you possess and that uses a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A broad selection of devices can be utilized as this added means of ID validation including a smartphone or watch, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You can designate multiple verification devices. For more information about Duo identity authentication services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for remote workers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the exposure of your information system to all types of external and internal security attacks for a network that includes telecommuters. Progent can deploy remote, automated security inventory software for quickly and economically uncovering a wide variety of security weaknesses that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security audit consulting services, which can be managed by network security experts with advanced certifications such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help your business to evaluate your workflows and governance policies and review your network infrastructure to enable you to implement top-level security for your an at-home workforce.

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

Data Protection Solutions for At-Home Workers
The field of Data Protection involves backing up and restoring critical data in order to avoid data loss and minimize recovery time in the event of storage failures resulting from hardware issues, programming hiccups, human mistakes, malware, or any other reason. Reliable data protection strategies can be particularly challenging to architect and manage in hybrid environments that combine private data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Restore solutions for teleworkers must cover multiple types of personally owned endpoints. Progent offers quick online help from experts familiar with a broad range of products for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktops as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and handhelds. Popular backup/recovery products maintained by Progent's backup/recovery experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up resources distributed across a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services, a backup/recovery service that utilizes cloud-based storage and features fine-grained recovery and centralized management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plans typically anticipate circumstances that call for a rapid switch to telecommuting. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity planning consultants can help you to produce, document and test a DR/BC plan that includes the process of switching to telecommuting.

Unified Management for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management platforms under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a centralized solution for safeguarding corporate data by managing onsite, mobile, and home-based endpoints.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also features Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting mobile devices and applications. Remote endpoint computers can be personally owned or business owned. IT admins managing the enrolled endpoint devices of telecommuters can use Intune to provision and authenticate apps on devices, push updates and certificates, configure rules for accessing data and networks, set passwords, establish VPN tunnels, control how teleworkers share information, set up threat protection, ensure security compliance, and delete corporate data from lost, stolen or deactivated devices. Intune works with iOS/iPadOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X computers. For information about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can help you to use this platform to manage the endpoint devices of your teleworkers, see Intune mobile endpoint management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified Mobile Device Management product that helps network administrators to keep remote endpoint devices current and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for access control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints based on Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises product through a perpetual license. Key features of Workspace ONE include rapid remote provisioning of new laptops, immediate onboarding of new employees, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated management reporting and analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based services. For information about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To contact Progent about creating and maintaining a productive telecommuter solution for your Atlanta, Georgia business, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.