Expanding your telecommuter workforce can have a significant effect on network infrastructure, security/compliance, and company processes. Progent has 20 years of experience assisting SMBs to design, deploy, manage, tune, and debug IT networks that incorporate at-home workers. Progent can assist your Barra da Tijuca company to select the appropriate tools and follow best practices in creating and operating a safe virtual office solution for teleworkers that facilitates teamwork and delivers maximum business value. Progent can provide services that go from as-needed guidance for helping you over challenging technical roadblocks to comprehensive project management to help you successfully complete mission-critical initiatives.

Progent's consultants can assist Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro companies to with any facet of building a high-functioning work-at-home environment by providing network infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX expertise, voice/video conferencing support, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud connectivity, Call Desk augmentation, endpoint security, backup/restore solutions, and streamlined management.

Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Configuring the physical and software infrastructure needed for an at-home workforce can be particularly complex if you have to accommodate a combination of personal hardware such as desktop computers and laptops, routers, and Wi-Fi APs from various vendors and with a mix of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's background delivering online help for both outdated and modern technologies in virtual office solutions allows you to make cost-effective use of your available infrastructure and offers fast access to expertise for making essential upgrades. Support services available from Progent to assist your company to create a productive work-at-home infrastructure include:

  • Virtual Private Network (VPN) connectivity allows you to create a safe connection for authenticated at-home workers to access IT resources located at your corporate data center or in a public cloud. Progent can help you to deploy and manage VPN access between your at-home workforce and your key network resources by providing remote VPN configuration support. For businesses using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA consultants can assist your remote workers to set up Cisco's popular AnyConnect software for safe VPN connections for a wide selection of endpoint devices such as Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) platforms enable an at-home worker to see and use a remote PC's desktop. This gives network managers significant control over the computing environment of at-home employees and ensures remote users a familiar experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI consulting.
  • Routers attach at-home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN tunnels, home wireless networks, and firewalls. Progent can provide top-tier remote consulting for deploying routers from all major vendors. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified experts.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, typically supporting the whole family and visitors, are frequently used by telecommuters to connect to their router for work. This can create performance as well as cybersecurity issues. Progent can help businesses to resolve these problems by delivering services like Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco Meraki WiFi installation expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi access point setup help.
  • Internet connectivity solutions affect the performance and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the company data center. Business-critical processes may require backup Internet access in the event the normal connection breaks. Progent can provide expertise for picking Internet service providers, choosing sensible service packages, and setting up high-availability Internet access. See Internet connectivity solutions.

VoIP Integration for an At-Home Workforce
Expanding the business phone system to include remote users is critical to supporting an effective at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-centric digital PBX platforms are popular with SMBs to support telecommuters. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's modern or legacy platforms for IP voice solutions. Progent can assist businesses of all sizes to plan or tune a remote IP voice environment that delivers the flexibility, transparency and security needed for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants can provide advanced support to assist businesses optimize their existing Cisco VoIP systems to support a growing remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) delivers high-end IP telephony features to devices like IP phones, media processing platforms, VoIP gateways, and mixed media applications used throughout the network. CUCM supports other combined media services such as unified messaging, video conferencing, and team collaboration networks. For details about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, refer to Cisco Unified CM consultants.
  • Cisco CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been replaced by CUCM. Progent can help your company to support your existing CallManager environment or upgrade efficiently to Cisco's modern IP telephony solutions. For details about Progent's support services for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other early IP voice platforms, visit Cisco CallManager consulting.
  • Cisco IP Gateways provide integration with PSTN networks and with clients working outside the corporate perimeter such as at-home workers. Progent offers consulting expertise for Cisco's legacy IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 product lines as well as for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration expertise.
  • Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to enhance your WAN infrastructure to work with these VoIP solutions and provide as-needed deployment and debugging expertise.

Video Conferencing for At-Home Workers
A wide range of video conferencing products from major vendors support online discussions, video conferencing, chat sessions, and content sharing for both local users and teleworkers. Many organizations use multiple conferencing products to accommodate their different partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can assist you to manage your existing voice/video conferencing environment and enhance the experience of your at-home employees.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular unified communications product that enables presence, instant messaging, audio and video conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified consultants who can assist you to set up and maintain Skype for Business clients to accommodate your remote employees. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business consulting services.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video calling platform for iOS and Mac devices. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer editions of FaceTime allow up to 32 concurrent users for voice/video calls. To learn more about Progent's support services for FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports remote conferencing for most 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, session recording, plus editing and playback for training. For details about Progent's support expertise for Webex as well as for additional IP video products from Cisco, refer to Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams provides a hub for conversations, contacts, and information with capabilities such as video conferencing, persistent threaded chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's support services for Teams and for other Microsoft 365 apps, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Voice/Video Conferencing Apps 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 optimize your network infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for Remote Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 suites, offering a rich ecosystem of applications that create a cohesive user experience for sharing data and ideas throughout multiple sites and on a broad range of endpoint computers. Progent has provided online consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange Server since their initial publication and can help businesses to tune these flagship collaboration platforms to optimize the productivity of your remote workforce.

SharePoint Integration Experts for At-Home WorkersSharePoint uses web sites to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing by offering policy-based access to content, workflow, and utilities for looking through company-wide information silos. SharePoint allows you to create protected portals that enables remote workforce to view and edit consolidated corporate intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social networking web sites, and Web Parts. For details about Progent's SharePoint expertise, refer to SharePoint integration and application development expertise.

Exchange Deployment Experts for Remote 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 information about Progent's Exchange consulting services, see deployment consulting for Exchange.

Microsoft Onedrive Integration Consultants for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft's collaborative cloud file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home users can save files to OneDrive, and colleagues can access them safely via a browser. Included with Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables home workers to co-edit files. Edits made offline are automatically uploaded when you go back online. To learn about Progent's support services for OneDrive, go to Microsoft Onedrive configuration consulting.

Public Cloud Integration for Telecommuters
Progent can provide fast and affordable remote support for enabling organizations to build, manage and optimize cohesive network models that incorporate internal data centers, at-home workers, branch offices, plus public cloud services. Progent can provide expertise for all modes of cloud service such as Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help teleworkers fix issues with public cloud access, authentication, and security.

Microsoft Azure Integration Services for TeleworkersAzure is a leading family of public cloud services that allows you to use infrastructure, servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure offers more than 100 services services such as the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered VMs, on-demand cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can assist you to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity control with Azure AD, and design data backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to establish secure connections to Azure for teleworkers by configuring and debugging firewalls and VPN tunnels. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Azure, visit Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for TelecommutersMicrosoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of client productivity software and cloud-based services offered on a subscription basis. Office applications and cloud services are marketed in a variety of plans intended for customers ranging from students and small offices to large corporations. Progent can provide fast and affordable online access to consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can help your business to evaluate the numerous subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your teleworkers to achieve top business value. To find out about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 consulting support.

Exchange Online Integration Services for TeleworkersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is among the most widely used cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online provides the advantages of reduced costs for physical infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and additional benefits associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to run seamlessly with local Exchange environments, enabling customers to build hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's certified Exchange consultants can provide occasional help to guide you through challenging technical bottlenecks and can also provide end-to-end project management services to make sure your telecommuters have convenient and secure access to your Exchange Online environment. For details Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, see Exchange Online configuration and troubleshooting consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration for Remote WorkersAmazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud market and is the industry's top source of cloud-based services. Progent can provide quick and economical online contact with cloud connectivity consultants who can assist your organization to plan, implement, maintain, and debug hybrid information networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local resources and with other public clouds like Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to assist your company to build a high-availability network model so your users have a consistent computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, from home, or on the move. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS consulting expertise.

Google Cloud Platform Integration Services for TelecommutersGoogle Cloud Platform (GCP) is a leading suite of cloud computing services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist your business to expand your existing IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA consultants can show you how to make your key apps cloud friendly so your teleworkers can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can assist you to deploy virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage solution with GCP Storage, and streamline identity management for remote workers with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent's experts can also assist you to utilize GCP's management tools to administer and monitor your GCP environment. For details, see Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration expertise.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Teleworkers
A rapid, organization-wide switchover to a teleworker workforce, which might be motivated by a pandemic or as part of a disaster recovery process, can overwhelm even a high-performing in-house Support Desk. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for businesses to outsource or augment their Help Desk Call Center with Progent's online Technical Response Center services.

  • Progent's Standard Call Desk support services leverage Progent's extensive network of remote IT support experts along with enterprise-class trouble ticketing and tracking software to provide an economical, state-of-the-art Call Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that addresses all facets of remote Level 1 PC technical support from initial service requests to trouble ticket generation, screen sharing, problem resolution, and reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal allows teleworkers to monitor or revise the status of their current tickets, enter information, and append screen captures and relevant files. Support services are provided at a significant discount off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical support rates, and Progent makes available optional fast escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to deal with complex problems. To learn more, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size businesses.
  • Progent's Call Desk Augmentation Service enables your company to supplement your current Help Desk Call Center organization by splitting responsibilities for Support Desk services seamlessly between your regular IT support organization and Progent's nationwide pool of desktop support technicians and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Call Center service uses a co-sourcing support solution utilizing the leading PSA tool for handling help requests and trouble tickets, assigning responsibility, tracking progress, and generating management reports. To learn how Progent's Call Desk Augmentation Services can enable your business to provide best-in-class technical support to your at-home workforce, see Progent's Help Desk supplementation Services.

Security and Compliance for Teleworkers
Work-from-Home (WFH) staff members typically use their own computers and often operate in an unsecured physical space. This increases their susceptibility to malware threats and requires judicious deployment of firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, extensive user education, and the creation of policies built on best practices. Progent's veteran team of data security support consultants can assist your business to design, implement and manage an effective security solution that protects vital IT resources in networks that include an at-home workforce.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls allow you to build a network that can be safely utilized by local users and by an at-home workforce, mobile users, vendors, customers, and the public. Modern firewall devices allow you to assign and control different access rights to different classes of users and to scale your network and modify your security profile as your company evolves and as network attacks grow more complex. Progent works with both current and older firewall appliances from all leading manufacturers including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall support services, go to firewall configuration and support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring and Management for At-Home WorkersRemote Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it easy to watch over the various devices used by at-home workers and either reject or identify and mitigate modern threats like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight agent is put on every secured endpoint device, watching all activity and using advanced machine learning from SentinelOne to identify zero-day threats on arrival. When a cyberattack is discovered, ProSight Active Security Monitoring immediately isolates the targeted endpoint from the corporate network to quarantine the malware. Because the ProSight ASM agent is autonomous, endpoints stay protected even if they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, visit remote endpoint security monitoring for remote workers.

Two-factor Authentication Services for TelecommutersProgent's Duo authentication Service Plans incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to protect against password theft by using two-factor authentication. Duo enables one-tap identity verification with iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. With Duo 2FA, whenever you log into a protected application and give your password you are requested to verify who you are on a unit that only you have and that uses a different network channel. A broad selection of out-of-band devices can be used as this second form of authentication such as a smartphone or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You may designate multiple verification devices. To learn more about Duo identity validation services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for teleworkers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your network to all classes of external and local security attacks for an environment that includes telecommuters. Progent can run online, automated cybersecurity inventory software for rapidly and economically uncovering a wide variety of security holes that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's security audit experts, which can be provided by security experts with advanced certifications such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist you to audit your operations and governance policies and review your WAN infrastructure to allow you to design the highest level of protection for your remote workers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for Work-from-Home EnpointsHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a cutting-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated testing of your at-home environment as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can expose, rank, fix, and confirm security weaknesses before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent can help you to deploy NodeZero to carry out comprehensive pentests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to determine your present security posture. Progent's NodeZero experts can also help you to strengthen your network security and can assist you to design and implement a unified cybersecurity strategy that streamlines management and provides maximum cyber defense for on-prem, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To learn additional details about Progent's threat analysis solutions powered by on NodeZero's PEN test products, refer to Consulting Services for NodeZero's Pentest Platform.

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

Data Protection for Teleworkers
Data Protection involves backing up and recovering vital information in order to prevent data loss and minimize restoration time in case of storage system failures due to equipment issues, programming hiccups, user error, malware, or any other reason. Dependable data protection strategies can be particularly challenging to design and maintain in hybrid environments that combine local data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

  • Backup/Restore solutions for an at-home workforce must cover multiple kinds of personally owned endpoints. Progent offers quick remote access to consultants knowledgeable about a broad range of platforms for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iPads and handhelds. Leading backup/recovery solutions supported by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect resources distributed throughout a hybrid network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services, a backup/recovery service that uses cloud storage and features fine-grained restore and centralized management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plans commonly anticipate scenarios that require a rapid changeover to a work-at-home environment. Progent's expert disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity specialists can assist you to develop, document and validate a DR/BC plan that includes the logistics of moving to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Remote Workers
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management products under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud-based management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a centralized solution for protecting corporate information by controlling onsite, mobile, and home-based endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also features Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and securing remote computers and applications. Remote endpoint computers can be personally owned or company owned. Network admins managing the endpoint computers of telecommuters can use Intune to provision and validate apps on managed devices, push patches and certificates, configure policies for permission to access data and networks, set passwords, establish VPN connections, determine how telecommuters share information, set up threat defense, verify compliance, and erase sensitive information from lost, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Microsoft Intune can be used with iOS/iPadOS, Android, Windows, and macOS devices. For information about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can help you to use this platform to administer the devices of your teleworkers, refer to Intune remote endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified Mobile Device Management product that helps network managers to keep offsite endpoints current and secure. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint management combined with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for access control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE operates with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or popular distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises deployment via a perpetual license. Top features of Workspace ONE include fast remote provisioning of out-of-the-box laptops, quick onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of devices, aggregated reporting and analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based products. To learn about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management expertise.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To contact Progent about creating and managing an efficient telecommuter environment for your Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro company, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.