Expanding your remote workforce can have a major effect on network infrastructure, security/compliance, and corporate culture. Progent has 20 years of background helping small and mid-size businesses to plan, deploy, administer, optimize, and debug IT networks that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Brisbane company to select the appropriate technologies and follow best practices in creating and operating a secure virtual office solution for teleworkers that facilitates teamwork and returns maximum value. Progent can provide support services that go from as-needed expertise for helping you over occasional technical roadblocks to full project management to help you successfully complete mission-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can help Brisbane, Queensland companies to with any facet of creating a high-performing telecommuting environment by providing infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud integration, helpdesk augmentation, cybersecurity, backup/restore solutions, and streamlined management.

Infrastructure for Telecommuters
Configuring the network infrastructure required to support an at-home work environment can be especially complicated if you have to accommodate a mix of personal equipment such as PCs and notebooks, routers, and wireless appliances from different manufacturers and with a mix of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's background delivering remote help for both outdated and current IT products in virtual office solutions enables you to make cost-effective use of your available network infrastructure and provides you with ready access to top-tire consultants for implement necessary upgrades. Services available from Progent to assist your company to implement a high-functioning telecommuting ecosystem include:

  • Virtual Private Network technology allows you to establish a secure connection for authenticated remote workers to access IT resources situated at your corporate data center or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can help you to configure and maintain VPN connections between your teleworkers and your various IT resources by providing online VPN configuration support. For organizations with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA experts can help your at-home workers to set up Cisco's AnyConnect software to provide safe VPN connections for a wide range of endpoint devices including Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms allow an at-home worker to see and interact with a data center computer's desktop. This technology provides network managers substantial control over the digital environment of at-home employees and offers remote users a familiar work experience. Progent's virtual desktop services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
  • Routers attach home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, home Wi-Fi networks, and firewalls. Progent offers expert online consulting for setting up home routers from a range of vendors. See router integration support from Cisco-certified experts.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, typically shared by an entire household and visitors, are commonly utilized by at-home employees to access their router for work. This can cause performance and security problems. Progent can assist you to mitigate these issues by delivering services like Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco Meraki wireless deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi AP setup assistance.
  • Internet access methods affect the speed and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate network. Line-of-business processes might require redundant Internet connections in the event the primary connection fails. Progent can provide guidance for selecting ISPs, selecting appropriate bandwidth and data volume offerings, and setting up high-availability Internet connections. Refer to Internet connectivity solutions.

IP Voice Integration for an At-Home Workforce
Extending the corporate PBX system to accommodate remote users is critical to supporting an effective work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-based VoIP products are popular with SMBs to support telecommuters. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's modern or older platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can assist businesses of any size to plan or tune a telecommuter IP voice environment that delivers the flexibility, convenience and security needed for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts can provide high-level support to help organizations optimize their existing Cisco VoIP systems to support an expanding at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) delivers high-end IP telephony capabilities to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia applications deployed throughout the network. CUCM manages additional combined media services such as messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer collaboration networks. For details about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM support, see Cisco Unified CM expertise.
  • CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing software and has been replaced by CUCM. Progent can help you to maintain your current CallManager environment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. To learn about Progent's expertise for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other early IP voice products, visit CallManager consulting services.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with public telephony networks and with clients working beyond the corporate firewall like telecommuters. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products as well as for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway integration expertise.
  • Other VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your wide area network infrastructure to support these VoIP solutions and deliver as-needed integration and troubleshooting services.

Video Conferencing for Teleworkers
A broad selection of video conferencing platforms from leading vendors support virtual meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen sharing for both local users and at-home workers. Many companies utilize multiple conferencing products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can assist you to manage your existing voice/video conferencing ecosystem and optimize the engagement of your remote workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications product that enables real-time presence, instant messaging, audio and video conferencing plus the transparent integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist your company to set up and maintain Skype for Business clients to accommodate your remote employees. For details about Progent's support expertise for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business integration experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's group video phone platform for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current versions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 concurrent users for video sessions. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Apple FaceTime, visit Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center provides remote conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex services include sharing discrete content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based recording, plus editing and playback for future reference and training. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Cisco Webex and for other IP video products from Cisco, visit Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams provides a hub for conferencing, contacts, and information with features such as video calling, persistent chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's consulting services for Teams and for other Microsoft 365 apps, see Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide integration and troubleshooting expertise for these conferencing platforms and help you to tune your WAN architecture to host them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for Teleworkers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 families, offering a rich ecosystem of productivity apps that create a cohesive user experience for exchanging data and ideas throughout multiple sites and on a broad selection of endpoints. Progent has delivered remote consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their first publication and can help your company to configure these critical collaboration platforms to optimize the effectiveness of your at-home workforce.

Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office suite, providing a rich ecosystem of applications that deliver a consistent user experience for sharing information across multiple sites and on a wide variety of endpoint devices. Progent has provided remote consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their initial releases and can help at-home workers set up and use these flagship collaboration platforms to maximize productivity.

Microsoft Teams Integration Consultants for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft Teams works on top of Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can support chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and application sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (formerly called Azure Active Directory) for supporting its complete range of features. To learn more about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit solution design and deployment expertise for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint Server Configuration Consultants for Remote WorkersSharePoint uses web sites to enable collaboration and information sharing by offering policy-driven delivery of data, workflow, and utilities for looking through company-wide business data. SharePoint permits you to create secure web portals that permits remote workers to see and edit consolidated business intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts. To find out about Progent's SharePoint expertise, visit SharePoint configuration and application development consulting.

Exchange Configuration Consultants 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. To learn about Progent's Exchange consulting services, refer to planning and configuration consulting for Microsoft Exchange Server.

Onedrive Integration Consultants for At-Home WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote users can save files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers can share them safely via a web browser. Provided with Office 365, OneDrive enables home workers to co-author files. Edits created offline are automatically synced when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, refer to Microsoft Onedrive configuration consulting.

Public Cloud Integration Services for At-Home Workers
Progent can provide advanced remote assistance for enabling businesses to build, manage and repair integrated hybrid network architectures that incorporate physical data centers, at-home workers, branches, plus public cloud resources. Progent can provide expertise for all modes of public cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help remote workers resolve problems with public cloud connectivity, authentication, and security.

Microsoft Azure Integration Services for Remote WorkersMicrosoft Azure is a leading platform for public cloud software and services that enables you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure includes over 100 cloud-based services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-based VMs, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can assist you to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity control with Azure Active Directory, and design data backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to establish secure connections to Azure services for telecommuters by setting up and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. For details about Progent's expertise for Azure, see Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Integration for TelecommutersMicrosoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of client productivity applications and cloud services offered by subscription. Microsoft apps and cloud services are marketed in a variety of bundles designed for users ranging from students and households to major corporations. Progent offers fast and affordable remote contact with consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can help your business to assess the various subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 applications for your at-home workers to achieve top business value. For information about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 consulting support.

Exchange Online Integration for TelecommutersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is among the most popular cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the benefits of lower spending for data center infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high availability, and additional advantages inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has designed Exchange Online to run smoothly with on-premises Exchange environments, allowing customers to build hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's Exchange experts are available for occasional help to guide you through tough technical bottlenecks and can also provide end-to-end project management outsourcing to make sure your teleworkers have easy and safe access to your Exchange Online deployment. For information Progent's consulting services for Exchange Online, refer to Exchange Online configuration and troubleshooting consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration for Remote WorkersAmazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud market and is the industry's top provider of cloud services. Progent offers fast and affordable online contact with cloud integration consultants who can help your organization to plan, implement, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local data centers and with other popular cloud platforms such as Azure. Progent also can provide the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help your company to build a high-availability network model so your employees have a productive computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, at home, or on the road. For information about Progent's support services for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS consulting services.

Google Cloud Integration Services for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud is a popular collection of public cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help you to scale your current IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA experts can help you make your mission-critical applications cloud ready so your teleworkers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can assist your organization to deploy virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage system with Google Cloud Storage services, and simplify access control for telecommuters with Google Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also assist your organization to use GCP's unified management technology to control and track your Google Cloud environment. For information, refer to Google Cloud Platform integration support.

Help Desk Call Center Support for Telecommuters
An emergency, enterprise-wide transition to a from-home business model, which could be the result of a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery/business continuity preparedness plan, can overwhelm even a high-performing internal Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services make it possible for businesses of any size to outsource or expand their Call Center by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

  • Progent's Standard Support Desk services leverage Progent's nationwide network of remote IT support experts along with world-class ticketing and tracking technology to offer an affordable, advanced Help Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer an end-to-end solution that handles all aspects of remote Level 1 PC support from service requests to trouble ticket creation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and incident reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal allows telecommuters to check or edit the status of their current trouble tickets, add details, and append screen captures or attachments. Support services are delivered at a substantial price reduction off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop service charges, and Progent makes available optional fast escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to deal with advanced issues. To learn more, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size companies.
  • Progent's Support Desk Supplemental Service enables your company to augment your current Call Desk team by sharing responsibilities for Help Desk Call Center support services transparently between your in-house support staff and Progent's nationwide roster of PC support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Help Desk service uses a co-sourcing support solution based on the number one PSA tool for handling service requests and trouble tickets, establishing responsibility, monitoring progress, and producing reports. For information about how Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Services can enable your company to provide world-class desktop support to your at-home employees, visit Progent's Support Desk supplementation Services.

Security and Compliance for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home (WFH) employees commonly use their personal devices and usually operate in a poorly secured physical space. This situation increases their susceptibility to malware threats and requires careful configuration of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, intensive user training, and the development of security policies based on best practices. Progent's veteran group of data security support experts can assist your business to plan, configure and maintain an effective cybersecurity solution that guards critical information assets in networks that incorporate telecommuters.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable companies to create a network that can be securely utilized by on-premises users as well as by teleworkers, mobile users, vendors, clients, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances permit you to assign and control different permissions to different classes of users and to expand your network and modify your security as your company evolves and as network attacks grow more complex. Progent supports both current and legacy security appliances from all leading manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, and Fortinet. To find out more about Progent's firewall configuration expertise, refer to firewall support expertise.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring and Management for TeleworkersOnline Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the disparate computers utilized by remote workers and either reject or spot and respond to the latest threats such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a small-footprint agent is installed on each protected endpoint, watching all activity and utilizing advanced machine learning from SentinelOne to identify new threats before they can spread. When a cyberattack is discovered, ProSight ASM immediately isolates the targeted endpoint from the corporate network to quarantine the malware. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring agent is self-contained, endpoints stay secure even when they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight ASM, go to remote endpoint monitoring for an at-home workforce.

Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for TeleworkersProgent's Duo authentication Service Plans utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against password theft through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, when you sign into a secured online account and enter your password you are requested to confirm your identity via a unit that only you have and that uses a different network channel. A broad range of out-of-band devices can be utilized for this added form of ID validation including a smartphone or wearable, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You may register several validation devices. To learn more about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for remote workers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can assess the vulnerability of your network to all types of external and internal security attacks for a network that incorporates teleworkers. Progent can run online, automated cybersecurity analysis scanning for quickly and economically detecting a broad range of security holes that can be found over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security audit experts, which can be managed by security experts with top certifications such as CISA, CISSP, and GIAC, can assist your business to audit your operations and policies and review your network infrastructure to enable you to design top-level protection for your remote workers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for Work-from-Home EnpointsHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Penetration Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports autonomous threat assessment of your work-from-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can expose, rank, remediate, and verify cybersecurity weaknesses before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent's pentest experts can help you to use NodeZero to perform thorough penetration tests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to evaluate your current security profile. Progent can also assist you to harden your existing network security and can assist you to design and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that streamlines management and delivers optimum cyber defense for on-premises, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To find out more details about Progent's threat assessment services based on on NodeZero's PEN test platform, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's Penetration Test Products.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home Network
To read or download a white paper describing key things to focus on for securing an IT environment that incorporates telecommuters, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for Telecommuters
The field of Data Protection covers backing up and recovering critical data so as to prevent data loss and minimize restoration time and effort in case of storage failures resulting from hardware issues, software glitches, operator error, malware, or other causes. Reliable data protection solutions can be especially difficult to design and maintain in hybrid environments that incorporate local data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

  • Backup/Restore strategies for at-home workers must cover diverse kinds of user-owned endpoints. Progent can provide quick remote help from experts knowledgeable about a broad array of products for protection Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktops as well as laptops, iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. Leading backup/recovery products maintained by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect data spread throughout a wide area network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services, a managed backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud-based storage and features fine-grained restore and centralized management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) strategies commonly anticipate scenarios that call for a temporary changeover to telecommuting. Progent's expert disaster recovery preparedness consultants and business continuity planning consultants can assist you to create, document and validate a DR/BC plan that includes the logistics of switching to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Telecommuters
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management products under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing local computers. Endpoint Manager offers a centralized solution for protecting critical data by managing on-premises, mobile, and home-based endpoints.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also features Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting off-premises devices and software. Managed endpoint computers can be user owned or company owned. IT administrators managing the endpoint computers of at-home workers can utilize Intune to provision and authenticate applications on managed devices, push patches and certificates, configure rules for permission to access information and resources, set passwords, establish VPN tunnels, control how teleworkers share data, set up threat protection, ensure compliance, and wipe sensitive data from missing, stolen or deactivated devices. Microsoft Intune can be used with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X endpoints. For details about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can assist you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the endpoint computers of your teleworkers, refer to Intune mobile endpoint management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform that helps network administrators to keep off-premises endpoint devices up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for access control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises product through a perpetual license. Key features of VMware Workspace ONE include fast remote provisioning of new notebooks, quick onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated reporting and performance analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud services. To learn about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about creating and maintaining a productive work-from-home environment for your Brisbane, Queensland business, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.