Enlarging your at-home workforce can have a significant impact on network architecture, security/compliance, and corporate processes. Progent has two decades of background assisting small and mid-size businesses to plan, deploy, manage, optimize, and debug IT networks that support a remote workforce. Progent can assist your Charlotte company to select the right technologies and adhere to best practices in creating and operating a safe virtual office ecosystem for teleworkers that facilitates collaboration and returns top business value. Progent offers support services that go from on demand guidance for helping you past occasional technical roadblocks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you successfully complete business-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can assist Charlotte, North Caroline companies to with any facet of building a high-performing telecommuting ecosystem by delivering infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud integration, Call Desk services, data security, data protection solutions, and unified management.

Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Integrating the physical and software infrastructure required to support a remote workforce can be especially challenging if you have to manage a mix of personal hardware such as desktop computers and notebooks, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from various vendors and with a variety of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's background providing remote help for both outdated as well as modern technologies in virtual office solutions allows you to make efficient use of your available network infrastructure and provides you with fast access to expertise for implement necessary upgrades. Services available from Progent to assist your company to create a high-functioning work-at-home ecosystem include:

  • VPN connectivity makes it possible to create a safe tunnel for authorized remote workers to use IT assets situated at your company data center or in a public cloud. Progent can assist your company to deploy and manage VPN access between your teleworkers and your key IT resources by providing remote VPN configuration consulting. For organizations with Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA Firewall experts can help your at-home workers to set up Cisco's AnyConnect software for safe VPN tunneling for a broad range of devices including Microsoft Windows, macOS, Apple iOS, Linux, and Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) platforms allow an at-home worker to view and use a data center PC's desktop. This technology provides IT managers more control over the digital ecosystem of at-home employees and offers remote users a familiar experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
  • Routers attach home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN tunnels, home wireless connectivity, and firewalls. Progent can provide top-tier remote support for integrating routers from all major vendors. See router integration services from Cisco-certified experts.
  • Home Wireless networks, often supporting an entire household and visitors, are frequently utilized by at-home employees to connect to their router for work. This can cause throughput and cybersecurity issues. Progent can help businesses to resolve these issues by providing services like Aironet integration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless deployment consulting, and Ubiquiti WiFi AP integration assistance.
  • Internet access methods impact the performance and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate data center. Vital processes may demand redundant Internet access in case the normal connection breaks. Progent can provide expertise for selecting Internet service providers, selecting sensible bandwidth and data volume bundles, and configuring redundant Internet connections. See Internet access integration services.

VoIP Solutions for an At-Home Workforce
Expanding the company phone system to accommodate telecommuters is vital to maintaining a productive work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-centric VoIP platforms are used by SMBs to support teleworkers. Many larger organizations rely on Cisco's modern or legacy products for VoIP management. Progent can assist organizations of any size to plan or maintain a telecommuter IP voice environment that delivers the versatility, convenience and security needed for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts can provide high-level support to help organizations optimize their existing Cisco VoIP environments to handle a growing remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) delivers advanced telephony features to devices like VoIP phones, media processing platforms, VoIP gateways, and multimedia applications used across the network. Unified Communications Manager supports additional combined media services like unified messaging, video conferencing, and team collaboration networks. For more information about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, visit Cisco Unified Communications Manager expertise.
  • CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM. Progent can help your company to support your existing CallManager environment or upgrade efficiently to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. To find out about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other early IP voice platforms, see CallManager consulting services.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with PSTN networks and with clients operating beyond the corporate firewall such as at-home workers. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration consulting.
  • Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to enhance your wide area network architecture to support these VoIP solutions and deliver as-needed integration and troubleshooting services.

Voice/Video Conferencing for Teleworkers
A wide selection of voice/video conferencing products from leading technology companies enable online meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen sharing for both onsite workers and telecommuters. Many companies use multiple products to meet the needs of their different partners and clients. Progent's communications experts can assist your organization to maintain your existing conferencing ecosystem and enhance the experience of your at-home employees.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular unified communications product that enables real-time presence, IM, voice and video calling and 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 specialists who can assist you to deploy and maintain Skype for Business clients to support your at-home employees. For details about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business consulting experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone platform for compatible iOS and macOS devices. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer versions of FaceTime allow up to 32 concurrent users for video sessions. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for FaceTime, visit Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Offered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex services include sharing discrete content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based capture, plus editing and playback for future reference. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Webex as well as for other video conferencing solutions from Cisco, visit Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a hub for conversations, contacts, and content with capabilities such as voice/video conferencing, persistent threaded chat, plus data sharing. For details about Progent's support services for Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 apps, visit Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Other Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide integration and debugging expertise for these conferencing platforms and assist your business to tune your WAN architecture to run them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for Telecommuters
Microsoft's collaboration products are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 suites, providing a rich environment of applications that deliver a cohesive user experience for exchanging data and ideas throughout a corporate network and on a wide selection of endpoints. Progent has delivered remote consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their first publication and can assist businesses to tune these flagship collaboration products to optimize the effectiveness of your remote workers.

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 with Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can enable chat, video meetings with screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and app sharing. Teams is tightly 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 full range of capabilities. To learn more about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, see solution design and configuration consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint Server Integration Experts for At-Home WorkersSharePoint uses web sites to enable collaboration and information sharing by offering policy-based access to content, business processes, and utilities for searching through company-wide information silos. SharePoint permits you to create secure web portals that allows at-home workers to see and edit aggregated business intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For information about Progent's SharePoint consulting expertise, see SharePoint configuration and application development expertise.

Exchange Configuration Experts 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 find out about Progent's Exchange consulting services, go to planning and configuration consulting services for Microsoft Exchange Server.

Onedrive Integration Consultants for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. At-home workers can save files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers anywhere can access them securely through a web browser. Included with Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables at-home workers to co-edit documents. Revisions made offline are synced when you reconnect to the Internet. To learn about Progent's support services for Microsoft OneDrive, refer to Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.

Cloud Integration Services for At-Home Workers
Progent offers fast and affordable online support for enabling businesses to create, maintain and troubleshoot cohesive hybrid network architectures that incorporate internal data centers, telecommuters, branch offices, and public cloud resources. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all modes of public cloud service such as Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help telecommuters fix problems with cloud connectivity, authentication, and security.

Azure Integration Services for Remote WorkersMicrosoft Azure is a popular platform for public cloud services that allows you to use infrastructure, servers, and critical applications running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Azure offers over 100 cloud-based services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can assist your organization to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify 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 remote workers by configuring and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. For information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Azure, see Microsoft Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365 Integration for TeleworkersMicrosoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of client productivity applications and cloud services offered on a subscription basis. Office apps and services are marketed in a selection of plans designed for users ranging from individuals and households to major enterprises. Progent can provide fast and easy remote access to consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can help you to evaluate the various subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your telecommuters to achieve top business value. To find out about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 integration expertise.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Integration Services for Remote WorkersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is among the most popular cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online provides the advantages of reduced spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high availability, and additional benefits inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has designed Exchange Online to run seamlessly with local deployments of Exchange, enabling you to create hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's Exchange consultants are available for as-needed assistance to get you through tough technical roadblocks and can also provide comprehensive project management outsourcing to make sure your teleworkers have easy and secure access to your Exchange Online environment. To learn Progent's expertise for Exchange Online, go to Exchange Online configuration and support consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration for Remote WorkersAmazon AWS is a trailblazer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's biggest provider of cloud-based services. Progent can provide fast and affordable online access to cloud connectivity experts who can assist your organization to design, implement, manage, and debug hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local data centers and with other popular cloud platforms such as Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help your company to build a high-availability network model so your users have a productive computing environment whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, at home, or on the move. For information about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS consulting services.

Google Cloud Platform Integration for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud Platform is a leading collection of public cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist your business to expand your current IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's database experts can show you how to make your mission-critical applications cloud friendly so your teleworkers can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent can help your business to deploy VMs on GCP Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage solution with GCP Storage services, and streamline access control for remote workers with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent's consultants can also help your organization to utilize GCP's management technology to administer and track your GCP environment. For details, go to Google Cloud Platform consulting support.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Telecommuters
A sudden, organization-wide switchover to a teleworker workforce, which might be activated by an epidemic or as a component of a disaster recovery preparedness plan, can overwhelm even the most efficient internal Help Desk. Progent's Help Desk services allow organizations to outsource or augment their Support Desk with Progent's online Technical Response Center team.

  • Progent's Standard Call Center services utilize Progent's extensive network of online IT support experts along with enterprise-class ticketing and tracking software to provide an affordable, modern Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide a comprehensive solution that handles all aspects of online Level 1 desktop technical support from service requests to ticket generation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal enables at-home employees to track or revise the status of their current tickets, add details, and upload screen captures and relevant files. Desktop support services are provided at a substantial discount off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical support charges, and Progent offers the option of rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT experts to resolve complex issues. For more information, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size companies.
  • Progent's Call Desk Supplemental Service enables you to augment your existing Help Desk Call Center staff by sharing delivery of Support Desk support services transparently between your in-house support staff and Progent's nationwide team of PC support technicians and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Help Desk service uses a collaborative support solution utilizing the number one professional services automation platform for handling help requests and ticketing, assigning ownership, monitoring progress, and producing management reports. For information about how Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Services can help your business to provide world-class IT support to your telecommuters, see Progent's Call Desk augmentation Services.

Cybersecurity for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home (WFH) workers commonly use their own computing devices and usually operate in an unsecured physical space. This situation increases their susceptibility to malware attacks and requires careful configuration of corporate firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, thorough end-user education, and the creation of security policies based on leading practices. Progent's seasoned team of data security solutions consultants can assist you to design, configure and manage an effective cybersecurity solution that guards vital IT resources in environments that include remote workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls allow you to build a network environment that can be securely utilized by on-premises users as well as by telecommuters, mobile users, suppliers, clients, and other stakeholders. Next-generation firewall devices permit you to assign and control appropriate access rights to different groups of users and to expand your network and modify your security as your company evolves and as network attacks grow increasingly complex. Progent works with both current and legacy firewall devices from all major vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall integration services, visit firewall support services.

Remote Security Monitoring for TeleworkersOnline Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to track the various devices utilized by teleworkers and either block or spot and mitigate modern threats such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a small-footprint software agent is installed on each protected endpoint device, watching all activity and using advanced AI technology from SentinelOne to identify zero-day attacks on arrival. When a cyberattack is discovered, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the targeted endpoint device from the network to contain the malware. Since the ProSight ASM software agent is autonomous, endpoints stay protected even if they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, visit remote endpoint monitoring for at-home workers.

Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for At-Home WorkersProgent's Duo MFA Services incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to protect against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables single-tap identity verification with iOS, Android, and other personal devices. With 2FA, whenever you log into a protected online account and enter your password you are asked to verify who you are via a unit that only you possess and that is accessed using a different network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be utilized for this second form of authentication such as a smartphone or watch, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You may register several verification devices. For more information about Duo identity validation services, refer to Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for remote workers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your information system to all classes of external and internal security attacks for a network that includes telecommuters. Progent can run online, automated cybersecurity inventory scanning for quickly and affordably detecting a wide variety of security gaps that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's endpoint security audit consulting services, which can be provided by security professionals with top certifications such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your business to audit your procedures and governance policies and assess your WAN infrastructure to enable you to design the highest level of security for your remote workers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for At-Home WorkersHorizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports autonomous testing of your at-home environment and your internal and perimeter networks to help you uncover, rank, fix, and confirm security weaknesses before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent can help you to use NodeZero to carry out thorough penetration tests of your perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure so you can evaluate your current security posture. Progent's NodeZero experts can also assist you to strengthen your existing network security and can help you to plan and implement a unified cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and provides maximum cyber defense for on-prem, multi-cloud, at-home, and perimeter IT assets. To find out additional information about Progent's threat analysis services powered by on NodeZero's PEN test products, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's PEN Test Platform.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home Network
To view or download a white paper describing key things to concentrate on for protecting a network that includes telecommuters, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for Remote Workers
The field of Data Protection involves backing up and restoring vital data in order to prevent data loss and minimize recovery time and effort in case of storage system failures resulting from hardware breakdowns, programming hiccups, operator error, malware, or other causes. Reliable data protection strategies can be especially challenging to architect and manage in hybrid networks that combine private data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Recovery strategies for at-home workers must address diverse kinds of user-owned endpoints. Progent offers quick online access to experts knowledgeable about a broad range of products for protection Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as laptops, tablets and smartphones. Leading backup/recovery solutions supported by Progent's data protection experts include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up resources spread throughout a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud-based storage and includes fine-grained recovery and centralized management capabilities.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plans typically anticipate circumstances that require a quick changeover to a work-at-home environment. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness experts and business continuity consultants can assist your business to create, document and validate a DR/BC strategy that includes the process of moving to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Remote Workers
Microsoft has rebranded and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager offers a centralized solution for protecting critical information by controlling onsite, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also features Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and protecting off-premises devices and applications. Remote endpoint devices can be personally owned or company owned. IT administrators managing the enrolled endpoint devices of telecommuters can utilize Intune to deploy and validate applications on devices, push patches and certificates, set up rules for permission to access data and networks, set passwords, establish VPN tunnels, determine how telecommuters share data, establish threat protection, verify security compliance, and erase corporate information from lost, stolen or deactivated devices. Microsoft Intune runs with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS devices. For details about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can assist you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the endpoint computers of your telecommuters, refer to Intune teleworker endpoint management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced centralized MDM platform that helps network administrators to keep remote endpoint devices up to date and secure. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint management plus VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for authorization control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises product through a one-time purchase. Key features of Workspace ONE include fast remote deployment of out-of-the-box laptops, quick onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of devices, aggregated management reporting and analytics, email encryption, and tight integration with Microsoft applications and cloud products. To find out about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE mobile endpoint management consultants.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Expertise
To contact Progent about building and managing an efficient telecommuter solution for your Charlotte, North Caroline business, phone 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.