IT Technology News and Progent Business Solutions

Cisco introduced innovative products targeted specifically for small business networks and designed to deliver a high degree of security and connectivity for a budget-friendly price. Products announced by Cisco were the Cisco Spam and Virus Blocker, the NSS2000 and NSS3000 Network Storage Systems, and the latest version of Cisco's Smart Business Communications System.

The Cisco Spam and Virus Blocker appliance is a purpose-built antispam and antivirus security device that essentially eliminates email threats as shipped. Cisco's NSS2000 and NSS3000 Small Business Network Storage Systems are affordable desktop NAS appliances that provide security for valuable information and enable workers to exchange information easily. The Cisco Smart Business Communications System (SBCS) Version 1.4, a full sharing and communications solution that easily connects sites, employees, and customers however dispersed. Cisco's current version incorporates the debut of a cordless small-footprint Internet Protocol (IP) handset with Bluetooth capabilities. To see Cisco's press release, refer to Cisco Unveils Networking Products for Small Businesses.

Cisco Spam and Virus Blocker
The Spam Blocker appliance safeguards small businesses by providing extensive defense against junk mail, malware as well as other email attacks to secure your network and corporate data while enhance productivity. Since the product blocks spam and viruses right out of the box and updates automatically, it does away with the cost and hassle with initial configuration and continuing and administration. By filtering out spam, Cisco's Spam Blocker increases the throughput of networks, application servers, and computers. The Spam Blocker represents an end-to-end defense against email threats by featuring a physical appliance, intelligent software, ongoing updates, and product support in a single package.

Notable benefits of the Spam Blocker appliance include:

• Accuracy: Assists to ensure that email attacks and junk mail are caught and legitimate email is accepted.
• Ongoing automatic patches: Constant interaction with SenderBase security, an online library of email security threats, ensures that your Spam & Virus Blocker incorporates the latest updates to safequard your corporate email.
• Easy installation and operation: User-friendly browser-based setup tools allow you to install Cisco's Spam and Virus Blocker appliance in practically any environment within minutes, delivering instant security for your business.
• Streamlined administration: From the moment your company deploys the the Spam and Virus Blocker appliance, you benefit from junk mail and malware filtering with no additional effort demanded of your network support group.

Cisco NSS2000 and 3000
The Cisco Small Business NSS2000 and NSS3000 Network Storage Systems provide the dependable security and comprehensive backup capabilities that your company requires, at a cost small businesses can afford. The Cisco Small Business NSS3000 accommodates up to four terabytes of data and as many as 15 simultaneous users per chassis, offering the ideal solution for storing, sharing, and backing up your vital corporate data. As distinct from ordinary network-attached storage (NAS) systems, the NSS3000 delivers the state-of-the-art archiving, encryption, client validation, and fault tolerance your business needs.

The Cisco NSS3000 four-Bay Gigabit Storage enclosure handles any approved disk. The enclosure offers a range of features in a desktop-size footprint designed specifically for small businesses. The Small Business NSS3000 Storage enclosure also provides your business the flexibility to deploy the system without any connected hard drives, to modify the product easily, and to link multiple Cisco NAS chassis with one another, providing a solution that can continually expand with your company.

Your company can utilize the NSS2000 or NSS3000 Network Storage Systems to:

• Automatically back up vital information from every PC and application server in your business
• Offer unified preservation and sharing of important information
• Employ Continuous Data Protection to back up unattended each version of every file archived by employees, permitting your company to recover files easily
• Record and archive video from your video security cameras

Cisco Smart Business Communications System
The Smart Business Communications System (SBCS) Version 1.4 is an easy-to-manage and complete collaboration and communications system that permits small organizations to connect at-home workers, mobile workers and office workers in separate sites to enhance their options to collaborate with clients and teammates. In the new release, the aggressively priced solution has enhanced wireless capabilities such as the first wireless desktop IP phone with built-in Bluetooth, the SPA525G VoIP phone, which allows companies to grow cost-effectively by deploying phones in locations where traditional telephone wires or network wiring is missing or cannot easily be run.

Additional new pieces of the Cisco Smart Business Communications System (SBCS) 1.4 version include:

• Cisco's 520 Secure Router to help protect a small business infrastructure and provide employees secure access to the Internet and important business information from either side of the firewall
• The Cisco Configuration Assistant Version 1.9 to enable partners to streamline the setup and installation of solutions created specifically for certain businesses

How Progent's Consulting Engineers Can Assist Your Business to Take Advantage of Cisco Technology
Progent's Cisco-qualified support professionals and Cisco CCIE networking experts can help you to evaluate new Cisco products to determine their appropriateness for your environment, set up Cisco solutions to enhance the security and performance of your network, and provide tech support for Cisco devices both in person and online to keep your IT network running smoothly. Progent's consulting experts can provide a variety of affordable support services to enhance the reliability, safety, speed, and manageability of your IT system:

Immediate Access to Cisco CCIE Network Engineers
Progent delivers convenient, quick, and economical support from CCIE consultants. Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts are highly-qualified network experts who earn this prestigious accreditation only through comprehensive examination by Cisco. CCIEs can handle the most sophisticated problems surrounding network infrastructure architecture, configuration, troubleshooting, and service. Progent’s CCIE experts cooperate intimately with Cisco in-house staff in analyzing problems with Cisco's IOS platform and devising workarounds or obtaining software updates to resolve problems. Progent gives you fast contact with a CCIE by telephone so that you can receive urgent help for complex network troubles that are impacting worker efficiency but are beyond the scope of your ordinary IT support providers. Progent's CCIE consulting experts can link to your environment via state-of-the-art remote connectivity technology in order to provide fast and cost-effective diagnosis and remediation of urgent network difficulties.

Cisco Voice over IP Phone and IP Video Phone Integration
Progent's Cisco CCIE-certified IP phone and video IP phone experts can help you to configure, manage, and troubleshoot Cisco IP phones, video IP phones and wireless IP handsets. Progent offers expertise for all models of Cisco's IP phones from legacy Voice over IP products to the latest media phones. Progent's IP telephony experts can also help you to integrate your IP phones with Cisco Unified Communications Manager, originally branded CallManager, or with Unified Communications Manager Express to create a state-of-the-art IP-PBX environment for unified messaging and company-wide collaboration. Progent's consultants can deliver expertise with any facet of Cisco VoIP Phone integration including reviewing dial plans, solving IP phone registration issues, setting up SIP gateways, deploying ISR routers with CUBE VoIP networking capability, and designing UCS server clustering and Cisco SRST solutions for survivability. For more information concerning Progent's services for Cisco's Unified Communications technology, refer to Cisco Voice over IP (VoIP) and Unified Communications Engineering Expertise.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager and CallManager Unified Messaging
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM), originally named CallManager, is the heart of Cisco's communications and collaboration solution. Unified Communications Manager and Unified CM Express (CME) provide a borderless IP-PBX by integrating with unified messaging applications that include Cisco Unified Communications Manager IM and Presence Service with Jabber support, Unity Express (CUE) for voicemail, Mobile Connect for Single Number Reach (SNR), and Unified Contact Center Enterprise (UCCE) for building an advanced customer contact center. Progent's CCIE-certified CUCM and CallManager experts can assist with any facet of CUCM setup and debugging in areas such as integrating VoIP phones and video phones, designing dial plans, configuring SIP trunking and PSTN support, installing ISR routers with CUBE support, designing UCS server clustering solutions for high availability, and integration with Microsoft Exchange Server and Skype for Business.

Cisco ASA and PIX Firewall Consulting Expertise
Progent’s experienced Cisco network security consulting professionals provide expert PIX Firewall and ASA Firewall consulting support covering architecture, integration, and management of Cisco firewall and Cisco security solutions. The PIX and ASA Security Appliance Series of Cisco firewalls delivers strong user and application policy enforcement, mutlivector attack protection, and safe connectivity services. Ranging from compact, easy-to-install desktop appliances for small and home businesses to modular gigabit appliances, Cisco PIX Firewall and ASA Firewalls provide advanced security, high throughput, and excellent availability for IT systems of all sizes. PIX Firewalls and ASA Firewalls are based on a proven, specially designed platform, minimizing possible OS-specific security gaps.

Security Inventory and Assessment Packages
Progent's CISA, CISM and CISSP-certified security consultants can deliver a variety of cost-effective network security Inventory service packages and network security assessment service packages created to offer organizations of any size a chance to get an impartial opinion about the effectiveness of their protection environment. The packages range from ultra-affordable external security scan and internal network security scan options for small and midsize companies up to a high-level security evaluation solution for corporations who have to comply with security standards required by government agencies or by customers. For each security assessment bundle, consultants with top security credentials analyze and summarize collected information and make recommendations for efficient remediation.

Cisco SIP Infrastructure Solutions: SIP Trunks and CUBE Configuration Consulting
Progent's Cisco-certified SIP infrastructure experts and Cisco CUBE configuration consultants can assist organizations of any size to plan, deploy, maintain, troubleshoot and upgrade Cisco's SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) infrastructure technology and Cisco's CUBE (Cisco Unified Border Element)-based SIP trunks. Progent can provide affordable remote or onsite expertise to assist companies to migrate smoothly to a productive communications network that offers accelerated return on investment. Progent's Gold-certified Microsoft unified communications experts can assist you to configure connections between Cisco's CUBE SBC and Microsoft's VoIP and IP video applications such as Skype for Business Server or Lync for access to a SIP-based IP PSTN trunk.

Consulting Consulting and Troubleshooting Services for Cisco Wireless Infrastructure
Progent can give you access to a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert or certified CCNP to assist you to develop a comprehensive wireless network design and implementation plan that incorporates a wide range of wireless appliances and technologies and provides the same security, expandability, and manageability you demand from a wired network. Progent can help you to achieve seamless integration between Cisco wireless technology and wireless devices and software from third-party suppliers to offer your business the features you require plus the most protected, reliable, and cost-effective wireless networking system possible. Progent's CISA and ISSAP security specialists can show you how to design security into your WLAN and your business processes.

Automated Management Solutions for Cisco-powered IT Network Infrastructure
Progent's Cisco-Certified network management engineers offer assistance with Cisco's management utilities alongside a variety of specialized third-party products to build a complete management automation solution to keep your environment running reliably, conserve expensive resources, protect your data, recover rapidly from device failure or malicious attacks, and allow you to add or reassign valuable resources intelligently and economically as your company evolves.

To find out more details concerning Progent's support services for Cisco connectivity and security solutions, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.