Technology News and Progent IT Solutions

Cisco introduced new products intended especially for small company IT networks and engineered to provide exceptional security and connectivity for a budget-friendly price. Solutions announced by Cisco were the Cisco Spam and Virus Blocker, the Cisco Small Business series NSS2000 and NSS3000 Network Storage Systems, and the newest release of Cisco's Smart Business Communications System (SBCS).

The Cisco Spam and Virus Blocker is a dedicated antispam and antivirus security device that essentially eradicates email attacks right out of the box. Cisco's NSS2000 and NSS3000 Small Business Network Storage Systems are affordable desktop network-attached storage devices that provide security for valuable data and enable workers to share files easily. The Cisco Smart Business Communications System Version 1.4, a full collaboration and communications solution that seamlessly interconnects offices, workers, and clients however dispersed. Cisco's current version features the industry's first cordless small-footprint VoIP handset with Bluetooth wireless support. To see Cisco's press release, refer to Cisco Introduces Security and Collaboration Products for Small Businesses.

Cisco Spam Blocker
The Spam Blocker appliance protects small companies by offering powerful protection against spam, viruses and phishing as well as other email threats to guard your network and business data while enhance efficiency. Since the appliance blocks spam right out of the box and stays current automatically, it eliminates the cost and hassle required for initial configuration and continuing and management. By eliminating unwanted email, Cisco's Spam Blocker appliance helps the performance of network connections, application servers, and computers. The Spam Blocker appliance represents an end-to-end defense against email attacks by featuring a physical appliance, software, continuous updates, and technical assistance in a unified bundle.

Notable features of Cisco's Spam Blocker appliance include:

• Precision: Assists to ensure that email threats and junk mail are caught and business messages are delivered.
• Ongoing self-installed updates: Non-stop communication with SenderBase security, a network database of email security threats, makes sure that the Spam & Virus Blocker appliance installs the most current updates to safequard your business email.
• Easy setup and operation: Easy-to-use browser-based installation wizards permit you to configure Cisco's Spam and Virus Blocker in nearly any environment within 15 minutes, delivering instant protection for your business.
• Streamlined management: From the moment your company installs the the Spam and Virus Blocker appliance, you benefit from spam and virus protection with minimal extra hassle required from your network support staff.

Cisco Small Business NSS2000 and NSS3000
The Cisco NSS2000 and 3000 offer the dependable security and comprehensive data backup features that your business requires, at a price small companies can handle. The Cisco NSS3000 accommodates as much as to 4 terabytes of data and as many as 15 concurrent clients on each enclosure, provides the ideal answer for holding, accessing, and archiving your mission-critical business data. As distinct from ordinary network-attached storage (NAS) systems, the Cisco Small Business NSS3000 delivers the state-of-the-art backup, cryptography, client authentication, and service continuity your company needs.

The Cisco Small Business NSS3000 four-Bay Gigabit Storage System Chassis supports any approved disk. The chassis offers a range of capabilities in a desktop-size system engineered specifically for small businesses. The Cisco Small Business NSS3000 Storage System Chassis also provides your business the flexibility to deploy the system without any attached disks, to reconfigure it easily, and to link several chassis with one another, providing a solution that can smoothly expand with your company.

Your company can utilize the Cisco Small Business NSS2000 or 3000 to:

• Intelligently copy important data from each desktop and server in your company
• Provide unified storage and distribution of key information
• Employ Continuous Data Protection to copy unattended each version of each file saved by employees, allowing your business to recover information easily
• Record and save video from your surveillance cameras

Smart Business Communications System
The Cisco Smart Business Communications System Version 1.4 is an easy-to-manage and comprehensive sharing and communications system that permits small organizations to connect at-home workers, mobile workers and office workers in separate sites to improve their ability to interact with customers and teammates. In Release 1.4, the affordable system has enhanced wireless features including the industry's first wireless desktop IP phone with built-in Bluetooth technology, the SPA525G VoIP phone, which allows companies to expand cost-effectively by deploying handsets in places where conventional phone lines or network wiring is not present or cannot easily be added.

Other innovative pieces of the Smart Business Communications System Release 1.4 are:

• The Cisco 520 Secure Router product to help guard a small business network and provide workers safe access to the Internet and key corporate information from inside or outside the office
• The Cisco Configuration Assistant v. 1.9 to allow partners to streamline the configuration and deployment of solutions designed custom for individual businesses

How Progent's Certified Professionals Can Help Your Company to Deploy Cisco Technology
Progent's Cisco certified consultants and CCIE accredited engineers can assist you to evaluate the latest Cisco technologies to understand their appropriateness for your IT system, configure Cisco solutions to improve the protection and performance of your information network, and provide tech support for Cisco products both in person and remotely to keep your IT network running smoothly. Progent's consulting experts offer a variety of low-cost support services to improve the dependability, protection, performance, and manageability of your IT system:

Immediate Access to Cisco Registered CCIE Network Engineers
Progent offers easy, immediate, and affordable support from registered CCIE engineers. Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts are highly-qualified networking gurus who are awarded this prestigious certification only through exhaustive examination by Cisco. CCIEs are able to resolve even the most complex problems surrounding network architecture, setup, troubleshooting, and administration. Progent’s CCIE experts work intimately with Cisco in-house staff in analyzing issues with Cisco's IOS software and developing fixes or obtaining patches to correct problems. Progent can provide immediate access to a CCIE by phone so you are able to get urgent assistance for tough network problems that are undermining worker efficiency but are outside the expertise of your local network support resources. Progent's CCIE support engineers can access your environment via advanced off-site connectivity technology to deliver fast and cost-effective analysis and repair of critical infrastructure difficulties.

Cisco VoIP Phone and IP Video Phone Integration
Progent's Cisco-certified VoIP phone and video IP phone consultants can assist your business to integrate, maintain, and troubleshoot Cisco IP phones, video IP phones and wireless IP phones. Progent can provide expertise for all models of Cisco's IP phones from discontinued Voice over IP devices to the newest HD media phones. Progent's consultants can also assist your organization to integrate your VoIP phones and video IP phones with Cisco Unified Communications Manager, formerly named CallManager, or with Unified CM Express to create a modern IP-PBX environment for unified messaging and collaboration. Progent's consultants can deliver expertise with any facet of Cisco VoIP Phone integration including reviewing dial plans, resolving QoS, setting up SIP trunking, installing ISR routers with CUBE internetworking support, and designing UCS server failover and Cisco Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST) solutions for survivability. For additional details on Progent's technical support for Cisco's collaboration solutions, visit Cisco Voice over IP and Unified Communications Professional Support.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager and CallManager Unified Messaging
Cisco Unified Communications Manager, formerly known as CallManager, functions as the core of Cisco's collaboration portfolio. Unified CM and Cisco Unified CM Express (CME) offer a borderless IP-PBX solution by integrating tightly with unified messaging applications that include Cisco Unified Communications Manager IM and Presence Service, Unity Express for voicemail management, Cisco Unified Mobility for Single Number Reach (SNR), and Unified Contact Center Enterprise (Unified CCE) for building a highly automated customer contact solution. Progent's Cisco-certified Cisco Unified CM consultants can assist with any aspect of Unified CM support and troubleshooting in areas that include integrating VoIP phones and video phones, reviewing dial plans, setting up SIP connections and PSTN calling, installing ISR G2 routers with CUBE support, creating Cisco UCS server failover solutions for high availability, and integration with Microsoft Exchange and Skype for Business.

Cisco ASA Firewall and PIX Firewall Consulting Expertise
Progent’s certified Cisco IT security consultants provide expert PIX Firewall and ASA Firewall consulting support covering infrastructure design, configuration, 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, sophisticated attack protection, and safe access services. Ranging from economical, easy-to-install desktop devices for small and home businesses to scalable enterprise-grade products, Cisco PIX and ASA Firewalls provide advanced protection, performance, and high reliability for IT systems of any size. PIX Firewalls and ASA Firewalls are based on a proven, specially designed platform, eliminating common OS-specific security gaps.

Network Security Inventory and Assessment Packages
Progent's CISM and CISSP-premier security consultants can provide a range of budget-friendly security Inventory bundles and security assessment service bundles designed to give businesses of any size a chance to receive an independent look at the effectiveness of their protection profile. These packages vary from low-cost external security scan and internal network security scan packages for small and midsize companies up to a high-end network security evaluation package for enterprises who have to comply with security standards demanded by state agencies or by customers. For every security assessment bundle, engineers with top security accreditations analyze and report on collected information and provide suggestions for efficient remediation.

Cisco SIP Infrastructure Solutions: SIP PSTN Trunks and Cisco CUBE Integration Expertise
Progent's Cisco CCIE-certified SIP infrastructure consultants and CUBE integration consultants can assist you to plan, integrate, manage, debug and upgrade Cisco's SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) connectivity technology and Cisco's CUBE-connected IP PSTN trunks. Progent offers affordable remote or on-premises expertise to help companies to move efficiently to a productive unified communications environment that offers fast return on investment. Progent's Gold-certified Microsoft collaboration experts can assist you to configure interfaces between Cisco's CUBE SBC and Microsoft's VoIP and IP video applications such as Skype for Business or Lync for access to a SIP-based IP PSTN trunk.

Consulting and Support Consulting and Troubleshooting Expertise for Cisco Wireless Products
Progent can give you access to a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) or certified CCNP to help you to develop a comprehensive wireless network design and implementation strategy that incorporates a broad array of wireless appliances and technologies and provides the same protection, scalability, and manageability you demand from your wired network. Progent can help you to implement seamless integration between Cisco wireless products and wireless products from third-party suppliers to offer your business the functionality you need plus the most protected, dependable, and cost-effective wireless networking system available. Progent's CISM and CISSP security consultants can show you how to build security into your wireless network and your business operations.

Simplified Administration Tools for Cisco-powered IT Network Infrastructure
Progent's Cisco-Certified network management consultants can provide help with Cisco's management utilities alongside a variety of specialized third-party applications to build a complete management automation solution in order to keep your network running smoothly, fully utilize limited resources, guard your information, recover quickly from device breakdown or malicious attacks, and enable you to expand or repurpose valuable components sensibly and economically as your business evolves.

To learn additional information concerning Progent's consulting and support services for Cisco networking and security technology, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.