Technology News and Progent IT Solutions

Cisco introduced innovative solutions intended especially for small business IT networks and engineered to provide exceptional protection and collaboration for a budget-friendly cost. Solutions introduced by Cisco included Cisco's Spam and Virus Blocker, the Cisco Small Business series NSS2000 and NSS3000 Network Storage Systems, and the newest version of Cisco's Smart Business Communications System (SBCS).

The Cisco Spam and Virus Blocker is a dedicated email security device that essentially eliminates email threats right out of the box. Cisco's NSS2000 and NSS3000 Small Business Network Storage Systems are affordable small-footprint network-attached storage (NAS) devices that offer security for valuable information and enable workers to exchange information easily. The Cisco Smart Business Communications System (SBCS) Release 1.4, a full sharing and communications system that seamlessly connects offices, employees, and customers anywhere. The latest version features the industry's first cordless desktop VoIP phone with Bluetooth wireless support. To view Cisco's press release, visit Cisco Introduces Security and Collaboration Solutions for Small Businesses.

Cisco Spam Blocker Appliance
The Spam Blocker protects small organizations by offering powerful protection against spam, viruses and phishing and other email threats to guard your system and business data while improve efficiency. Since the appliance blocks spam and viruses right out of the box and updates automatically, it eliminates the expense and time with initial configuration and ongoing and management. By filtering out spam, Cisco's Spam Blocker appliance increases the throughput of network connections, servers, and workstations. The Spam Blocker appliance is an end-to-end defense against email threats by featuring a physical appliance, software, ongoing updates, and product support in a single bundle.

Key benefits of Cisco's Spam and Virus Blocker appliance include:

• Precision: Assists to ensure that email-borne attacks and junk mail are caught while legitimate messages are accepted.
• Continuous automatic updates: Non-stop interaction with SenderBase security, an online library of email security threats, ensures that the Cisco Spam Blocker incorporates the latest updates to safequard your corporate email.
• Simple installation and operation: Easy-to-use browser-based setup wizards allow you to configure the Spam and Virus Blocker appliance in almost any environment within minutes, providing instant protection for your company.
• Effortless management: From the moment your company installs the the Spam Blocker, you get junk mail and virus filtering with minimal additional effort demanded from your network support staff.

Cisco NSS2000 and 3000
The Cisco Small Business NSS2000 and 3000 Network Storage Systems offer the robust security and comprehensive backup features that your company needs, at a price small businesses can afford. The NSS3000 accommodates up to 4 terabytes of data and up to 15 simultaneous users on each chassis, offering the optimal answer for holding, accessing, and backing up your mission-critical business information. As distinct from entry-level network-attached storage (NAS) systems, the Small Business NSS3000 provides the advanced archiving, cryptography, user authentication, and service continuity your company requires.

The NSS3000 4-Bay Gigabit Storage System enclosure handles any certified disk drive. The enclosure offers a wealth of capabilities in a desktop-size system engineered specifically for small businesses. The Cisco NSS3000 Storage Chassis also offers your company the flexibility to configure the product without any connected hard drives, to reconfigure the product at any time, and to chain multiple NAS chassis together, providing a solution that can smoothly grow with your business.

Your company can use the Cisco Small Business NSS2000 or NSS3000 to:

• Intelligently back up important data from each desktop and application server in your business
• Offer centralized storage and distribution of key files
• Run Continuous Data Protection to back up automatically every version of every file archived by workers, allowing you to recover files quickly
• Store and archive video from your surveillance cameras

Smart Business Communications System (SBCS)
The Cisco Smart Business Communications System Release 1.4 is a simple and comprehensive collaboration and communications solution that allows small organizations to interconnect telecommuters, on-the-road workers and employees in disparate locations to enhance their options to collaborate with clients and colleagues. In Release 1.4, the aggressively priced system offers enhanced wireless capabilities such as the first wireless desktop IP handset with built-in Bluetooth technology, the Cisco SPA525G wireless IP device, which allows businesses to expand cost-effectively by deploying handsets in locations where traditional telephone lines or network wiring is not present or cannot easily be added.

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

• The Cisco 520 Secure Router to help guard a small business network and give employees safe connectivity to the Internet and key business information wherever they are
• The Configuration Assistant Version 1.9 to permit stakeholders to simplify the setup and installation of solutions created specifically for individual companies

How Progent's Cisco-certified Engineers Can Help Your Company to Get the Most Out of Cisco Networking Solutions
Progent's Cisco certified consultants and Cisco CCIE network engineers can help you to evaluate new Cisco technologies to determine their value for your environment, install Cisco security and communication platforms to improve the protection and efficiency of your information network, and provide tech support for Cisco products both in person and remotely to keep your network operating dependably. Progent's consultants offer a range of affordable support services to enhance the availability, protection, speed, and manageability of your company's IT network:

Quick Online Access to Cisco Registered CCIE Engineers
Progent offers convenient, immediate, and cost-effective assistance from CCIE engineers. CCIEs are highly-qualified networking experts who are awarded this top-level accreditation only through comprehensive testing by Cisco. CCIEs can resolve the most sophisticated problems encountered with network infrastructure planning, deployment, repair, and management. Progent’s CCIE consultants interact closely with Cisco in-house staff in identifying issues with Cisco's IOS software and finding fixes or acquiring patches to correct anomalies. Progent gives you quick access to a CCIE by phone so you can get instant assistance for tough network problems that are affecting business efficiency but are outside the expertise of your usual network service resources. Progent's CCIE support engineers can link to your environment using advanced remote support tools to deliver timely and affordable diagnosis and repair of urgent infrastructure problems.

Cisco Voice over IP Phone and IP Video Phone Solutions
Progent's Cisco-certified VoIP phone and video IP phone experts can help your business to integrate, maintain, and troubleshoot Cisco VoIP phones, desktop video IP phones and wireless IP handsets. Progent can provide support for all versions of Cisco's IP phones from legacy Voice over IP devices to the newest media phones. Progent's IP telephony experts can also help your organization to integrate your VoIP phones and video IP phones with Cisco Unified Communications Manager, originally named CallManager, or with Unified Communications Manager Express (CME) to build a state-of-the-art IP-PBX ecosystem for unified messaging and collaboration. Progent can provide expertise with any facet of Cisco IP Phone integration including designing dial plans, resolving IP phone registration issues, configuring SIP gateways, deploying Cisco ISR routers with CUBE internetworking capability, and designing UCS server failover and Cisco Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST) solutions for high availability. For more information about Progent's services for Cisco's collaboration technology, visit Cisco Voice over IP and Unified Communications Engineering Help.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager and CallManager Collaboration
Cisco Unified Communications Manager, originally known as CallManager, operates as the heart of Cisco's communications and collaboration portfolio. CUCM and Unified Communications Manager Express offer a modern IP-PBX solution by integrating with applications like Unified CM IM and Presence Service, Cisco Unity Connection for voicemail, Cisco Unified Mobility for Single Number Reach, and Unified Contact Center Enterprise (Unified CCE) for building an advanced customer contact center. Progent's CCIE-certified CUCM experts can assist with any aspect of Unified Communications Manager configuration and debugging in areas that include integrating Voice over IP phones and video phones, reviewing dial plans, setting up SIP connections and PSTN support, deploying ISR routers with CUBE support, creating UCS server clustering systems for high availability, and integration with Microsoft Exchange Server.

Cisco ASA and PIX Firewall Consulting Expertise
Progent’s certified Cisco network security consultants provide high-level PIX and ASA Firewall consulting support covering infrastructure design, integration, and support of Cisco firewall and Cisco security technology. The PIX and ASA Security Appliance Series of Cisco firewall products delivers strong user and software policy enforcement, mutlivector attack protection, and safe access services. Ranging from economical, easy-to-install desktop devices for small and home offices to modular enterprise-level products, Cisco PIX and ASA Firewalls provide a high level of security, high throughput, and excellent availability for network environments of all sizes. PIX Firewalls and ASA Firewalls are based on a proven, specially designed platform, minimizing common OS-specific security gaps.

Security Inventory and Audit Packages
Progent's CISM and CISSP-premier security engineers can deliver a variety of cost-effective security Inventory service packages and network security evaluation bundles designed to give organizations of all sizes an opportunity to receive an impartial look at the quality of their protection environment. The packages range from low-cost external network security scan and internal network security scan options for small businesses up to a high-level security assessment package for corporations who need comply with security levels demanded by government regulators or by vendors. For every security inventory or evaluation bundle, consultants with high-level security credentials analyze and report on scanned data and provide recommendations for efficient improvements.

Cisco SIP Connectivity Solutions: SIP Trunks and CUBE Integration Expertise
Progent's Cisco-certified SIP trunk experts and Cisco CUBE configuration consultants can help you to design, deploy, maintain, debug and upgrade Cisco's SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) infrastructure solutions and Cisco's CUBE (Cisco Unified Border Element)-connected SIP trunks. Progent can provide cost-effective online or on-premises support to help businesses to migrate efficiently to a productive unified communications network that delivers accelerated return on investment. Progent's Gold-certified Microsoft unified communications consultants can assist you to configure interfaces between Cisco's CUBE Session Border Controller and Microsoft's VoIP and IP video platforms such as Skype for Business and Lync for connectivity to a SIP PSTN trunk.

Consulting and Support Consulting and Troubleshooting Services for Cisco Wireless Products
Progent can provide a certified CCIE or Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) to assist you to develop a comprehensive wireless network design and implementation strategy that integrates a wide range of wireless devices and technologies and provides the identical security, scalability, and manageability you expect from a wired network. Progent can assist you to achieve seamless interoperability between Cisco wireless technology and wireless products from third-party vendors to offer your business the functionality you need as well as the most protected, dependable, and cost-effective wireless networking system available. Progent's CISA and ISSAP security consultants can advise you about how to design security into your wireless network and your business processes.

Simplified Administration Tools for Cisco-based IT Networks
Progent's Cisco-Premier network management consultants can provide assistance with Cisco's network management utilities along with a range of powerful third-party applications to create a complete network management solution to keep your environment operating reliably, fully utilize expensive resources, protect your information, recover quickly from hardware breakdown or malicious attacks, and enable you to expand or repurpose network components sensibly and affordably as your company grows.

To learn more information about Progent's consulting services for Cisco connectivity and communications technology, phone 1-800-993-9400 or see Contact Progent.