IT Technology News and Progent Solutions

Cisco announced innovative products intended specifically for small company networks and engineered to provide exceptional protection and connectivity at an affordable cost. Solutions announced by Cisco were Cisco's Spam and Virus Blocker, Cisco's NSS2000 and NSS3000 Network Storage Systems, and the latest release of the SBCS.

The Cisco Spam and Virus Blocker is a dedicated spam, virus, and phishing filter security product that virtually eliminates email-based attacks right out of the box. The Cisco NSS2000 and NSS3000 Small Business Network Storage Systems are affordable desktop network-attached storage (NAS) devices that provide security for important data and enable employees to exchange information easily. Cisco's Smart Business Communications System (SBCS) Version 1.4, a full collaboration and communications system that seamlessly interconnects offices, employees, and clients anywhere. Cisco's current release features the first cordless desktop IP phone with Bluetooth capabilities. To read Cisco's press release, refer to Cisco Introduces Connectivity and Collaboration Solutions for Small Companies.

Cisco Spam and Virus Blocker
The Spam Blocker appliance safeguards small companies by offering extensive defense against junk mail, malware and other email threats to secure your network and business information while at the same time enhance productivity. Because the product blocks spam and viruses right out of the box and stays current automatically, it avoids the expense and hassle required for setup and ongoing and administration. By filtering out unwanted email, Cisco's Spam Blocker increases the throughput of network connections, application servers, and computers. The Spam Blocker represents a comprehensive defense against email threats by including a physical appliance, software, continuous patches, and product assistance in a single package.

Notable features of Cisco's Spam and Virus Blocker are:

• Accuracy: Assists to make sure that email-borne attacks and junk mail are caught while legitimate email is delivered.
• Ongoing self-installed updates: Constant interaction with SenderBase services, a network database of email security threats, makes sure that the Spam & Virus Blocker appliance incorporates the most current patches to safequard your business email.
• Simple setup and use: Easy-to-use web-based setup tools allow you to install Cisco's Spam and Virus Blocker appliance in almost any environment in 15 minutes, providing instant protection for your business.
• Streamlined management: As soon as your company installs the Cisco's Spam Blocker, you get spam and malware filtering with minimal additional effort required of your network support staff.

NSS2000 and 3000
The Small Business NSS2000 and NSS3000 offer the dependable protection and comprehensive data backup features that your business requires, at a price small businesses can afford. The Small Business NSS3000 accommodates up to 4 terabytes of data and up to 15 concurrent clients on each chassis, offering the ideal answer for storing, accessing, and archiving your mission-critical business information. Unlike entry-level network-attached storage systems, the Cisco NSS3000 provides the state-of-the-art archiving, encryption, user authentication, and high uptime your business needs.

The NSS3000 four-Bay Gigabit Storage System enclosure handles any certified disk drive. The product offers a range of capabilities in a desktop-size footprint designed specifically for small companies. The Small Business NSS3000 Storage enclosure also gives you the versatility to deploy the product without any connected hard disk drives, to reconfigure it easily, and to link multiple Cisco NAS chassis with one another, providing a solution that can smoothly grow with your company.

Your business can use the Cisco Small Business NSS2000 or 3000 Network Storage Systems to:

• Intelligently back up important information from every workstation and application server in your business
• Offer unified storage and sharing of important information
• Run Continuous Data Protection (CDP) to copy automatically each revision of each file archived by employees, permitting you to restore information easily
• Store and save digital video from your video security system

Cisco Smart Business Communications System
The Cisco Smart Business Communications System (SBCS) Release 1.4 is an easy-to-manage and comprehensive sharing and communications solution that permits small companies to connect telecommuters, mobile workers and office workers in separate sites to enhance their options to communicate with clients and colleagues. In Release 1.4, the affordable system offers enhanced wireless support such as the first wireless desktop IP handset with Bluetooth technology, the Cisco SPA525G IP phone, which enables companies to grow easily by adding phones in places where conventional phone wires or network wiring is not present or cannot conveniently be added.

Other innovative components of the Smart Business Communications System (SBCS) 1.4 version are:

• Cisco's 520 Secure Router to help protect the company's infrastructure and give employees safe connectivity to the Internet and key business information any time, anywhere
• Cisco's Configuration Assistant Version 1.9 to allow stakeholders to simplify the setup and installation of solutions designed specifically for certain businesses

How Progent's Consulting Engineers Can Assist Your Company to Incorporate Cisco Networking Technology
Progent's Cisco certified consultants and CCIE accredited network engineers can assist you to assess the latest Cisco products to determine their business value for your environment, deploy Cisco security and communication platforms to improve the security and performance of your network, and maintain Cisco products both onsite and remotely to keep your network operating smoothly. Progent's consultants can provide a variety of cost-effective support services to improve the reliability, safety, performance, and maintainability of your company's IT network:

Quick Online Access to Cisco CCIE Engineers
Progent is the premier provider of convenient, immediate, and affordable assistance from CCIE Certified consultants. CCIEs are recognized network gurus who are awarded this top-level accreditation only through strenuous testing by Cisco. CCIEs can resolve even the most complex problems surrounding network infrastructure planning, integration, repair, and management. Progent's CCIE experts interact intimately with Cisco in-house staff in analyzing problems with Cisco's IOS platform and developing fixes or obtaining patches to resolve problems. Progent can provide quick contact with a CCIE by phone so you are able to receive instant assistance for tough network problems that are affecting worker efficiency but are beyond the expertise of your local network service resources. Progent's CCIE consulting professionals can access your environment using advanced remote connectivity technology to provide fast and cost-effective analysis and repair of critical network problems.

Cisco Voice over IP Phone and IP Video Phone Solutions
Progent's Cisco VoIP phone and video IP phone consultants can help your business to integrate, maintain, and troubleshoot Cisco VoIP phones, desktop video IP phones and wireless IP phones. Progent can provide expertise for all versions of Cisco's IP phones from discontinued Voice over IP products to the newest media phones. Progent's IP telephony experts can also help you to integrate your IP phones with Cisco Unified Communications Manager, formerly known as CallManager, or with Unified Communications Manager Express to build a an advanced IP-PBX environment for unified messaging and collaboration. Progent can provide support with all aspects of Cisco IP Phone integration including designing dial plans, resolving QoS, configuring SIP trunking, deploying Cisco ISR routers with CUBE VoIP networking capability, and creating Cisco UCS server failover and Cisco Survivable Remote Site Telephony solutions for high availability. For additional details about Progent's expertise for Cisco's Unified Communications solutions, go to Cisco Voice over IP (VoIP) and Unified Communications Consulting Support.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager and CallManager Unified Messaging
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM), previously known as CallManager, is the heart of Cisco's collaboration portfolio. CUCM and Unified CM Express (CME) provide a location-independent IP-PBX solution by integrating with unified messaging apps like Unified CM IM and Presence Service with Jabber support, Cisco Unity Express (CUE) for voicemail management, Cisco Unified Mobility for Single Number Reach, and Unified Contact Center Enterprise (UCCE) for building a highly automated customer contact center. Progent's CCIE-certified CUCM consultants can help with any aspect of Unified CM support and troubleshooting in areas that include integrating Cisco VoIP phones and desktop video phones, designing dial plans, setting up SIP trunking and PSTN calling, deploying Cisco ISR routers with CUBE support, creating Cisco UCS server failover solutions for survivability, and integration with Exchange Server and Skype for Business.

Cisco ASA Firewall and PIX Firewall Consulting
Progent's certified Cisco network security consulting professionals offer expert PIX Firewall and ASA Firewall consulting support covering infrastructure design, configuration, and management of Cisco firewall and Cisco security technology. The PIX and ASA Series of Cisco firewalls delivers robust user and software policy enforcement, mutlivector attack defense, and secure access services. Ranging from compact, plug-and-play desktop devices for small and home offices to scalable enterprise-class products, Cisco PIX Firewall and ASA Firewalls offer a high level of protection, performance, and excellent reliability for network environments of all sizes. PIX Firewalls and ASA Firewalls are based on a hardened, specially designed operating system, eliminating possible OS-specific security gaps.

Network Security Inventory and Audit Packages
Progent's CISA, CISM and CISSP-premier security engineers can provide a range of budget-friendly security Inventory packages and network security assessment service bundles created to offer organizations of all sizes an opportunity to get a professional look at the strength of their security profile. The packages range from ultra-affordable external security scan and internal network security scan options for small and midsize companies up to a high-end network security evaluation package for corporations who need meet security standards demanded by state regulators or by customers. For each security inventory or evaluation bundle, engineers with high-level security credentials evaluate and report on scanned data and provide recommendations for efficient remediation.

Cisco SIP Infrastructure Solutions: SIP PSTN Trunks and Cisco CUBE Configuration Expertise
Progent's Cisco-certified SIP trunk consultants and CUBE integration experts can assist organizations of any size to design, integrate, manage, debug and enhance Cisco's SIP infrastructure solutions and Cisco's CUBE (Cisco Unified Border Element)-based SIP trunks. Progent offers affordable online or onsite support to help businesses to move smoothly to an advanced communications ecosystem that offers fast ROI. Progent's Gold-certified Microsoft unified communications consultants can help you to set up interfaces between Cisco's CUBE Session Border Controller and Microsoft's rich media platforms such as Skype for Business Server and Lync Server for connectivity to a SIP PSTN trunk.

Consulting and Support Consulting and Troubleshooting Expertise for Cisco Wireless Products
Progent can give you access to a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert or Cisco Certified Network Professional to help you to develop a comprehensive wireless network design and implementation strategy that incorporates a wide array of wireless appliances and technologies and provides the identical protection, expandability, and ease of management you demand from a wired network. Progent can help you to implement transparent interoperability between Cisco wireless products and wireless products from other vendors to give your business the features you require as well as the most protected, dependable, and cost-effective WLAN solution possible. Progent's CISA and ISSAP security consultants can advise you about how to build security into your wireless network and into your business operations.

Simplified Administration Tools for Cisco-based IT Networks
Progent's Cisco-Premier network engineers offer help with Cisco's management technology alongside a selection of powerful third-party applications to build a complete management automation strategy in order to keep your network running smoothly, conserve expensive resources, protect your information, recover quickly from device breakdown or malicious attacks, and enable you to expand or reassign network resources sensibly and economically as your business grows.

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