Expanding your remote workforce can have a major effect on network infrastructure, cybersecurity, and corporate culture. Progent has 20 years of experience assisting businesses of all sizes to design, deploy, manage, optimize, and debug IT environments that support work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Cleveland organization to select the right tools and adhere to best practices in creating and maintaining a secure virtual ecosystem for telecommuters that facilitates teamwork and returns top value. Progent offers support services ranging from as-needed expertise for getting you over challenging technical bottlenecks to comprehensive project management to help you successfully complete mission-critical tasks.

Progent can assist Cleveland, Ohio businesses to succeed with any facet of creating a high-performing work-at-home ecosystem by delivering network infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, voice/video conferencing support, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud connectivity, helpdesk services, security and compliance, backup/restore solutions, and streamlined management.

Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Configuring the network infrastructure required to support a remote work environment can be especially complex if you have to manage a mix of personal equipment such as desktop computers and notebooks, routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from different manufacturers and with a mix of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's experience providing remote help for both outdated and modern IT products in virtual office venues allows you to make cost-effective use of your available network infrastructure and provides you with fast access to expertise for implement necessary updates. Support services available from Progent to help your company to create a productive telecommuting ecosystem include:

  • Virtual Private Network connectivity makes it possible to create a safe tunnel for authorized at-home employees to access IT resources located at your company datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent can assist you to deploy and manage VPN connections between your at-home workforce and your various IT resources by providing remote VPN integration support. For businesses using Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA experts can help your remote workers to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect software to provide secure VPN connections for a wide selection of endpoint devices including Windows, Mac, Apple iOS, Linux, and Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) products enable a teleworker to see and use a remote PC's desktop. This gives network managers substantial control over the digital environment of at-home employees and offers remote users a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's virtual desktop services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI expertise.
  • Routers connect at-home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, local Wi-Fi networks, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier remote consulting for configuring home routers from a variety of vendors. See router integration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wireless networks, often shared by families and guests, are commonly utilized by telecommuters to access their Internet router for work. This can cause performance and cybersecurity problems. Progent can help businesses to mitigate these issues by delivering expertise that include Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco Meraki WiFi installation expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi access point integration help.
  • Internet access methods impact the performance and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the company data center. Business-critical processes may demand redundant Internet connections in case the primary connection breaks. Progent offers guidance for selecting ISPs, picking sensible bandwidth and data volume offerings, and integrating high-availability Internet access. See Internet connectivity solutions.

VoIP Solutions for At-Home Workers
Expanding the business phone system to accommodate telecommuters is vital to maintaining a productive work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-based digital PBX platforms are popular with small and mid-size businesses to support remote users. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's modern or older products for VoIP management. Progent can assist organizations of all sizes to design or maintain a remote IP voice service that delivers the flexibility, transparency and security needed for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants can provide advanced support to assist organizations tune their current Cisco IP voice environments to support a growing remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) extends high-end IP telephony features to devices like VoIP phones, media processing products, VoIP gateways, and mixed media applications deployed throughout the network. CUCM manages other mixed media services such as unified messaging, video conferencing, and customer interaction networks. For more information about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM support, see CUCM consulting services.
  • Cisco CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been replaced by CUCM. Progent can assist you to support your existing CallManager deployment or upgrade smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony products. For details about Progent's support services for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other older VoIP products, see Cisco CallManager consulting.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with PSTN networks and with users working beyond the corporate perimeter like at-home workers. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products and for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration expertise.
  • Additional VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can help you to enhance your wide area network infrastructure to support these solutions and deliver online configuration and troubleshooting services.

Video Conferencing for Remote Workers
A wide range of video conferencing products from major technology companies enable online meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen/content sharing for both onsite workers and at-home workers. Many organizations use a mix of conferencing products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can assist you to maintain your current voice/video conferencing ecosystem and optimize the productivity of your at-home employees.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications product that enables real-time presence, IM, voice and video conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent can provide the skills of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help you to set up and maintain Skype for Business clients to support your remote workforce. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business integration experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's group video phone platform for compatible iOS and macOS devices. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer editions of FaceTime support up to 32 concurrent users for voice/video sessions. For details about Progent's consulting services for FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for most desktop or mobile devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing discrete content or computer screens, presentations that embed rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, session recording, plus revision and playback for future reference. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Webex as well as for additional video conferencing products 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 portal for conferencing, contacts, and content with features that include video conferencing, threaded chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and for other Microsoft 365 apps, visit Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Conferencing Apps supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver integration and troubleshooting expertise for these products and assist your business to optimize your WAN infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Software for Remote and Hybrid Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office families, offering a powerful environment of applications that create a cohesive user experience for exchanging data and ideas across a corporate network and on a broad range of endpoints. Progent has provided online consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their initial releases and can assist your company to configure 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 and Teams Premium Solutions Consultants for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft Teams works with Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration and communication. Developed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can enable chat, audio/video meetings with screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and app sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (previously called Azure Active Directory) for supporting its complete range of capabilities. To learn more about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams, visit planning and configuration consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint Integration Experts for Remote WorkersSharePoint utilizes web entities to facilitate collaboration and information sharing by offering policy-based access to content, workflow, and utilities for looking through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint enables you to build secure web portals that permits remote workers to see and edit aggregated corporate intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social networking sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For information about Progent's SharePoint expertise, go to SharePoint configuration and development consulting.

Exchange Configuration Consultants 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. For details about Progent's Exchange consulting expertise, visit integration consulting services for Exchange.

Microsoft Onedrive Deployment Consultants for At-Home WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. Remote users can save files to OneDrive, and co-workers anywhere can access them securely through a browser. Included with Microsoft 365, OneDrive allows home workers to co-author files. Revisions created offline are synced when you go back online. To learn about Progent's support services for Microsoft OneDrive, visit Microsoft Onedrive integration experts.

Cloud Integration for Telecommuters
Progent offers advanced remote support for enabling businesses to create, maintain and repair cohesive hybrid network models that incorporate physical data centers, at-home workers, branches, plus public cloud services. Progent can provide expertise for all modes of cloud service delivery such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help telecommuters fix problems with cloud access, identity, and cybersecurity.

Microsoft Azure Integration Services for TelecommutersMicrosoft Azure is a leading family of public cloud software and services that enables you to utilize IT infrastructure, servers, and critical apps running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure features over one hundred services services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-powered VMs, scalable cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can assist your organization to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity control with Azure Active Directory, and plan backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to create protected access to Azure for teleworkers by setting up and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. To learn about Progent's consulting services for Azure, go to Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365 Integration for TeleworkersMicrosoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of client productivity applications and cloud-based services offered on a subscription basis. Microsoft applications and services are marketed in a variety of bundles intended for users ranging from individuals and households to large enterprises. Progent can provide quick and affordable online contact with experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can assist your business to evaluate the various subscription plans available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 applications for your telecommuters to achieve maximum business value. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365, refer to 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 Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online offers the advantages of reduced spending for physical infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and additional advantages inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to run seamlessly with local deployments of Exchange, allowing customers to create hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's Exchange consultants are available for as-needed help to guide you past challenging IT bottlenecks and also offer end-to-end project management outsourcing to make sure your teleworkers have convenient and safe access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. To find out Progent's support services for Exchange Online, go to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online configuration and support consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for Remote WorkersAmazon AWS is a trailblazer in the public cloud computing market and is the industry's biggest source of cloud services. Progent offers quick and affordable online contact with cloud connectivity experts who can assist your business to plan, deploy, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud services with local resources and with other public clouds like Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist your company to create a high-uptime network architecture to make sure your users have a consistent computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, from home, or on the move. To find out about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS consulting services.

Google Cloud Platform Integration for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud (GCP) is a popular collection of public cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help your business to extend your existing IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's database experts can show you how to make your mission-critical apps cloud ready so your at-home workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent's consultants can assist you to deploy VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage system with GCP Storage, and simplify access control for teleworkers with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent's experts can also help your organization to utilize GCP's unified management tools to control and track your Google Cloud ecosystem. To learn, go to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting expertise.

Help Desk Support for Telecommuters
A sudden, enterprise-wide changeover to a from-home workforce, which could be the result of an epidemic or as an element of a disaster recovery/business continuity plan, can overwhelm even the most efficient internal Call Desk. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for organizations of any size to outsource or supplement their Call Center by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center services.

  • Progent's Standard Help Desk Call Center services leverage Progent's nationwide team of online IT support experts combined with world-class trouble ticketing and follow-up technology to provide an affordable, advanced Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide a comprehensive solution that handles all aspects of online Level 1 PC support from help requests through ticket creation, desktop sharing, issue resolution, and incident reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal enables telecommuters to check or update their active trouble tickets, add details, and append screenshots or relevant files. Support services are delivered at a substantial discount off Progent's ordinary Level 1 desktop service rates, and Progent offers the option of rapid escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to deal with advanced issues. For more information, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small companies.
  • Progent's Call Desk Augmentation Service allows you to expand your existing Help Desk Call Center organization by splitting responsibilities for Support Desk support services transparently between your regular support personnel and Progent's nationwide pool of PC support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Support Desk service uses a collaborative support model based on the leading PSA tool for managing help requests and ticketing, establishing responsibility, monitoring progress, and generating management reports. For details about how Progent's Help Desk Supplementation Services can help your business to deliver best-in-class technical support to your telecommuters, visit Progent's Call Center augmentation Services.

Cybersecurity for Telecommuters
Work-from-Home (WFH) employees commonly utilize their personal devices and usually operate in an unsecured physical area. This increases their vulnerability to malware attacks and requires judicious deployment of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, extensive user training, and the development of security policies based on leading practices. Progent's veteran group of data security solutions experts can help you to design, deploy and manage a compliant security solution that protects critical information assets in networks that include remote workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls allow you to build a network that can be safely utilized by local users as well as by an at-home workforce, mobile workers, suppliers, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances allow you to configure and manage different permissions to various groups of users and to scale your IT network and adjust your cybersecurity posture as your business evolves and as network attacks grow more sophisticated. Progent works with both current and legacy firewall devices from all major vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. To find out more about Progent's firewall integration services, visit firewall support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring and Management for At-Home WorkersRemote Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to watch over the various devices utilized by at-home workers and either reject or identify and mitigate modern threats such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a small-footprint software agent is put on each secured endpoint, watching all activity and utilizing advanced behavioral threat analysis from SentinelOne to identify zero-day attacks before they can spread. When a cyberattack is discovered, ProSight Active Security Monitoring instantly disconnects the impacted endpoint device from the network to quarantine the threat. Since the ProSight ASM software agent is self-contained, endpoints remain protected even when they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, see remote endpoint monitoring for remote workers.

Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for TeleworkersProgent's Duo authentication Services incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to defend against compromised passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity verification on Apple iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, when you log into a secured online account and enter your password you are asked to verify your identity on a device that only you possess and that is accessed using a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A broad range of out-of-band devices can be utilized as this added means of authentication including an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You can register several verification devices. To learn more about ProSight Duo two-factor identity validation services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for telecommuters.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your network to all types of outside and internal security attacks for an environment that incorporates teleworkers. Progent can deploy remote, automated cybersecurity inventory software for rapidly and economically detecting a broad range of security gaps that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's security assessment consulting services, which can be managed by data security experts with advanced credentials including CISM, CISSP, and GIAC, can help your business to audit your procedures and governance policies and review your network architecture to allow you to implement the highest level of protection for your remote workers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for Work-from-Home EnpointsHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated threat assessment of your at-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can identify, rank, fix, and verify cybersecurity vulnerabilities before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive penetration tests of your network perimeter and your internal network so you can evaluate your current security profile. Progent can also assist you to harden your existing network security and can help you to design and implement a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and provides maximum protection for on-premises, cloud-based, at-home, and perimeter IT resources. To find out additional details about Progent's vulnerability analysis solutions based on on NodeZero's PEN test products, refer to Consulting Services for NodeZero's Pentest Products.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network
To read or download a white paper describing critical things to focus on for securing a network that supports telecommuters, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for Teleworkers
The field of Data Protection covers backing up and recovering critical data so as to avoid data loss and minimize restoration time and effort in case of storage system failures resulting from hardware issues, programming glitches, human error, cyber attack, or other causes. Reliable data protection strategies can be especially difficult to design and manage in hybrid networks that incorporate local data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

  • Backup/Restore strategies for remote workers must address multiple kinds of user-owned endpoints. Progent offers fast remote access to experts knowledgeable about a broad array of products for protection Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as laptops, tablets and smartphones. Leading backup/recovery products maintained by Progent's data protection experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect data distributed across a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud storage and includes fine-grained restore and unified management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans typically envision scenarios that require a temporary switch to telecommuting. Progent's expert disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity specialists can help your company to develop, document and test a DR/BC plan that addresses the process of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud-based management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing local computers. Endpoint Manager offers a centralized platform for safeguarding corporate data by controlling on-premises, mobile, and home-based endpoint devices.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting off-premises devices and software. Remote endpoint computers can be user owned or company owned. Network admins managing the enrolled endpoint devices of teleworkers can utilize Intune to provision and validate apps on devices, push patches and certificates, set up rules for permission to access data and resources, set passwords, establish VPN tunnels, control how home-based workers share data, establish threat defense, verify security compliance, and erase sensitive data from missing, stolen or deactivated devices. Intune can be used with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. To learn about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can assist you to use this platform to manage the endpoint devices of your at-home workers, go to Intune telecommuter endpoint management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform that helps network administrators to keep off-premises endpoints current and secure. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for authorization control, application management, and setup management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE operates with devices based on Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises deployment through a one-time purchase. Top capabilities of Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air deployment of out-of-the-box notebooks, quick onboarding of new employees, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, unifies management reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and tight integration with Microsoft applications and cloud services. For details about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE remote device management consultants.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about creating and managing an efficient work-from-home solution for your Cleveland, Ohio organization, phone 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.