Enlarging your telecommuter workforce may have a major effect on network architecture, security, and company workflows. Progent has 20 years of experience helping small and mid-size businesses to design, configure, administer, optimize, and troubleshoot IT environments that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can assist your Anchorage company to pick the right technologies and adhere to best practices in building and operating a secure virtual ecosystem for teleworkers that facilitates teamwork and returns top business value. Progent can provide services that go from as-needed expertise for getting you past occasional technical bottlenecks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you successfully complete business-critical tasks.

Progent can help Anchorage, Alaska businesses to with any aspect of creating a high-performing telecommuting ecosystem by providing infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud connectivity, Help Desk services, cybersecurity, backup/restore solutions, and streamlined management.

Network Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Integrating the network infrastructure needed for an at-home workforce can be particularly complex if you must accommodate a mix of worker-owned equipment like desktop computers and notebooks, routers, and wireless appliances from various vendors and with a variety of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's background delivering online support for both legacy and modern IT products in remote office venues allows you to make cost-effective use of your existing network infrastructure and provides you with ready access to expertise for making essential upgrades. Services available from Progent to help your company to implement a high-functioning telecommuting ecosystem include:

  • VPN connectivity allows you to establish a safe connection for authorized remote employees to access IT assets situated at your company data center or in the cloud. Progent's consultants can assist your company to configure and maintain VPN access between your teleworkers and your key IT resources by providing online VPN configuration support. For businesses using Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA Firewall experts can help your at-home workers to set up Cisco's AnyConnect client software for secure VPN connections for a wide range of devices such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, Apple iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms enable a telecommuter to view and use a data center PC's desktop. This technology gives IT managers significant control over the computing ecosystem of telecommuters and ensures them a familiar work experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI consulting.
  • Routers attach at-home networks to the Internet and support VPN tunnels, local wireless connectivity, and firewalls. Progent can provide expert remote consulting for integrating routers from a variety of vendors. See router configuration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, typically supporting families and visitors, are commonly utilized by at-home employees to connect to their Internet router for work. This can cause throughput as well as security issues. Progent can help businesses to resolve these issues by providing services that include Aironet integration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi access point setup assistance.
  • Internet connectivity methods affect the speed and availability of connections between telecommuters and the corporate data center. Business-critical applications might demand backup Internet connections in the event the normal connection fails. Progent can provide expertise for selecting service providers, picking sensible bandwidth and data volume packages, and setting up high-availability Internet connections. Refer to Internet access integration services.

VoIP Solutions for At-Home Workers
Extending the business PBX environment to accommodate teleworkers is vital to maintaining an effective work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-centric VoIP platforms are used by small and mid-size businesses to server telecommuters. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's current or older products for IP voice solutions. Progent can help organizations of any size to design or tune a telecommuter IP voice service that delivers the versatility, convenience and protection required for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants can provide high-level support to assist businesses optimize their existing Cisco VoIP environments to support an expanding at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) delivers advanced telephony features to devices such as IP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia applications deployed throughout the network. CUCM supports other mixed media services such as messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer collaboration networks. For details about Progent's Unified Communications Manager support, see Cisco Unified CM expertise.
  • Cisco CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing agent and has been replaced by CUCM. Progent can assist you to support your existing CallManager deployment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony products. To learn about Progent's support services for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other legacy IP voice platforms, visit Cisco CallManager consulting.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with public telephony networks and with clients working outside the corporate perimeter such as at-home workers. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products as well as for modern Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway configuration consulting.
  • Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your WAN architecture to support these VoIP solutions and deliver online configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for Telecommuters
A broad selection of voice/video conferencing platforms from leading vendors enable online meetings, video conferencing, chat, and content sharing for both local workers and teleworkers. Many organizations use a mix of conferencing products to meet the needs of their various partners and clients. Progent's communications experts can help your organization to maintain your existing voice/video conferencing ecosystem and enhance the experience of your at-home workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular unified communications product that enables presence, instant messaging, voice and video calling and conferencing plus the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent can provide the skills of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist you to configure and maintain Skype for Business clients to support your remote workforce. For details about Progent's support expertise for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business consulting experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone platform for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime runs on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer editions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 concurrent users for voice/video sessions. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center provides online conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex services include sharing discrete content or screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based recording, plus revision and playback for future reference. For details about Progent's support services for Cisco Webex and for additional video conferencing products from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams provides a portal for conferencing, contacts, and information with features such as voice/video conferencing, persistent chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support expertise for Microsoft Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 apps, visit Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Voice/Video Conferencing Apps supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver integration and debugging expertise for these products and assist your business to tune your network architecture to host them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Software for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 families, offering a rich ecosystem of applications that create a consistent user interface for exchanging data and ideas across multiple sites and on a broad selection of endpoint computers. Progent has provided online consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange since their original releases and can help your company to tune these critical collaboration products to maximize the effectiveness of your at-home workforce.

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 Solutions Experts for TelecommutersMicrosoft Teams works on top of Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration and communication. Developed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can enable chat, video meetings that include screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and app sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (formerly branded Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of features. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, see solution design and configuration expertise for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint Server Configuration Consultants for At-Home WorkersSharePoint uses web sites to promote collaboration and information delivery by providing policy-based delivery of content, workflow, and tools for looking through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint enables you to create protected portals that allows at-home workers to view and edit consolidated corporate intelligence by means of Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social networking web sites, and Web Parts. For details about Progent's SharePoint expertise, see SharePoint configuration and development consulting.

Exchange Integration 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. To learn about Progent's Exchange support services, refer to deployment consulting for Exchange.

Onedrive Deployment Experts for At-Home WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote users can save files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers anywhere can share them safely through a browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive enables remote employees to co-author files. Edits made offline are synced when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft OneDrive, go to Onedrive integration consulting.

Public Cloud Integration Services for Telecommuters
Progent can provide fast and affordable remote support for helping businesses to create, maintain and repair integrated network architectures that incorporate physical data centers, telecommuters, branches, plus cloud services. Progent can provide expertise for all modes of public cloud service delivery such as Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. Progent can help teleworkers fix issues with public cloud access, identity, and cybersecurity.

Azure Integration Services for Remote WorkersAzure is a leading platform for public cloud services that enables you to use IT infrastructure, servers, and critical applications running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure includes over 100 cloud-based services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered VMs, scalable cloud storage, messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can assist you to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and design data backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also help you establish protected access to Azure for teleworkers by setting up and debugging firewalls and VPN IPsec tunnels. For information about Progent's consulting services for Azure, refer to Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365 Integration for Remote WorkersMicrosoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of client productivity applications and cloud services available by subscription. Microsoft applications and cloud services are marketed in a variety of plans designed for customers ranging from students and households to large corporations. Progent offers fast and affordable remote contact with consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible clients based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can help you to evaluate the numerous subscription plans available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 applications for your remote workers in a way that delivers top business value. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft 365 integration support.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Integration for TelecommutersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is among the most widely used cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online offers the advantages of reduced costs for physical infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and other advantages inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has designed Exchange Online to run transparently with local deployments of Exchange, allowing customers to create hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's Exchange consultants can provide occasional help to guide you through tough IT bottlenecks and also offer end-to-end project management services to make sure your teleworkers have convenient and safe access to your Exchange Online deployment. For information Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, refer to Exchange Online configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for TeleworkersAmazon AWS is a trailblazer in the public cloud arena and is the world's leading provider of cloud services. Progent can provide rapid and economical online access to cloud integration consultants who can assist your business to design, deploy, maintain, and debug hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises resources and with other public clouds such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help you to create a high-availability network architecture to make sure your users have a productive computing environment whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, at home, or on the move. For information about Progent's support services for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS integration support.

Google Cloud Platform Integration Services for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud Platform (GCP) is a leading collection of cloud computing services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can assist your business to scale your existing IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database experts can help you make your mission-critical applications cloud ready so your at-home workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can assist your business to deploy VMs on GCP Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage solution with Google Cloud Storage services, and streamline access management for at-home workers with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent's consultants can also help your business to utilize GCP's management tools to control and monitor your Google Cloud ecosystem. To learn, go to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting services.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Teleworkers
A sudden, company-wide switchover to a telecommuter workforce, which might be the result of a pandemic or as a component of a business continuity plan, can overstretch even a well-staffed in-house Support Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services allow organizations to outsource or supplement their Help Desk Call Center with Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

  • Progent's Standard Support Desk support services leverage Progent's nationwide team of online technical support specialists along with world-class ticketing and follow-up software to offer an affordable, state-of-the-art Help Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer an end-to-end solution that addresses all facets of remote Level 1 desktop support from initial service requests through trouble ticket generation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables telecommuters to check or revise their active trouble tickets, enter information, and append screen captures and relevant files. Support services are provided at a substantial discount off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop support rates, and Progent offers optional fast hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 support specialists to resolve advanced problems. For details, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small companies.
  • Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Service enables your company to supplement your existing Help Desk organization by sharing delivery of Call Center support services transparently between your in-house IT support organization and Progent's extensive pool of desktop support technicians and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Help Desk service uses a collaborative support model based on the leading professional services automation (PSA) platform for managing service requests and ticketing, establishing responsibility, tracking progress, and generating management reports. For information about how Progent's Help Desk Supplementation Services can help your business to provide world-class desktop support to your at-home workforce, refer to Progent's Help Desk supplementation Services.

Security and Compliance for Teleworkers
Work-from-Home (WFH) staff members typically utilize their own computers and usually operate in an unsecured physical area. This situation multiplies their susceptibility to malware threats and requires careful deployment of firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote endpoint monitoring, thorough user education, and the creation of security policies built on leading practices. Progent's seasoned group of IT security support consultants can assist you to design, implement and manage a compliant security solution that protects critical information resources in networks that incorporate telecommuters.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls allow you to create a network that can be safely utilized by on-premises users and by teleworkers, mobile workers, suppliers, clients, and the public. Modern firewall devices allow you to configure and control appropriate permissions to various classes of users and to scale your network and adjust your security profile as your business evolves and as network attacks become increasingly sophisticated. Progent supports both current and legacy security appliances from all major vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall configuration expertise, visit firewall support expertise.

Remote Security Monitoring and Management Services for At-Home WorkersRemote Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the disparate computers used by teleworkers and either block or identify and mitigate modern cyber attacks such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight agent is installed on each protected endpoint device, monitoring all activity and utilizing advanced machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to detect zero-day attacks on arrival. When an attack is spotted, ProSight Active Security Monitoring immediately disconnects the impacted endpoint device from the corporate network to quarantine the threat. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoints stay secure even if they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. For more information about ProSight ASM, go to remote endpoint security monitoring for an at-home workforce.

Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for At-Home WorkersProgent's Duo authentication Services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity confirmation on Apple iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, when you sign into a secured online account and give your password you are asked to confirm your identity on a device that only you possess and that uses a separate network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be utilized for this added form of ID validation including a smartphone or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You can designate multiple validation devices. For more information about Duo identity validation services, see Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for remote workers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can assess the vulnerability of your information system to all types of external and internal security attacks for an environment that includes teleworkers. Progent can run online, automated security inventory scanning for quickly and economically uncovering a wide variety of security weaknesses that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's security assessment consulting services, which can be managed by security professionals with advanced certifications including CISM, CISSP, and GIAC, can assist your business to audit your procedures and governance policies and review your WAN architecture to allow you to design top-level protection for your teleworkers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for At-Home WorkersHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Penetration Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated testing of your at-home environment and your internal and perimeter networks so you can find, prioritize, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity weaknesses before malicious hackers can exploit them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to use NodeZero to carry out thorough pentests of your network perimeter and your internal network so you can evaluate your current security posture. Progent can also assist you to harden your existing network security and can help you to design and implement a unified cybersecurity strategy that streamlines management and delivers optimum protection for on-premises, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To learn additional details about Progent's vulnerability analysis solutions based on on NodeZero's pentest platform, see Consulting Services for NodeZero's Pentest Platform.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home Network
To view or download a white paper about key areas to concentrate on for securing an IT environment that includes telecommuters, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for Remote Workers
The field of Data Protection covers saving and restoring critical data in order to avoid data loss and reduce recovery time and effort in the event of storage system problems due to hardware breakdowns, software glitches, user mistakes, malware, or other causes. Dependable data protection strategies can be particularly difficult to design and maintain in hybrid networks that combine in-house data centers, public clouds, and an at-home workforce.

  • Backup/Recovery strategies for teleworkers must cover multiple types of user-owned endpoints. Progent can provide fast online access to consultants knowledgeable about a broad range of products for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iPads and smartphones. Popular backup/restore solutions maintained by Progent's backup/recovery experts include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect data spread across a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services, a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud storage and includes granular restore and unified management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans typically anticipate circumstances that call for a rapid switch to telecommuting. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity specialists can assist you to create, document and test a DR/BC plan that includes the process of switching to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management products under the name Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud-based management of mobile and remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing local computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager offers a unified platform for protecting critical data by controlling local, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also features Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and securing remote devices and software. Remote endpoint devices can be user owned or company owned. Network admins managing the endpoint computers of at-home workers can utilize Intune to provision and authenticate applications on devices, push updates and certificates, configure policies for accessing data and networks, set passwords, create VPN connections, determine how telecommuters share data, establish threat defense, verify security compliance, and erase corporate information from lost, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Intune works with Apple iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS endpoints. To learn about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can assist your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the endpoint devices of your teleworkers, visit Intune remote endpoint management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified MDM platform that helps network managers to keep offsite endpoints up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint management combined with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for authorization control, application management, and setup management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE runs with devices based on Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or popular distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site deployment via a perpetual license. Top features of Workspace ONE include fast remote provisioning of out-of-the-box laptops, quick onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of devices, aggregated management reporting and analytics, email encryption, and tight integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based products. To learn about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, go to VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management consultants.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Support Services
To contact Progent about building and managing a productive work-from-home environment for your Anchorage, Alaska company, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.