Expanding your telecommuter workforce can have a major effect on network infrastructure, security, and corporate workflows. Progent has two decades of experience helping small and mid-size businesses to plan, deploy, manage, optimize, and debug IT networks that support at-home workers. Progent can help your Brooklyn organization to select the appropriate tools and adhere to best practices in creating and operating a safe virtual office solution for telecommuters that promotes teamwork and delivers maximum value. Progent offers services that go from as-needed expertise for helping you past challenging technical roadblocks to comprehensive project management to help you successfully complete mission-critical initiatives.

Progent can help Brooklyn, New York organizations to with any aspect of building a high-performing telecommuting environment by providing infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, voice/video conferencing support, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud integration, Call Desk services, endpoint security, data protection solutions, and centralized management.

Network Infrastructure for Telecommuters
Setting up the network infrastructure needed for an at-home work environment can be especially challenging if you must manage a mix of worker-owned hardware such as desktop computers and notebooks, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from an assortment of manufacturers and with a mix of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's background providing remote support for both outdated as well as current technologies in remote office solutions enables you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and provides you with ready access to top-tire consultants for making essential updates. Support services offered by Progent to help you to implement a high-functioning work-at-home ecosystem include:

  • VPN connectivity allows you to create a secure tunnel for authenticated at-home workers to use IT assets situated at your company data center or in the cloud. Progent can assist your company to configure and maintain VPN connections 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 experts can assist your telecommuters to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect software to provide safe VPN tunneling for a wide range of devices including Microsoft Windows, macOS, Apple iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure platforms allow a teleworker to see and use a remote PC's desktop. This provides IT managers significant control over the computing environment of at-home employees and offers them a consistent and more productive work experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
  • Routers connect at-home networks to the Internet and typically support VPN connections, home Wi-Fi networks, and firewalls. Progent offers expert remote consulting for setting up routers from a range of manufacturers. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified experts.
  • Home Wireless networks, often supporting the whole family and guests, are commonly utilized by at-home employees to access their router for work. This can create throughput as well as security issues. Progent can assist businesses to resolve these issues by providing expertise that include Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco Meraki wireless deployment consulting, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access point setup help.
  • Internet connectivity solutions affect the performance and availability of connections between at-home workers and the company network. Line-of-business processes might demand redundant Internet access in case the normal connection fails. Progent offers expertise for picking Internet service providers, choosing appropriate bandwidth and data volume packages, and integrating fault-tolerant Internet connections. See Internet connectivity solutions.

VoIP Solutions for Telecommuters
Expanding the business PBX system to accommodate telecommuters is critical to supporting a productive at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-based digital PBX products are used by small and mid-size businesses to support telecommuters. Many larger organizations rely on Cisco's current or older platforms for VoIP management. Progent can help businesses of any size to plan or maintain a remote IP voice environment that provides the flexibility, convenience and security required for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants offer advanced support to help businesses tune their existing Cisco VoIP systems to handle a growing remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) delivers advanced IP telephony features to devices like IP phones, media processing platforms, VoIP gateways, and mixed media software deployed throughout the network. Unified Communications Manager supports additional combined media services like messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For more information about Progent's Unified Communications Manager support, visit CUCM consultants.
  • CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been replaced by CUCM. Progent's consultants can help you to maintain your current CallManager deployment or upgrade efficiently to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. To learn about Progent's expertise for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other legacy VoIP products, visit CallManager expertise.
  • Cisco IP Gateways provide integration with PSTN networks and with clients operating outside the corporate firewall like telecommuters. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products and for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway integration consulting.
  • Other VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to update your WAN architecture to support these VoIP solutions and deliver on-demand configuration and debugging services.

Video Conferencing for an At-Home Workforce
A broad selection of video conferencing platforms from leading vendors enable virtual discussions, video conferencing, chat sessions, and content sharing for both local workers and teleworkers. Many companies use multiple products to meet the needs of their various partners and clients. Progent's communications experts can help you to maintain your current conferencing environment and enhance the experience of your remote workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications product that enables real-time presence, instant messaging, audio and video conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the skills of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help you to set up and maintain Skype for Business clients to accommodate your at-home workforce. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business integration experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's group video calling app for compatible iOS and macOS devices. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current versions of FaceTime allow up to 32 simultaneous users for video calls. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Apple FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Offered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex capabilities include sharing granular content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based capture, plus revision and playback for future reference and training. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Webex and for additional IP video solutions from Cisco, visit Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a portal for conferencing, contacts, and content with capabilities that include video conferencing, threaded chat, plus file sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Teams and for other Microsoft 365 apps, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Other Voice/Video Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide configuration and debugging expertise for these conferencing platforms and help your business to tune your network infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 suites, providing a rich ecosystem of productivity apps that create a cohesive user interface for exchanging information throughout a corporate network and on a broad range of endpoint computers. Progent has provided remote consulting services for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their initial releases and can help your company to configure these flagship collaboration products to maximize the productivity of your remote workers.

SharePoint Integration Experts for Remote WorkersSharePoint utilizes web sites to promote collaboration and information sharing by offering policy-based delivery of data, workflow, and tools for looking through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint allows you to build secure portals that allows remote workforce to see and update consolidated business intelligence by means of Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social networking sites, and Web Parts. To find out about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, refer to SharePoint integration and development consulting.

Exchange Configuration Experts 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, go to planning and configuration consulting for Microsoft Exchange.

Onedrive Deployment Consultants for At-Home WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft's collaborative cloud storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote workers can store files to OneDrive, and colleagues anywhere can share them safely through a browser. Provided with Office and Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables remote employees to co-edit documents. Edits created offline are synced when you reconnect to the Internet. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft OneDrive, go to Microsoft Onedrive integration experts.

Cloud Integration for At-Home Workers
Progent can provide advanced remote assistance for helping organizations to build, maintain and optimize cohesive network architectures that combine physical data centers, teleworkers, branches, plus cloud resources. Progent can provide expertise for all modes of public cloud service delivery such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help remote workers fix issues with cloud access, authentication, and security.

Microsoft Azure Integration for TeleworkersMicrosoft Azure is a popular platform for public cloud services that allows you to utilize infrastructure, servers, and key applications hosted on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure offers more than 100 cloud-based services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, on-demand cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can assist you to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity control with Azure AD, and plan backup and restore systems with Azure Backup. Progent can also help you create secure access to Azure for at-home workers by configuring and debugging firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. To find out about Progent's expertise for Azure, visit Microsoft Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Integration for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of client productivity software and cloud services available on a subscription basis. Microsoft applications and services are marketed in a variety of plans designed for users ranging from students and small offices to large corporations. Progent offers fast and easy online access to consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible client devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can assist you to evaluate the various subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 applications for your remote workers in a way that delivers top business value. For details about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 consulting support.

Exchange Online Integration Services for Remote WorkersExchange Online is one of the most widely used cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product suite. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the advantages of lower costs for physical infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and additional benefits inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to run seamlessly with local deployments of Exchange, enabling customers to create hybrid information systems. Progent's Exchange experts are available for occasional assistance to get you through tough technical bottlenecks and can also provide comprehensive project management services to ensure your teleworkers have easy and safe access to your Exchange Online environment. To learn Progent's support services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, see Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting expertise.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for At-Home WorkersAmazon AWS is a trailblazer in the public cloud computing market and is the industry's top source of cloud services. Progent offers rapid and economical online access to cloud connectivity experts who can assist your organization to plan, deploy, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local resources and with other popular cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist your company to create a high-uptime network model so your users have a productive computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a remote branch, from home, or on the road. To learn about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, see Amazon AWS consulting services.

Google Cloud Integration for TelecommutersGoogle Cloud is a popular collection of public cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can assist your organization to extend your current IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database experts can show you how to make your key applications cloud ready so your telecommuters can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent can assist your business to set up virtual machines on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design an efficient storage solution with Google Cloud Storage, and streamline access control for remote workers with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent's experts can also help your business to use GCP's management technology to administer and monitor your Google Cloud environment. For information, see Google Cloud Platform consulting services.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Telecommuters
An emergency, organization-wide transition to a from-home workforce, which might be the result of a pandemic or as an element of a business continuity process, can overstretch even the most efficient internal Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk services allow businesses of any size to outsource or augment their Call Center by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center team.

  • Progent's Standard Call Center support services utilize Progent's extensive team of online technical support experts combined with world-class ticketing and follow-up software to provide an affordable, advanced Support Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer an end-to-end solution that addresses all facets of remote Level 1 desktop technical support from initial help requests to ticket creation, desktop sharing, issue resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables teleworkers to track or edit the status of their active trouble tickets, enter information, and append screen captures and attachments. Technical support services are provided at a substantial discount off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical support charges, and Progent offers optional fast hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to deal with complex problems. For more information, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size businesses.
  • Progent's Call Desk Supplemental Service enables you to supplement your current Support Desk organization by sharing responsibilities for Help Desk services transparently between your regular support organization and Progent's extensive team of PC support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's co-managed Support Desk service uses a collaborative support model based on the number one professional services automation (PSA) tool for managing help requests and trouble tickets, establishing ownership, monitoring progress, and producing management reports. To learn how Progent's Call Desk Supplementation Services can help your business to deliver world-class desktop support to your at-home workforce, see Progent's Call Center supplementation Services.

Security for Telecommuters
At-home staff members commonly utilize their personal computers and usually operate in an unsecured physical area. This situation increases their vulnerability to cyber attacks and calls for careful deployment of corporate firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, thorough end-user education, and the creation of policies based on best practices. Progent's veteran group of cybersecurity solutions consultants can assist you to design, implement and manage a compliant security solution that protects vital information assets in networks that incorporate remote workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable you to create a network environment that can be safely utilized by local users and by telecommuters, mobile employees, vendors, customers, and other stakeholders. Next-generation firewall appliances permit you to assign and manage different access rights to various classes of users and to scale your network and modify your security as your business evolves and as cyber threats grow increasingly sophisticated. Progent works with both new and legacy firewall devices from all major manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall integration services, refer to firewall integration and support services.

Remote Security Monitoring Services for At-Home WorkersOnline Endpoint Monitoring makes it possible to track the various computers used by remote workers and either reject or identify and mitigate the latest threats such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a small-footprint software agent is put on each protected endpoint device, monitoring all activity and utilizing advanced machine learning from SentinelOne to detect zero-day attacks before they can spread. When a cyberattack is discovered, ProSight ASM immediately isolates the impacted endpoint from the corporate network to quarantine the malware. Because the ProSight ASM agent is self-contained, endpoint devices stay protected even if they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, visit remote endpoint security monitoring for remote workers.

Two-factor Authentication Services for TelecommutersProgent's Duo MFA managed services incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against stolen passwords through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo supports one-tap identity confirmation on iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. Using 2FA, when you sign into a secured online account and give your password you are asked to verify your identity via a unit that only you have and that uses a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A broad range of devices can be used for this second means of ID validation including a smartphone or watch, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You may register multiple verification devices. To learn more about Duo identity authentication services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for an at-home workforce.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the exposure of your information system to all classes of external and local security threats for an environment that includes an at-home workforce. Progent can run remote, automated cybersecurity analysis software for rapidly and economically detecting a broad range of security holes that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment experts, which can be provided by data security experts with advanced credentials such as CISM, CISSP, and GIAC, can help you to audit your procedures and policies and assess your network infrastructure to allow you to design top-level security for your at-home workers.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home Environment
To read or download a white paper about key things to concentrate on for protecting a network that incorporates telecommuters, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for At-Home Workers
The field of Data Protection covers saving and restoring vital information in order to avoid data loss and reduce recovery time and effort in the event of storage failures resulting from hardware issues, programming hiccups, human error, cyber attack, or other causes. Dependable data protection strategies can be particularly challenging to architect 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 diverse types of user-owned endpoints. Progent can provide fast online help from consultants familiar with a broad array of products for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktops as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. Leading backup/recovery products supported by Progent's data protection experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect resources distributed across a hybrid network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud-based storage and includes fine-grained restore and unified management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies often anticipate circumstances that require a quick changeover to telecommuting. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity planning consultants can assist your business to develop, document and test a DR/BC strategy that addresses the process of switching to telecommuting.

Unified Management for At-Home Workers
Microsoft has rebranded and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing local computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager features a centralized solution for protecting corporate data by controlling onsite, mobile, and home-based endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also features Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and securing remote devices and software. Managed endpoint devices can be user owned or business owned. IT admins managing the enrolled endpoint devices of telecommuters can use Intune to provision and validate applications on devices, push patches and certificates, configure rules for accessing data and resources, set passwords, create VPN connections, determine how telecommuters share information, set up threat defense, ensure compliance, and erase sensitive data from missing, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Microsoft Intune works with Apple iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X computers. For details about Intune and how Progent can help you to use this platform to manage the devices of your teleworkers, see Intune remote device management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified Mobile Device Management platform that helps network managers to keep remote endpoints up to date and secure. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch for unified endpoint administration along with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for access control, application management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or popular distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises product via a perpetual license. Top capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include fast remote deployment of out-of-the-box notebooks, immediate onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all classes of devices, unifies reporting and analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based services. To find out about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE remote device management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about creating and managing an efficient telecommuter solution for your Brooklyn, New York business, call 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.