Enlarging your remote workforce may have a major impact on network infrastructure, security, and corporate processes. Progent has two decades of experience helping SMBs to design, deploy, administer, optimize, and troubleshoot IT networks that support a remote workforce. Progent can help your Fresno organization to pick the appropriate tools and adhere to leading practices in building and operating a safe virtual ecosystem for telecommuters that facilitates collaboration and delivers maximum business value. Progent offers support services that go from on demand expertise for getting you over challenging IT bottlenecks to full project management or co-management to help you carry out mission-critical initiatives.

Progent's consultants can help Fresno, California organizations to succeed with any aspect of creating a high-performing work-from-home ecosystem by delivering infrastructure configuration services, IP voice troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud integration, helpdesk services, data security, backup/restore solutions, and unified management.

Network Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Configuring the network infrastructure needed for a remote work environment can be especially complex if you have to accommodate a mix of worker-owned hardware like desktop computers and laptops, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from an assortment of manufacturers and with a variety of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's experience delivering online support for both outdated as well as modern technologies in remote office solutions allows you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and provides you with ready access to expertise for implement necessary upgrades. Support services available from Progent to assist you to create a productive work-at-home ecosystem include:

  • Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology allows you to establish a secure tunnel for authorized at-home employees to use IT assets located at your corporate datacenter or in the cloud. Progent can assist your company to deploy and manage VPN access between your at-home workforce and your key IT resources by providing online VPN configuration consulting. For organizations with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA experts can assist your telecommuters to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect client software for safe VPN tunneling for a wide selection of devices such as Windows, Mac, Apple iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) platforms allow a teleworker to see and use a remote computer's desktop. This technology gives network managers more control over the computing ecosystem of at-home employees and ensures remote users a consistent and more productive work experience. Progent's virtual desktop services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI expertise.
  • Routers connect at-home networks to the Internet and typically support VPN tunnels, local Wi-Fi networks, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier remote support for setting up routers from all major vendors. See router integration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wireless networks, typically supporting the whole family and visitors, are commonly used by at-home employees to access their Internet router for work. This can cause performance as well as security problems. Progent can assist you to mitigate these issues by delivering expertise that include Cisco Aironet integration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi installation expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi AP integration help.
  • Internet connectivity solutions affect the speed and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate network. Mission-critical applications may demand redundant Internet access in the event the primary connection breaks. Progent offers expertise for picking service providers, selecting appropriate service packages, and configuring fault-tolerant Internet access. See Internet access integration services.

VoIP Solutions for At-Home Workers
Extending the company PBX system to include telecommuters is critical to supporting a productive at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-based VoIP products are used by small and mid-size businesses to support telecommuters. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's current or legacy platforms for IP voice management. Progent can assist organizations of any size to design or maintain a telecommuter VoIP environment that delivers the versatility, transparency and protection required for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants offer high-level support to assist organizations optimize their current Cisco VoIP environments to support an expanding remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) extends high-end telephony capabilities to devices like VoIP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia software used throughout the network. Unified Communications Manager manages additional combined media services such as unified messaging, video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For details about Progent's CUCM support, see Cisco Unified Communications Manager consultants.
  • CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM. Progent's consultants can help your company to support your current CallManager deployment or upgrade smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony solutions. To find out about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other early VoIP products, refer to CallManager expertise.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with PSTN networks and with users working outside the corporate firewall like telecommuters. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products as well as for modern Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway integration expertise.
  • Other VoIP Platforms supported by Progent include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your wide area network architecture to work with these solutions and provide on-demand configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for Remote Workers
A wide selection of video conferencing platforms from leading technology companies support virtual meetings, video conferencing, chat sessions, and screen/content sharing for both local workers and telecommuters. Many companies use multiple conferencing products to meet the needs of their various partners and clients. Progent can help you to manage your existing voice/video conferencing ecosystem and optimize the experience of your at-home employees.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications platform that supports presence, IM, voice and video calling and conferencing plus the transparent integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist you to deploy and maintain Skype for Business clients to accommodate your remote workforce. To learn more about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business consulting experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone platform for compatible iOS and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime works over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer versions of FaceTime support up to 32 concurrent users for voice/video calls. To learn more about Progent's support services for Apple FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Offered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing granular content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, session recording, plus revision and playback for future reference. For details about Progent's support services for Webex as well as for other IP video solutions from Cisco, see 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 IP voice and video conferencing, persistent threaded chat, plus data sharing. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 apps, see Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Other Conferencing Apps supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver configuration and debugging services for these products and assist you to optimize your network architecture to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for Teleworkers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 families, offering a powerful environment of productivity apps that create a cohesive user experience for exchanging data and ideas across a corporate network and on a wide selection of endpoint computers. Progent has provided online consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their original releases and can assist your company to tune these critical collaboration products to maximize the effectiveness of your remote workers.

SharePoint Integration Consultants for Remote WorkersSharePoint utilizes web entities to promote collaboration and information sharing by offering policy-driven delivery of data, business processes, and utilities for looking through company-wide information silos. SharePoint allows you to create protected web portals that enables at-home workforce to view and update consolidated business intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social networking sites, and Web Parts. For details about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, visit SharePoint integration and development consulting.

Exchange Integration Consultants for Remote 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 expertise, visit planning and configuration consulting services for Microsoft Exchange Server.

Onedrive Integration Experts for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft's collaborative cloud storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. At-home workers can store files to OneDrive, and colleagues anywhere can access them securely via a browser. Included with Office and Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables remote workers to co-author files. Edits created offline are automatically uploaded when you go back online. To find out about Progent's support services for Microsoft OneDrive, visit Microsoft Onedrive configuration consulting.

Cloud Integration Services for Telecommuters
Progent can provide advanced online support for helping businesses to build, manage and troubleshoot integrated hybrid network architectures that incorporate physical data centers, teleworkers, branch offices, plus cloud services. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all types of cloud service delivery such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help at-home workers resolve issues with public cloud access, identity, and security.

Microsoft Azure Integration for TeleworkersAzure is a leading platform for public cloud services that enables you to utilize IT infrastructure, servers, and key apps running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Azure features more than one hundred cloud-based services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, on-demand cloud storage, messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can help your organization to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure Active Directory, and plan backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also help you create secure access to Azure for teleworkers by setting up and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN IPsec tunnels. To find out about Progent's expertise for Microsoft Azure, refer to Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for TeleworkersMicrosoft 365, previously called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of client productivity applications and cloud-based services offered on a subscription basis. Microsoft applications and services are provided in a variety of plans intended for users ranging from students and households to major corporations. Progent offers quick and easy remote access to experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible client devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can help your business to assess the various subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your teleworkers to achieve top business value. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365, refer to Microsoft 365 integration support.

Exchange Online Integration Services for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is among the most popular applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online offers the benefits of lower spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and other benefits inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has designed Exchange Online to run smoothly with local deployments of Exchange, enabling customers to create hybrid networks. Progent's Exchange experts can provide as-needed assistance to guide you through challenging technical roadblocks and also offer comprehensive project management outsourcing to make sure your teleworkers have convenient and safe access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online environment. For information Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, refer to Exchange Online integration and support consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration for TelecommutersAmazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's leading source of cloud-based services. Progent offers fast and economical online contact with cloud integration consultants who can help your business to plan, deploy, maintain, and debug hybrid information networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local data centers and with other popular cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help you to create a high-availability network model so your users have a productive computing experience whether they are working from your main office, a remote branch, from home, or on the move. To find out about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, see Amazon AWS integration services.

Google Cloud Integration Services for TelecommutersGoogle Cloud is a leading set 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 you to scale your current IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA consultants can help you make your key applications cloud ready so your remote workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud services. Progent can help your business to deploy VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage system with Google Cloud Storage services, and simplify access control for at-home workers with Google Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also assist your organization to use GCP's unified management tools to administer and track your GCP environment. To learn, go to Google Cloud Platform consulting services.

Help Desk Call Center Support for Remote Workers
A sudden, enterprise-wide changeover to a from-home workforce, which might be driven by an epidemic or as a component of a disaster recovery/business continuity plan, can overwhelm even a high-performing internal Call Center. Progent's Call Center services allow organizations to outsource or augment their Support Desk by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

  • Progent's Standard Support Desk services utilize Progent's nationwide team of online IT support experts along with enterprise-class ticketing and follow-up technology to offer an affordable, advanced Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide a comprehensive solution that addresses all aspects of online Level 1 PC support from initial service requests through trouble ticket creation, screen sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal enables from-home workers to track or revise the status of their current tickets, add information, and upload screen captures and relevant files. Support services are delivered at a significant price reduction off Progent's normal Level 1 technical support charges, and Progent makes available optional fast escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to resolve complex problems. For details, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small businesses.
  • Progent's Call Desk Augmentation Service allows your business to expand your existing Call Desk team by splitting delivery of Help Desk Call Center support transparently between your in-house IT support personnel and Progent's extensive team of desktop support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's shared Help Desk Call Center service is based on a co-sourcing support solution based on the leading professional services automation (PSA) tool for managing help requests and trouble tickets, establishing responsibility, tracking progress, and generating management reports. To learn how Progent's Call Desk Augmentation Services can help your business to deliver world-class desktop support to your teleworkers, visit Progent's Help Desk supplementation Services.

Security and Compliance for At-Home Workers
Work-from-Home (WFH) workers typically utilize their personal devices and usually work in a poorly secured physical area. This increases their susceptibility to cyber attacks and calls for judicious deployment of firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, thorough user education, and the development of policies based on best practices. Progent's veteran roster of cybersecurity solutions experts can help you to design, configure and maintain an effective security solution that protects critical information resources in networks that incorporate telecommuters.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable you to create a network environment that can be securely accessed by on-premises users as well as by teleworkers, mobile employees, suppliers, clients, and the public. Modern firewall devices allow you to assign and manage appropriate permissions to different classes of users and to expand your network and modify your security profile as your company evolves and as cyber threats become more sophisticated. Progent works with both current and older security devices from all leading vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. To find out more about Progent's firewall configuration services, go to firewall integration and support expertise.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring and Management Services for TelecommutersRemote Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the various devices utilized by at-home workers and either block or identify and mitigate the latest threats such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a small-footprint software agent is put on every protected endpoint device, watching all activity and using advanced machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to detect zero-day attacks on arrival. When an attack is discovered, ProSight ASM instantly isolates the impacted endpoint from the corporate network to quarantine the malware. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoint devices remain secure even if they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, visit remote endpoint monitoring for remote workers.

Two-factor Authentication Services for TelecommutersProgent's Duo authentication service plans incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against password theft by using two-factor authentication. Duo enables one-tap identity verification on iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, whenever you log into a secured online account and give your password you are asked to confirm your identity via a unit that only you possess and that uses a different network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be used as this second form of ID validation including an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You may designate multiple validation devices. To find out more about ProSight Duo identity validation services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for teleworkers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can assess the vulnerability of your information system to all types of external and local security threats for a network that includes teleworkers. Progent can deploy remote, automated cybersecurity analysis software for rapidly and affordably uncovering a wide variety of security holes that can be found via the Internet. Progent's security assessment experts, which can be managed by network security experts with advanced credentials including CISM, CISSP, and GIAC, can help you to evaluate your procedures and governance policies and assess your WAN architecture to enable you to design top-level protection for your at-home workers.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home Environment
To read or download a white paper describing key areas to focus on for protecting an IT environment that incorporates telecommuters, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for Remote Workers
The field of Data Protection covers backing up and restoring critical data in order to prevent data loss and reduce recovery time in case of storage system problems due to equipment issues, programming glitches, human error, cyber attack, or other causes. Dependable data protection strategies can be especially difficult to design and manage in hybrid environments that combine local data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

  • Backup/Restore solutions for teleworkers must address multiple types of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide quick remote access to consultants knowledgeable about a wide range of platforms for protection Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktops as well as laptops, tablets and handhelds. Popular backup/recovery products maintained by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To protect data distributed throughout a wide area network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud storage and includes fine-grained recovery and unified management capabilities.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans typically anticipate circumstances that call for a rapid changeover to a work-at-home environment. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness consultants and business continuity consultants can help you to develop, document and test a DR/BC strategy that addresses the logistics of switching to telecommuting.

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

Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also features Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and protecting off-premises devices and software. Managed endpoint computers can be user owned or business owned. Network administrators managing the enrolled endpoint computers of telecommuters can utilize Intune to deploy and authenticate apps on managed devices, push updates and certificates, configure policies for accessing information and networks, manage passwords, create VPN tunnels, determine how teleworkers share information, establish threat defense, ensure security compliance, and wipe sensitive information from lost, stolen or deactivated devices. Microsoft Intune works with Apple iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS computers. To learn about Intune and how Progent can assist your company to use this platform to manage the endpoint computers of your at-home workers, go to Intune teleworker device management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced centralized Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform that allows network administrators to keep offsite endpoint devices current and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch for unified endpoint management along with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for access control, app management, and setup management of endpoints. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints based on Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Google 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 perpetual license. Key capabilities of Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air provisioning of out-of-the-box laptops, immediate onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, unifies reporting and performance analytics, an email encryption gateway, and integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based services. For information about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management expertise.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Support Services
To contact Progent about creating and managing an efficient work-from-home solution for your Fresno, California business, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.