Expanding your remote workforce can have a significant impact on network infrastructure, security/compliance, and corporate workflows. Progent has 20 years of experience helping small and mid-size businesses to design, deploy, administer, tune, and troubleshoot IT networks that support at-home workers. Progent can help your Newark organization to select the right tools and adhere to leading practices in creating and maintaining a secure virtual office solution for teleworkers that promotes teamwork and returns maximum business value. Progent offers services that go from on demand expertise for helping you past challenging technical bottlenecks to full project management or co-management to help you successfully complete mission-critical initiatives.

Progent's consultants can assist Newark, New Jersey organizations to succeed with any facet of building a high-performing telecommuting ecosystem by providing infrastructure configuration services, IP voice expertise, video conferencing support, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud connectivity, helpdesk outsourcing, cybersecurity, backup/restore solutions, and unified management.

Network Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Configuring the physical and software infrastructure required to support a remote work environment can be especially challenging if you have to accommodate a combination of worker-owned equipment like desktop computers and notebooks, routers, and Wi-Fi APs from different vendors and with a variety of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's background delivering online support for both legacy and current IT products in remote office solutions enables you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and offers ready access to expertise for implement necessary updates. Support services offered by Progent to assist you to implement a productive telecommuting ecosystem include:

  • Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology makes it possible to create a secure connection for authenticated remote employees to use IT assets situated at your company data center or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can help your company to configure and maintain VPN connections between your teleworkers and your various IT resources by providing online VPN configuration support. For organizations using Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall experts can help your telecommuters to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect software to provide safe VPN tunneling for a wide selection of devices such as Microsoft Windows, Mac, Apple iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) platforms allow a teleworker to view and use a data center computer's desktop. This technology provides network managers more control over the computing environment of telecommuters and ensures remote users a familiar experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI expertise.
  • Routers attach at-home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN tunnels, local Wi-Fi networks, and firewalls. Progent offers top-tier online consulting for setting up routers from a variety of vendors. See router integration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, often supporting the whole family and visitors, are frequently used by at-home employees to access their router for work. This can cause throughput as well as cybersecurity problems. Progent can help you to resolve these problems by delivering services like Cisco Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi deployment consulting, and Ubiquiti wireless access point integration help.
  • Internet access solutions affect the speed and availability of connections between telecommuters and the company network. Business-critical processes may demand redundant Internet access in case the primary connection fails. Progent can provide guidance for identifying service providers, choosing sensible bandwidth and data volume offerings, and integrating high-availability Internet connections. Refer to Internet access integration services.

IP Voice Solutions for an At-Home Workforce
Expanding the business PBX environment to include remote users is vital to maintaining a productive work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-based digital PBX platforms are popular with SMBs to server remote users. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's modern or legacy platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can help businesses of all sizes to plan or tune a telecommuter VoIP environment that provides the versatility, transparency and security needed for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts offer advanced support to help businesses optimize their existing Cisco VoIP systems to support a growing remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) extends enterprise IP telephony features to devices like IP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia apps deployed across the network. Unified Communications Manager manages other mixed media services like unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer collaboration networks. For more information about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, refer to Cisco Unified Communications Manager expertise.
  • CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been replaced by CUCM. Progent's consultants can assist your company to maintain your current CallManager deployment or migrate efficiently to Cisco's current IP telephony products. To find out about Progent's expertise for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other older IP voice products, see Cisco CallManager consulting services.
  • Cisco IP Gateways provide connectivity with PSTN networks and with clients operating outside the corporate perimeter such as at-home workers. Progent can provide consulting expertise for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway configuration consulting.
  • Other VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can assist you to update your WAN architecture to support these VoIP solutions and provide on-demand deployment and troubleshooting services.

Video Conferencing for an At-Home Workforce
A wide selection of video conferencing platforms from leading technology companies enable online meetings, video conferencing, chat, and content sharing for both local workers and at-home workers. Many organizations utilize multiple conferencing products to meet the needs of their various partners and customers. Progent can help your organization to manage your current conferencing ecosystem and optimize the experience of your remote employees.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications platform that supports presence, instant messaging, audio and video conferencing plus the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified consultants who can assist you to deploy and manage Skype for Business clients to accommodate your at-home employees. For details about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business consulting experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's group video calling platform for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac devices. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current editions of FaceTime allow as many as 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 provides remote conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing discrete content or screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, session capture, plus editing and playback for future reference. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Cisco Webex as well as for other IP video 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 IP voice and video conferencing, persistent chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support expertise for Teams and for other Microsoft 365 apps, see 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 configuration and troubleshooting services for these conferencing platforms and assist your business to tune your network infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for Remote Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office families, offering a rich ecosystem of applications that create a cohesive user experience for exchanging data and ideas throughout multiple sites and on a broad selection of endpoint devices. Progent has delivered remote consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange since their first releases and can help businesses to deploy these flagship 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 with Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration. Developed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can enable chat, video meetings that include screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and application sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (previously called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of features. To learn more about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams, visit planning and deployment consulting for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint Configuration Consultants for At-Home WorkersSharePoint utilizes web sites to enable collaboration and information delivery by offering policy-based delivery of data, business processes, and tools for searching through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint allows you to create protected web portals that allows remote workers to view and update consolidated corporate intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social networking sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To find out about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, see SharePoint integration and development expertise.

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. For details about Progent's Exchange support services, go to planning and configuration consulting for Microsoft Exchange Server.

Onedrive Configuration Consultants for At-Home WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud-based storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. At-home users can save files to OneDrive, and colleagues can retrieve them safely via a browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive enables home workers to co-author documents. Revisions made offline are automatically synced when you go back online. To find out about Progent's support services for OneDrive, go to Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.

Cloud Integration Services for Teleworkers
Progent offers fast and affordable online support for enabling businesses to build, manage and optimize integrated hybrid network models that incorporate physical data centers, telecommuters, branch offices, and cloud resources. Progent offers expertise for all modes of cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help at-home workers fix issues with public cloud access, identity, and security.

Microsoft Azure Integration Services for Remote WorkersMicrosoft Azure is a popular family of cloud services that enables you to use IT infrastructure, servers, and key applications hosted on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure includes over 100 cloud-based services including hosting for Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can assist your organization to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, configure storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity management with Azure AD, and design backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to establish protected access to Azure for remote workers by setting up and debugging firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. To learn about Progent's consulting expertise for Azure, refer to Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365 Integration for TelecommutersMicrosoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of client productivity applications and cloud-based services offered on a subscription basis. Office applications and services are marketed in a selection of plans intended for customers ranging from individuals and households to major enterprises. Progent can provide quick and affordable 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 plans offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your telecommuters to achieve top business value. For details about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, refer to Microsoft 365 integration services.

Exchange Online Integration for TelecommutersExchange Online is among the most popular cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online provides the advantages of lower costs for data center infrastructure, simplified management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and other advantages associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate smoothly with on-premises Exchange environments, enabling customers to create hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's certified Exchange experts are available for as-needed assistance to get you past tough technical bottlenecks and also offer end-to-end project management services to ensure your at-home workers have easy and safe access to your Exchange Online deployment. For details Progent's consulting services for Exchange Online, refer to Exchange Online integration and support consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for TelecommutersAmazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud arena and is the world's leading provider of cloud services. Progent can provide quick and affordable online contact with cloud connectivity experts who can assist your business to plan, deploy, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises data centers and with other public clouds like Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help you to build a high-uptime network model so your employees have a consistent computing experience whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, from home, or on the move. For details about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud Platform Integration Services for TelecommutersGoogle Cloud Platform (GCP) is a popular suite of cloud computing services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist you to scale 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 teleworkers can take full advantage of Google Cloud services. Progent's consultants can help you to deploy VMs on GCP Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage system with GCP Storage services, and simplify identity control for teleworkers with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent's consultants can also assist your organization to use GCP's unified management tools to control and track your GCP environment. For information, refer to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration support.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Telecommuters
An emergency, organization-wide transition to a telecommuter business model, which could be driven by an epidemic or as a component of a business continuity preparedness plan, can overwhelm even a high-performing internal Call Desk. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for businesses to outsource or supplement their Help Desk Call Center by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

  • Progent's Standard Help Desk Call Center services leverage Progent's nationwide team of online technical support experts combined with world-class trouble ticketing and tracking technology to offer an economical, modern Help Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that handles all aspects of remote Level 1 desktop support from service requests through trouble ticket generation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows teleworkers to track or update the status of their active tickets, add information, and upload screen captures or attachments. Technical support services are provided at a substantial discount off Progent's ordinary Level 1 desktop support charges, and Progent makes available the option of fast hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to deal with complex problems. For more information, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size companies.
  • Progent's Help Desk Supplemental Service allows your business to supplement your existing Help Desk Call Center staff by splitting delivery of Call Desk support transparently between your in-house support organization and Progent's extensive team of desktop support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's co-managed Help Desk Call Center service is based on a co-sourcing support model utilizing the leading professional services automation (PSA) platform for managing service requests and trouble tickets, assigning responsibility, tracking progress, and producing reports. To find out how Progent's Call Desk Supplementation Services can help your company to deliver world-class technical support to your telecommuters, refer to Progent's Support Desk augmentation Services.

Security and Compliance for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home workers typically use their own computing devices and often operate in an unsecured physical area. This situation increases their susceptibility to malware attacks and calls for judicious deployment of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, intensive end-user education, and the creation of security policies built on best practices. Progent's seasoned roster of data security solutions experts can assist your business to plan, deploy and manage an effective security solution that guards critical IT assets in networks that include telecommuters.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable you to create a network environment that can be securely accessed by local users and by an at-home workforce, mobile users, vendors, customers, and other stakeholders. Next-generation firewall appliances allow you to assign and control appropriate permissions to different groups of users and to expand your IT network and adjust your security as your company evolves and as cyber threats become increasingly complex. Progent works with both new and legacy firewall appliances from all leading vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall configuration expertise, see firewall integration and support expertise.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring and Management Services for At-Home WorkersRemote Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to track the disparate computers used by remote workers and either reject or identify and respond to the latest threats such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a small-footprint agent is installed on every protected endpoint, watching all activity and utilizing advanced behavioral threat analysis from SentinelOne to detect zero-day attacks on arrival. When an attack is discovered, ProSight Active Security Monitoring immediately disconnects the infected endpoint device from the corporate network to quarantine the threat. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoint devices remain protected even when they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, see remote endpoint security monitoring for an at-home workforce.

Two-factor Authentication Services for TelecommutersProgent's Duo MFA Managed Services incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to protect against stolen passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables single-tap identity verification on Apple iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, whenever you sign into a secured online account and enter your password you are requested to confirm your identity on a unit that only you have and that uses a separate network channel. A broad range of out-of-band devices can be utilized as this added form of ID validation such as a smartphone or wearable, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You may register several verification devices. For more information about ProSight Duo two-factor identity validation services, see Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for teleworkers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the exposure of your network to all classes of outside and internal security attacks for a network that incorporates telecommuters. Progent can run online, automated security analysis scanning for quickly and economically detecting a wide variety of security gaps that can be found over the Internet. Progent's security audit consulting services, which can be provided by security experts with top credentials such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist you to evaluate your operations and policies and review your IT architecture to allow you to implement top-level security for your teleworkers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for Work-from-Home EnpointsHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Penetration Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated testing of your at-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks to help you find, rank, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent can help you to use NodeZero to perform comprehensive penetration tests of your perimeter and your internal network in order to evaluate your current security posture. Progent can also help you to strengthen your network security and can help you to plan and implement a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and delivers maximum cyber defense for on-premises, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To find out more information about Progent's vulnerability assessment solutions powered by on NodeZero's pentest products, visit Consulting Services for NodeZero's Pentest Products.

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

Data Protection Solutions for Teleworkers
The field of Data Protection covers backing up and recovering vital data in order to avoid data loss and reduce recovery time in the event of storage system failures due to hardware issues, programming hiccups, user error, malware, or any other reason. Dependable data protection strategies can be particularly difficult to design and maintain in hybrid environments that combine private data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Recovery strategies for remote workers must cover multiple types of personally owned endpoints. Progent offers quick online help from consultants familiar with a broad array of platforms for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, tablets and smartphones. Popular backup/restore products maintained by Progent's backup/recovery experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, CrashPlan, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect resources spread across a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services, a backup/recovery service that utilizes cloud storage and includes granular restore and centralized management capabilities.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies commonly envision circumstances that require a temporary switch to an at-home workforce. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness experts and business continuity consultants can help your business to create, document and validate a DR/BC strategy that addresses the process of moving to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management products under the title Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises computers. Endpoint Manager provides a unified solution for safeguarding critical information by managing on-premises, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting off-premises devices and applications. Managed endpoint devices can be user owned or business owned. IT administrators managing the enrolled endpoint computers of teleworkers can use Intune to provision and validate applications on managed devices, push updates and certificates, set up rules for permission to access information and resources, manage passwords, create VPN connections, control how home-based workers share information, establish threat protection, verify security compliance, and wipe corporate information from missing, stolen or decommissioned endpoint devices. Microsoft Intune can be used with iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. For details about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can help your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the devices of your at-home workforce, visit Intune remote endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced centralized MDM product that allows network administrators to keep off-premises endpoint devices current and secure. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint management plus VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for identity control, app management, and configuration management of endpoints. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints based on Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or popular distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site product via a perpetual license. Top capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid remote deployment of out-of-the-box notebooks, immediate onboarding of new employees, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated management reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud services. To learn about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about creating and managing a productive telecommuter environment for your Newark, New Jersey organization, call 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.