Technology News and Progent IT Solutions

Microsoft announced the next version of Microsoft Office Communications Server, Microsoft's platform for streamlining presence awareness, instant messaging, video conferencing, and IP-based calling. The newest edition of Office Communications Server 2007 includes improvements that offer IT organizations additional flexibility for maintaining their communications infrastructure efficiently while providing an expandable architecture for communications-enabled business activity.

To reduce expenses, improve efficiency, and support teamwork, the new release of Microsoft Communications Server permits dial-in audioconferencing to eliminate costly third-part services with an in-house conferencing software bridge that can be controlled along with the overall communications environment. Microsoft Communications Server 2007 also now permits desktop sharing, which enables users to share their PC transparently and launch calls and team up with colleagues outside the company on PC, Mac, or Linux-powered platforms through a Web-based connection. The new release of Office Communications Server 2007 also allows geographically scattered groups to collaborate by taking part in theme-based dialogues that persist over time. This tool provides participants with an index of all available chat sessions and themes, automatically archives discussions in a format that meets auditing requirements, delivers utilities to look through the entire record of discussion on a given theme, and provides filters and alerts to inform people about recent updates.

Release 2 of Office Communications Server 2007 also incorporates improved support for voice communications and mobile workers. The new attendant console permits receptionists or team secretaries to control calls and conferences for other users, set up workflows to route calls, and manage higher numbers of incoming calls through a software-based interface. The SIP trunking capability enables companies to reduce expenses by establishing up a direct Voice over IP connection between an IP telephony service provider and Office Communications Server 2007 without needing on-premises VoIP gateways. Also, Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile functionality has been extended to more device platforms including the Motorola RAZR, RIM Blackberry, and Windows Mobile.

How Progent's Microsoft-certified Engineers Can Help Your Business to Integrate Office Communications Server
A Standard Edition Microsoft Office Communications Server hosts all necessary services on a single Front End Server. The minimal expense in computer hardware and ease of administration make this version is optimal for small and mid-sized organization and for remote offices. Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 is powered by Windows Server and takes advantage of powerful Windows Server platforms like as Active Directory, SQL Server, System Center Operations Manager, and Exchange Server. With Microsoft Office Communications Server, you can add real-time collaboration features and presence awareness to ubiquitous Office programs such as Microsoft Office Outlook, Excel, and Microsoft Word. Presence awareness generated by your server can also be integrated into productivity software. Office Communications Server also acts as the presence engine for collaborative web sites and web portals, providing presence and IM access from within Windows SharePoint sites.

Progent's Microsoft-certified engineers can provide expert consulting support for all these technologies and can assist you in planning and implementing a rollout of Microsoft Communications Server 2007 in order to maximize the business impact of this IM, presence, and VoIP solution. Progent can also help your company to migrate from Microsoft Live Communications Server to the latest version of Office Communications Server.

Progent's consultants can help you to deploy Microsoft Communications Server 2007 and integrate a wide of Microsoft technologies to benefit from the presence, Instant Messaging, and Voice over IP capabilities enabled by Microsoft Communications Server 2007:

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Support
Progent offers a variety of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 planning and maintenance services that can assist small companies to benefit from Windows Server 2008. Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can assist your company to understand the areas where Microsoft Windows Server 2008 could enhance the business value of your information network so that you can rationalize an upgrade. Progent can help you pilot Windows Server 2008 in order to assess its stability, responsiveness, and operability running realistic workloads. Progent can help with developing a deployment plan, evaluate and enhance existing network environment, document archiving and recovery procedures, evaluate security mechanisms and guidelines, help in integrating physical and virtualized machines, design high-availability strategies including failover server clustering with Hyper-V, train your in-house network management team, and set up automated 24x7 monitoring operations to ensure your information system's security and efficiency.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Design, Setup, and Maintenance Support
Progent's Microsoft certified consultants can show you how to design and implement a smooth Exchange Server 2007 migration strategy that avoids network disruption, reduces long-term service demands, and makes your Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 easy to administer. Progent's Exchange Server 2007 support, troubleshooting, and consulting offerings include assistance with the integration of third-party add-ons to Microsoft Exchange 2007 Server and the creation of unified messaging implementations based on Exchange 2007 Server. Services include integration with your business network, access to mobile computing devices, continual monitoring of performance and security, spam filtering, patch and revision management, Help Desk Call Center services, daily backup, and comprehensive messaging management support.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Consulting and Support
Progent can offer expertise for planning, deploying, and maintaining productive SharePoint Server installations that can dramatically enhance key areas of your IT network such as collaboration, web portal, enterprise search, forms-based business operations, delivery of management information, and content control. Progent's Microsoft-qualified engineers can help you to evaluate the business benefit for deploying SharePoint Server 2007, deliver configuration and integration support, assist your business to configure SQL Server as a back-office database engine, enhance your network architecture, set up your standard and specialized application programs to work with Office SharePoint Server 2007, develop a company-wide protection plan that incorporates portal solutions, and deliver remote and on-site repair and Help Desk support.

SQL Server 2008 Programming and Support
Progent's SQL Server engineers can make sure your business configures Microsoft SQL 2008 properly, and that your SQL-powered data management solution is integrated thoroughly with your applications. Progent offers 24x7 network tracking to make sure your business network is healthy, and Progent's online Technical Response Center is ready to offer rapid remediation for SQL-related issues. Progent's certified data protection consultants can evaluate your business-wide security processes and mechanisms and suggest improvements for better protection. Progent's developers can help your company to create or personalize line-of-business applications or web sites utilize databases managed by SQL Server 2008.

Windows Active Directory Support Services
Microsoft Windows Active Directory demands extensive hands-on experience to configure efficiently across an enterprise. Progent's Microsoft certified Active Directory engineers are experts in designing, deploying, and maintaining complex Enterprise AD installations. Progent's areas of expertise with Microsoft Windows 2003 and 2008 AD include replication issues, multi-domain partition design, repair of corrupted Active Directory objects, dealing with legacy beta version configuration objects in online AD environments, and fixing failed configurations of AD and AD-integrated programs.

PC Desktop Support Services
Progent's Microsoft-certified desktop support experts offer a broad array of affordable services to assist your company to install, configure, repair, and administer desktop PCs and notebooks powered by Windows. Progent can offer on-premises or online technical support for single PCs and moble devices or work with you to design and carry out a large-scale migration to the most current release of Windows. Progent can also configure Microsoft Office or Microsoft Dynamics business applications on your workstations so they communicate efficiently with all Microsoft programs, software from popular publishers, business servers, and key solutions network-wide. Progent can also provide consultants and technical workers to help you to plan for and complete a site relocation or merger designed to cause minimal interruption to your productivity.

Wireless and Mobility Solutions Expertise
Progent's professionals provide expertise in a variety of technologies related to mobile connectivity such as system topology, wireless data synchronization, wireless security, mobile e-mail, Microsoft Windows Mobile, RIM Blackberry, and wireless software programming. Progent's certified experts can save your business work and expense by applying their wireless expertise to show you how to select and configure wireless access technologies that make sense for your company. Progent can also optimize your network architecture so that wireless handhelds work better.

Urgent Online Technical Support
Progent's National Support Center provides national remote help for Windows and Cisco-based small office IT networks. Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-Certified support engineers offer telephone help and remote secure computer access to isolate and repair technical problems quickly and affordably. The scope of technical expertise represented by Progent's team of nationwide service professionals allows Progent to escalate even the most difficult network issues to competent experts as needed.

For additional information concerning Progent's support for Microsoft Communications Server, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.