Expanding your telecommuter workforce may have a significant impact on network architecture, cybersecurity, and company workflows. Progent has 20 years of experience assisting small and mid-size businesses to plan, configure, manage, optimize, and troubleshoot IT environments that support work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Fort Collins company to select the right technologies and adhere to best practices in building and operating a secure virtual ecosystem for telecommuters that promotes collaboration and returns top value. Progent can provide services ranging from on demand expertise for helping you over challenging technical roadblocks to full project management or co-management to help you successfully complete business-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can assist Fort Collins, Colorado businesses to with any aspect of building a high-performing telecommuting environment by providing infrastructure design and configuration services, IP voice expertise, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud connectivity, Call Desk services, data security, backup/restore solutions, and centralized management.

Network Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Integrating the network infrastructure required for a remote work environment can be especially complex if you have to accommodate a mix of personal hardware such as desktop computers and laptops, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi APs from different manufacturers and with a variety of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's background providing online support for both outdated and current IT products in remote office solutions allows you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and offers fast access to expertise for implement essential updates. Support services available from Progent to assist you to implement a productive work-at-home infrastructure include:

  • Virtual Private Network technology makes it possible to establish a secure tunnel for authenticated remote workers to use IT assets situated at your company data center or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can help your company to deploy and manage VPN access between your teleworkers and your various IT resources by providing online VPN integration support. For organizations using Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall experts can help your at-home workers to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect software for secure VPN connections for a wide range of devices including Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) products allow a teleworker to view and use a data center computer's desktop. This gives network managers substantial control over the computing ecosystem of at-home employees and offers remote users a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's virtual desktop consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI expertise.
  • Routers attach at-home networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, home Wi-Fi connectivity, and firewalls. Progent can provide expert remote consulting for configuring routers from all major vendors. See router integration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, often supporting an entire household and guests, are frequently used by at-home employees to access their Internet router for work. This can create performance as well as security problems. Progent can help businesses to mitigate these issues by delivering expertise that include Cisco Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco Meraki wireless installation expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless AP setup assistance.
  • Internet connectivity methods affect the performance and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the company network. Business-critical processes may demand redundant Internet access in the event the normal connection breaks. Progent can provide guidance for selecting ISPs, picking sensible service offerings, and configuring redundant Internet access. Refer to Internet access solutions.

VoIP Integration for Remote Workers
Expanding the company PBX system to accommodate teleworkers is vital to maintaining a productive work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-based IP voice platforms are used by SMBs to server teleworkers. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's modern or legacy platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can assist organizations of all sizes to design or tune a remote IP voice environment that delivers the versatility, convenience and protection required for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants offer advanced support to assist organizations tune their current Cisco IP voice systems to handle a growing at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) extends high-end IP telephony features to devices such as IP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia apps deployed across the network. CUCM manages additional combined media services such as unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer interaction networks. For details about Progent's Unified Communications Manager support, refer to Cisco Unified CM consultants.
  • Cisco CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing agent and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM. Progent can assist you to support your current CallManager environment or migrate efficiently to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. To learn about Progent's support services for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other older VoIP platforms, see CallManager expertise.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with PSTN networks and with users operating outside the corporate firewall like at-home workers. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for current Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway configuration expertise.
  • Other VoIP Platforms supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to enhance your WAN architecture to work with these VoIP solutions and provide online configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for At-Home Workers
A broad selection of video conferencing platforms from major technology companies enable virtual meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen/content sharing for both onsite users and at-home workers. Many organizations utilize multiple products to accommodate their different partners and clients. Progent can assist you to manage your current conferencing ecosystem and enhance the productivity of your remote workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications platform that enables presence, instant messaging, audio and video conferencing as well as the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent can provide the skills of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist your company to set up and manage Skype for Business client software to support your remote employees. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business integration services.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video calling platform for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current editions of FaceTime support as many as 32 simultaneous users for voice/video calls. To learn more about Progent's support services for FaceTime, visit Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports remote conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Offered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing specific content or computer screens, presentations that embed rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based recording, plus editing and playback for future reference. To learn more about Progent's support services for Cisco 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 hub for conversations, contacts, and information with features that include video conferencing, persistent threaded chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's support services for Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 products, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Other Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver configuration and troubleshooting expertise for these conferencing platforms and assist you to optimize your WAN infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Software for Remote and Hybrid Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office families, providing a rich ecosystem of productivity apps that deliver a consistent user interface for sharing information throughout multiple sites and on a wide selection of endpoint devices. Progent has provided remote consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their first releases and can assist your company to configure these flagship collaboration platforms to optimize 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 and Teams Premium Solutions Consultants for TelecommutersMicrosoft Teams works with Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration. Developed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can support chat, audio/video meetings with screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and app sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (previously branded Azure Active Directory) for supporting its complete range of features. For additional information about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit planning and deployment consulting for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint Server Configuration Consultants for Remote WorkersSharePoint utilizes web entities to enable collaboration and information sharing by offering policy-driven access to data, business processes, and tools for searching through company-wide information silos. SharePoint enables you to build secure portals that allows remote workers to view and update consolidated business intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For details about Progent's SharePoint expertise, go to SharePoint integration and development expertise.

Exchange Configuration Consultants for At-Home WorkersExchange and Exchange Online offer secure collaboration features including public folders, shared mailboxes, and shared calendars and contacts. Progent's Microsoft certified Exchange experts can show you how to activate and utilize these features for your at-home workers. To find out about Progent's Exchange consulting services, refer to integration consulting for Exchange Server.

Microsoft Onedrive Integration Experts for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, similar to GoogleDrive. Remote workers can save files to OneDrive, and colleagues can retrieve them securely through a web browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive enables home workers to jointly author files. Edits created offline are uploaded when you go back online. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for OneDrive, go to Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.

Cloud Integration for At-Home Workers
Progent can provide fast and affordable remote support for enabling businesses to create, maintain and troubleshoot cohesive hybrid network models that combine internal data centers, teleworkers, branches, plus cloud resources. Progent can provide expertise for all types of cloud service delivery such as Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help teleworkers fix problems with cloud connectivity, identity, and security.

Azure Integration Services for TeleworkersMicrosoft Azure is a leading family of cloud software and services that enables you to utilize infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications hosted on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure features over 100 cloud-based services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-powered VMs, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can assist you to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and design data backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to create protected access to Azure for at-home workers by setting up and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. To find out about Progent's expertise for Azure, go to Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for Remote WorkersMicrosoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of client productivity software and cloud services available on a subscription basis. Office applications and services are provided in a selection of plans designed for customers ranging from individuals and small offices to large corporations. Progent can provide fast and affordable online access to consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can help your business to assess the numerous subscription plans available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your teleworkers in a way that delivers maximum business value. For information about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 consulting expertise.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Integration Services for TelecommutersExchange Online is one of the most widely used cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product suite. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online provides the benefits of reduced spending for physical infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high availability, and additional benefits associated with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate smoothly with on-premises Exchange environments, enabling you to build hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's certified Exchange experts are available for as-needed assistance to get you past tough technical roadblocks and also offer end-to-end project management outsourcing to make sure your teleworkers have convenient and secure access to your Exchange Online deployment. To find out Progent's consulting expertise for Exchange Online, see Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and support expertise.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for TeleworkersAmazon AWS is a trailblazer in the public cloud arena and is the world's top source of cloud services. Progent can provide fast and affordable online contact with cloud integration experts who can assist your organization to plan, deploy, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises data centers and with other popular cloud platforms such as Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help you to create a high-uptime network architecture so your users have a consistent computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, at home, or on the road. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud Platform Integration for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud Platform is a leading suite of public cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist you to extend your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA consultants can help you make your mission-critical apps cloud friendly so your telecommuters can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can assist your business to set up VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design an efficient storage solution with Google Cloud Storage, and streamline identity management for telecommuters with Google Cloud Identity. Progent's experts can also help your business to use GCP's management technology to administer and track your Google Cloud ecosystem. To learn, visit Google Cloud Platform integration support.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Telecommuters
A rapid, enterprise-wide switchover to a telecommuter workforce, which might be driven by an epidemic or as a component of a business continuity preparedness plan, can overwhelm even a high-performing in-house Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk services allow organizations to outsource or supplement their Call Desk with Progent's online Technical Response Center team.

  • Progent's Standard Support Desk support services utilize Progent's nationwide network of remote technical support specialists along with world-class ticketing and tracking technology to offer an affordable, advanced Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide a comprehensive solution that handles all aspects of online Level 1 desktop support from initial service requests through trouble ticket creation, screen sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows teleworkers to track or revise the status of their active trouble tickets, enter details, and upload screenshots or attachments. Support services are provided at a substantial price reduction off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop service charges, and Progent makes available the option of rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 support specialists to deal with complex issues. To learn more, refer to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size companies.
  • Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Service allows you to expand your current Support Desk organization by sharing delivery of Help Desk support seamlessly between your regular IT support staff and Progent's extensive roster of PC support engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's co-managed Help Desk Call Center service uses a co-sourcing support solution utilizing the number one professional services automation (PSA) tool for managing help requests and trouble tickets, establishing responsibility, tracking progress, and generating management reports. For information about how Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Services can enable your business to provide best-in-class desktop support to your at-home employees, visit Progent's Support Desk augmentation Services.

Security for Teleworkers
Work-from-Home workers typically utilize their personal devices and usually operate in a poorly secured physical space. This situation multiplies their vulnerability to cyber threats and calls for careful deployment of firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, thorough user education, and the creation of security policies built on leading practices. Progent's seasoned team of IT security solutions experts can assist you to design, implement and manage a compliant security solution that protects critical IT assets in environments that include at-home workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable you to create a network environment that can be securely accessed by local users as well as by an at-home workforce, mobile employees, vendors, customers, and other stakeholders. Next-generation firewall appliances allow you to assign and control appropriate permissions to different classes of users and to scale your network and adjust your security as your business evolves and as network attacks become more sophisticated. Progent works with both current and legacy security devices from all major vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall integration expertise, refer to firewall configuration and support expertise.

Remote Security Monitoring Services for At-Home WorkersRemote Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to watch over the various computers used by an at-home workforce and either block or spot and respond to modern threats such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a small-footprint agent is installed on every protected endpoint, watching all activity and using state-of-the-art AI technology from SentinelOne to identify new threats before they can spread. When an attack is discovered, ProSight ASM instantly isolates the impacted endpoint from the network to contain the threat. Because the ProSight ASM agent is self-contained, endpoint devices stay secure even when they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, go to remote endpoint security monitoring for at-home workers.

Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for TelecommutersProgent's Duo MFA Services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo supports single-tap identity verification on iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. With 2FA, whenever you sign into a secured online account and enter your password you are requested to confirm your identity on a device that only you have and that uses a different network channel. A wide selection of out-of-band devices can be utilized for this second form of authentication such as an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You can designate multiple verification devices. For more information about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, see Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for at-home workers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can assess the vulnerability of your network to all types of outside and local security attacks for a network that includes at-home workers. Progent can run remote, automated security inventory software for rapidly and economically uncovering a wide variety of security holes that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment experts, which can be provided by security experts with top credentials such as CISM, CISSP, and GIAC, can assist your company to evaluate your workflows and policies and review your IT infrastructure to allow you to design top-level security for your telecommuters.

NodeZero Pentetration Testing for At-Home WorkersHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver autonomous threat assessment of your work-from-home environment as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can identify, prioritize, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity vulnerabilities before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform thorough penetration tests of your network perimeter and your internal network in order to evaluate your current security posture. Progent can also help you to strengthen your existing network security and can assist you to design and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity ecosystem that streamlines management and delivers optimum protection for on-prem, cloud-based, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To find out more details about Progent's threat assessment solutions based on on NodeZero's pentest platform, refer to Consulting Services for NodeZero's Pentest Platform.

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

Data Protection Solutions for Remote Workers
Data Protection covers saving and restoring critical information in order to prevent data loss and reduce recovery time and effort in the event of storage system problems resulting from equipment breakdowns, programming hiccups, operator error, malware, or any other reason. Reliable data protection solutions can be particularly difficult to architect and manage in hybrid environments that incorporate local data centers, cloud resources, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Restore solutions for at-home workers must cover multiple kinds of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide fast remote access to consultants knowledgeable about a wide array of products for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktops as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and handhelds. Leading backup/recovery products maintained by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up data distributed throughout a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services, a backup/recovery service that utilizes cloud-based storage and includes granular restore and centralized management capabilities.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plans often envision circumstances that call for a quick switch to telecommuting. Progent's expert disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity consultants can help your company to develop, document and validate a DR/BC strategy that addresses the process of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Telecommuters
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the title Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing onsite computers. Endpoint Manager offers a unified platform for safeguarding corporate information by managing local, mobile, and home-based endpoints.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting off-premises devices and applications. Managed endpoint computers can be user owned or business owned. IT admins managing the endpoint computers of telecommuters can use Intune to provision and authenticate apps on devices, push patches and certificates, configure policies for accessing data and networks, set passwords, create VPN connections, determine how teleworkers share data, establish threat protection, verify security compliance, and erase corporate information from lost, stolen or deactivated devices. Microsoft Intune can be used with iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS computers. For information about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can help you to use this platform to administer the devices of your teleworkers, go to Intune teleworker device management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified Mobile Device Management (MDM) product that allows network managers to keep remote endpoints up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for identity control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with devices based on Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or popular distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site deployment via a one-time purchase. Key features of VMware Workspace ONE include fast over-the-air provisioning of new laptops, quick onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of devices, aggregated reporting and performance analytics, email encryption, and tight integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based services. To learn about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Expertise
To get in touch with Progent about creating and managing an efficient work-from-home environment for your Fort Collins, Colorado business, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.