Expanding your remote workforce can have a significant impact on IT infrastructure, security/compliance, and company workflows. Progent has 20 years of experience assisting SMBs to design, configure, manage, optimize, and troubleshoot IT environments that support work-from-home employees. Progent can assist your Salt Lake City company to select the appropriate technologies and follow leading practices in building and operating a secure virtual solution for teleworkers that promotes collaboration and returns maximum business value. Progent offers support services that go from as-needed guidance for helping you over occasional technical roadblocks to full project management or co-management to help you successfully complete business-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can help Salt Lake City, Utah organizations to succeed with any facet of creating a high-performing telecommuting environment by providing network infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX expertise, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud integration, Call Desk augmentation, security and compliance, backup/restore solutions, and streamlined management.

Network Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Configuring the network infrastructure needed to support an at-home workforce can be particularly challenging if you must accommodate a mix of personal hardware such as desktop computers and notebooks, routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from an assortment of manufacturers and with a variety of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's background providing remote support for both outdated and modern technologies in virtual office solutions enables you to make efficient use of your available infrastructure and provides you with ready access to top-tire consultants for making necessary upgrades. Services offered by Progent to help your company to implement a high-functioning telecommuting infrastructure include:

  • Virtual Private Network connectivity allows you to establish a secure tunnel for authenticated remote workers to use IT assets situated at your company datacenter or in the cloud. Progent's consultants can assist your company to deploy and manage VPN connections between your teleworkers and your various network resources by providing online VPN integration consulting. For businesses with Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA Firewall consultants can help your remote workers to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect software to provide safe VPN connections for a wide range of endpoint devices such as Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products allow a telecommuter to see and use a remote PC's desktop. This provides network managers substantial control over the digital ecosystem of telecommuters and offers them a familiar experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI solutions.
  • Routers connect at-home networks to the Internet and typically support VPN connections, home wireless connectivity, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier remote consulting for deploying home routers from all major vendors. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, often supporting the whole family and guests, are commonly used by telecommuters to access their Internet router for work. This can create throughput as well as security issues. Progent can assist you to resolve these problems by providing services like Aironet integration expertise, Cisco Meraki WiFi installation expertise, and Ubiquiti WiFi AP integration help.
  • Internet access solutions affect the performance and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the corporate network. Vital applications may demand redundant Internet access in the event the normal connection breaks. Progent can provide expertise for picking ISPs, picking appropriate service bundles, and configuring fault-tolerant Internet access. See Internet connectivity solutions.

IP Voice Integration for Telecommuters
Expanding the business PBX system to include teleworkers is critical to supporting an effective work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-centric digital PBX products are used by small and mid-size businesses to server teleworkers. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's modern or older products for VoIP solutions. Progent can help organizations of all sizes to plan or tune a telecommuter VoIP service that delivers the versatility, transparency and protection needed for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts can provide high-level support to help organizations tune their current Cisco IP voice environments to handle an expanding at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) delivers high-end IP telephony capabilities to devices like IP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media applications deployed throughout the network. Unified Communications Manager supports additional combined media services like messaging, video conferencing, and team collaboration networks. For details about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, refer to Cisco Unified CM consultants.
  • Cisco CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing software and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent's consultants can assist your company to maintain your current CallManager deployment or migrate efficiently to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. To learn about Progent's support services for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other early IP voice platforms, see Cisco CallManager consulting.
  • Cisco IP Gateways provide integration with PSTN networks and with clients operating outside the corporate perimeter like telecommuters. Progent offers consulting expertise for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 product lines as well as for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway configuration consulting.
  • Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can assist you to enhance your WAN architecture to support these VoIP solutions and deliver on-demand integration and debugging services.

Video Conferencing for Remote Workers
A wide range of video conferencing platforms from major vendors support online discussions, video and voice conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both local workers and at-home workers. Many companies use a mix of conferencing products to meet the needs of their various partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can help you to maintain your existing conferencing ecosystem and enhance the engagement of your remote workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications platform that supports presence, instant messaging, voice and video conferencing plus the transparent integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist you to set up and manage Skype for Business client software to accommodate your remote employees. For details about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business consulting services.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone app for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac devices. FaceTime runs on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer versions of FaceTime allow 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 provides online conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Offered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing discrete content or screens, presentations that embed rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based capture, plus revision and playback for future reference and training. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Cisco Webex and for other IP video solutions from Cisco, refer to 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 capabilities such as video conferencing, threaded chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support expertise for Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 apps, visit Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Other Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide configuration and troubleshooting services for these conferencing platforms and help you to optimize your WAN architecture to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for Teleworkers
Microsoft's collaboration products are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office suites, offering a powerful ecosystem of applications that create a consistent user interface for sharing information throughout multiple sites and on a wide range of endpoint computers. Progent has delivered remote consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their original releases and can assist businesses to tune these critical collaboration products to maximize the effectiveness of your remote workers.

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 Integration Consultants for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft Teams works on top of 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, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and app sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (formerly branded Azure Active Directory) for delivering its complete range of features. For details about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit solution design and deployment consulting for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint Deployment Experts for At-Home WorkersSharePoint uses web entities to enable collaboration and information sharing by providing policy-driven delivery of content, business processes, and tools for searching through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint allows you to create secure web portals that permits remote workforce to see and update consolidated business intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To find out about Progent's SharePoint expertise, see SharePoint integration and application development consulting.

Exchange Integration Experts 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 consulting services, refer to deployment consulting for Microsoft Exchange.

Onedrive Integration Experts for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, similar to GoogleDrive. Remote workers can store files to OneDrive, and colleagues anywhere can access them safely via a browser. Provided with Office 365, OneDrive enables at-home employees to jointly author documents. Revisions created offline are automatically uploaded when you go back online. To learn about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, visit Microsoft Onedrive integration consulting.

Cloud Integration for Teleworkers
Progent can provide fast and affordable online assistance for enabling businesses to build, maintain and repair cohesive network architectures that include internal data centers, telecommuters, branches, plus public cloud services. Progent can provide top-tier consultant for all types of cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help telecommuters fix problems with public cloud connectivity, identity, and cybersecurity.

Azure Integration Services for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft Azure is a leading platform for cloud software and services that enables you to utilize infrastructure, servers, and key apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure features over 100 cloud-based services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can help your organization to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and plan backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to create secure connections to Azure for remote workers by configuring and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Azure, go to Microsoft Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Integration for Remote WorkersMicrosoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of client productivity software and cloud-based services offered on a subscription basis. Office apps and services are provided in a variety of plans designed for customers ranging from individuals and small offices to major enterprises. Progent can provide quick and easy remote access to experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible clients running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent's experts can help your business to evaluate the numerous subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 applications for your telecommuters in a way that delivers maximum business value. To find out about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft 365 integration services.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Integration for Remote WorkersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most widely used applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online provides the benefits of lower spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and other advantages associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to operate smoothly with local deployments of Exchange, enabling customers to build hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's certified Exchange consultants are available for occasional help to guide you past challenging technical bottlenecks and can also provide end-to-end project management services to ensure your remote workers have convenient and safe access to your Exchange Online deployment. For details Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and support consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration for TeleworkersAmazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud market and is the industry's biggest source of cloud services. Progent offers quick and affordable online access to cloud connectivity experts who can assist your organization to design, implement, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud services with local data centers and with other popular cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist you to build a high-uptime network architecture so your employees have a consistent computing environment whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, at home, or on the road. For information about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS integration services.

Google Cloud Platform Integration for TelecommutersGoogle Cloud is a popular suite of cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help your business to extend your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA experts can show you how to make your key apps cloud ready so your teleworkers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can assist your business to set up virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage solution with Google Cloud Storage services, and simplify access control for telecommuters with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent can also help you to use GCP's unified management technology to administer and track your GCP environment. For details, see Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting expertise.

Help Desk Call Center Services for At-Home Workers
A sudden, enterprise-wide changeover to a telecommuter business model, which could be the result of a pandemic or as part of a disaster recovery/business continuity process, can overstretch even the most efficient internal Call Desk. Progent's Call Center services make it possible for businesses to outsource or supplement their Support Desk with Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) services.

  • Progent's Standard Help Desk support services utilize Progent's nationwide network of online IT support experts combined with world-class trouble ticketing and tracking technology to provide an affordable, advanced Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer a comprehensive solution that addresses all facets of remote Level 1 desktop support from initial service requests to trouble ticket generation, screen sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows teleworkers to check or edit the status of their current trouble tickets, add details, and append screenshots or attachments. Desktop support services are delivered at a significant discount off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop support rates, and Progent offers the option of rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to resolve complex problems. For details, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small businesses.
  • Progent's Call Center Augmentation Service enables you to expand your current Help Desk organization by splitting responsibilities for Help Desk Call Center services seamlessly between your regular IT support staff and Progent's extensive roster of desktop support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Help Desk Call Center service uses a co-sourcing support solution based on the leading PSA platform for handling service requests and trouble tickets, establishing ownership, monitoring progress, and generating management reports. For details about how Progent's Call Center Augmentation Services can help your company to deliver world-class desktop support to your telecommuters, refer to Progent's Call Center augmentation Services.

Security for Remote Workers
At-home workers typically utilize their personal computing devices and usually work in an unsecured physical area. This increases their susceptibility to malware attacks and calls for careful configuration of corporate firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, thorough end-user education, and the creation of policies based on leading practices. Progent's seasoned roster of IT security support consultants can help you to plan, deploy and manage a compliant security solution that guards critical IT assets in environments that include an at-home workforce.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable companies to build a network environment that can be securely utilized by local users and by an at-home workforce, mobile users, suppliers, clients, and other stakeholders. Modern firewall devices allow you to assign and manage different permissions to various groups of users and to scale your IT network and modify your cybersecurity posture as your company evolves and as cyber threats grow more sophisticated. Progent works with both current and older security devices from all leading vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall integration services, go to firewall integration and support services.

Remote Security Monitoring for TelecommutersOnline Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to track the various devices utilized by teleworkers and either block or identify and respond to modern threats such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight software agent is put on every secured endpoint device, watching all activity and using advanced machine learning from SentinelOne to identify new attacks before they can spread. When a cyberattack is discovered, ProSight ASM instantly disconnects the impacted device from the corporate network to quarantine the malware. Since the ProSight ASM software agent is self-contained, endpoints remain protected even when they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. To find out more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, see remote endpoint security monitoring for telecommuters.

Two-factor Authentication Services for TelecommutersProgent's Duo authentication Service Plans incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against stolen passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports one-tap identity verification with Apple iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. With Duo 2FA, whenever you sign into a protected online account and give your password you are asked to confirm who you are on a device that only you have and that is accessed using a different network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be utilized as this second form of authentication such as a smartphone or wearable, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You can register multiple verification devices. To learn more about ProSight Duo two-factor identity validation services, go to Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for at-home workers.

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 an at-home workforce. Progent can deploy online, automated security analysis scanning for rapidly and affordably detecting a broad range of security gaps that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's security assessment experts, which can be managed by security professionals with top certifications such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help your business to audit your operations and governance policies and assess your network architecture to allow you to implement top-level security for your telecommuters.

NodeZero Pen Testing for Work-from-Home EnpointsHorizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated threat assessment of your at-home environment as well as your internal and perimeter networks to help you find, rank, fix, and verify cybersecurity vulnerabilities before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent can help you to use NodeZero to perform thorough penetration tests of your network perimeter and your internal network so you can evaluate your present security profile. Progent's NodeZero experts can also assist you to harden your network security and can assist you to plan and implement a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and delivers maximum protection for on-prem, cloud-based, at-home, and perimeter IT assets. To learn more information about Progent's threat analysis services based on on NodeZero's PEN test products, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's PEN Test Products.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home Network
To view or download a white paper describing critical areas to focus on for protecting a network that supports telecommuters, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for Teleworkers
Data Protection involves saving and restoring vital information in order to prevent data loss and reduce recovery time in case of storage system failures resulting from hardware breakdowns, programming hiccups, human mistakes, cyber attack, or other causes. Reliable data protection solutions can be especially difficult to architect and maintain in hybrid networks that incorporate private data centers, cloud resources, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Restore solutions for remote workers must address multiple types of user-owned endpoint devices. Progent offers quick remote help from consultants familiar with a wide array of platforms for protection Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and handhelds. Leading backup/recovery products maintained by Progent's data protection experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up data spread throughout a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud storage and features granular recovery and unified management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plans often anticipate scenarios that call for a quick switch to a work-at-home environment. Progent's expert disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity specialists can help you to create, document and validate a DR/BC plan that addresses the process of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Remote Workers
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management platforms under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing onsite computers. Endpoint Manager provides a unified environment for safeguarding critical information by managing on-premises, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and securing off-premises computers and software. Managed endpoint computers can be user owned or company owned. Network admins managing the enrolled endpoint devices of teleworkers can utilize Intune to provision and validate apps on devices, push patches and certificates, set up policies for accessing data and networks, set passwords, establish VPN connections, control how telecommuters share information, set up threat protection, verify security compliance, and wipe corporate information from lost, stolen or deactivated devices. Microsoft Intune runs with iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. For information about Intune and how Progent can help you to use this platform to administer the endpoint devices of your at-home workforce, see Intune telecommuter device management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced centralized Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform that allows network managers to keep offsite endpoints up to date and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint management combined with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for access control, application management, and setup management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE operates with devices based on Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-site deployment through a one-time purchase. Top features of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid remote deployment of new notebooks, immediate onboarding of new employees, policy set up and enforcement for all classes of devices, aggregated management reporting and analytics, email encryption, and tight integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based services. For information about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE remote device management consultants.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Expertise
To contact Progent about creating and maintaining a productive work-from-home environment for your Salt Lake City, Utah company, phone 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.