Expanding your telecommuter workforce can have a significant impact on network architecture, security, and corporate culture. Progent has two decades of experience assisting businesses of all sizes to plan, deploy, administer, tune, and troubleshoot IT environments that support work-from-home employees. Progent can assist your Yonkers organization to pick the right technologies and follow leading practices in creating and maintaining a safe virtual office ecosystem for telecommuters that facilitates teamwork and delivers maximum business value. Progent offers services ranging from as-needed expertise for getting you over challenging IT roadblocks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you successfully complete mission-critical initiatives.

Progent can help Yonkers, New York companies to succeed with any aspect of building a high-functioning remote work ecosystem by delivering network infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud connectivity, Help Desk services, security and compliance, data protection solutions, and streamlined management.

Infrastructure for a Remote Workforce
Configuring the network infrastructure needed for a remote workforce can be especially complex if you have to manage a combination of worker-owned hardware like desktop computers and laptops, routers, and wireless appliances from an assortment of manufacturers and with a variety of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's experience providing remote help for both legacy and current technologies in remote office venues enables you to make cost-effective use of your available network infrastructure and provides you with fast access to expertise for making essential upgrades. Support services available from Progent to assist you to create a productive telecommuting ecosystem include:

  • VPN connectivity makes it possible to establish a safe tunnel for authorized at-home employees to access IT resources located at your corporate datacenter or in the cloud. Progent can assist you to configure and manage VPN access between your teleworkers and your various network resources by providing online VPN integration support. For businesses using Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA experts can help your at-home workers to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software for secure VPN connections for a broad selection of endpoint devices such as Microsoft Windows, Mac, Apple iOS, Linux, and Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products enable an at-home worker to view and interact with a data center computer's desktop. This technology gives IT managers significant control over the computing ecosystem of telecommuters and ensures them a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI consulting.
  • Routers attach at-home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, local Wi-Fi networks, and firewall services. Progent can provide expert online consulting for deploying routers from a variety of manufacturers. See router integration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wireless networks, typically shared by an entire household and guests, are commonly utilized by telecommuters to access their router for work. This can cause throughput as well as security issues. Progent can assist you to resolve these problems by delivering services that include Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco Meraki wireless installation consulting, and Ubiquiti wireless AP integration assistance.
  • Internet connectivity methods impact the performance and availability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate network. Vital applications may require backup Internet access in the event the normal connection breaks. Progent offers expertise for picking ISPs, picking appropriate service offerings, and integrating fault-tolerant Internet connections. See Internet access integration services.

IP Voice Solutions for an At-Home Workforce
Expanding the company phone environment to include remote users is vital to supporting an effective at-home workforce. A variety of cloud-based digital PBX products are popular with SMBs to server teleworkers. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's current or legacy platforms for VoIP management. Progent can help organizations of all sizes to design or tune a remote VoIP service that delivers the flexibility, transparency and protection required for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants offer high-level support to assist organizations tune their current Cisco IP voice environments to handle a growing at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) extends advanced IP telephony features to devices like IP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media software deployed across the network. Unified Communications Manager supports additional mixed media services such as messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer collaboration networks. For more information about Progent's Unified Communications Manager support, see Cisco Unified Communications Manager expertise.
  • CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM. Progent's consultants can assist your company to maintain your existing CallManager environment or upgrade smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. To find out about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other older VoIP products, see CallManager consulting.
  • Cisco IP Gateways provide integration with PSTN networks and with users working beyond the corporate perimeter like at-home workers. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 product lines as well as for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway integration expertise.
  • Other VoIP Products supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to enhance your WAN architecture to support these solutions and provide online deployment and debugging services.

Video Conferencing for an At-Home Workforce
A broad selection of voice/video conferencing platforms from major technology companies support virtual discussions, video conferencing, chat, and content sharing for both local workers and telecommuters. Many organizations use multiple conferencing products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent can help your organization to maintain your existing conferencing ecosystem and optimize the engagement of your at-home workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications product that enables presence, instant messaging, voice and video conferencing plus the seamless integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the skills of Microsoft-certified specialists who can help your company to deploy and maintain Skype for Business clients to support your remote employees. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business consulting experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone platform for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime works over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Newer versions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 concurrent users for video sessions. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Apple FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center provides online conferencing for most desktop or mobile devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex services include sharing granular content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based recording, plus revision and playback for training. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Webex as well as for other IP video products from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a portal for conversations, contacts, and content with features that include video calling, threaded chat, plus data sharing. For details about Progent's support expertise for Microsoft Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 products, see Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver integration and debugging services for these conferencing platforms and assist you to tune your WAN infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Software for Remote and Hybrid Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 suites, offering a powerful environment of productivity apps that deliver a consistent user interface for sharing data and ideas across a corporate network and on a broad selection of endpoint devices. Progent has delivered online consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange since their first publication and can assist businesses to deploy these flagship collaboration products to maximize the productivity of your remote 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 replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can enable chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and application sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (previously branded Azure Active Directory) for supporting its complete range of features. For details about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit planning and configuration expertise for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint Deployment Consultants for Remote WorkersSharePoint utilizes web entities to facilitate collaboration and information sharing by offering policy-based delivery of content, workflow, and tools for searching through company-wide information silos. SharePoint permits you to build protected web portals that permits remote workforce to see and update aggregated corporate intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts. For information about Progent's SharePoint expertise, 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. To find out about Progent's Exchange expertise, see deployment consulting services for Exchange Server.

Microsoft Onedrive Integration Consultants for At-Home WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home users can save files to OneDrive, and co-workers anywhere can access them securely through a web browser. Provided with Office 365, OneDrive enables home employees to co-author documents. Edits made offline are synced when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for OneDrive, go to Onedrive integration consulting.

Cloud Integration for At-Home Workers
Progent offers affordable online support for helping businesses to create, maintain and troubleshoot cohesive network architectures that incorporate internal data centers, telecommuters, branch offices, and public cloud resources. Progent can provide top-tier consultant for all types of public cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help teleworkers fix problems with public cloud connectivity, authentication, and security.

Microsoft Azure Integration for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft Azure is a leading family of cloud software and services that enables you to utilize IT infrastructure, servers, and critical applications running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure includes more than one hundred services services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered VMs, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can help your organization to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure Active Directory, and plan data backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to create secure connections to Azure for telecommuters by configuring and debugging firewall appliances and VPN tunnels. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Azure, refer to Microsoft Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for TelecommutersMicrosoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of business productivity software and cloud-based services offered by subscription. Microsoft apps and services are marketed in a variety of plans intended for users ranging from individuals and households to major corporations. Progent offers quick and affordable remote access to experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can assist you to evaluate the numerous subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your teleworkers to achieve maximum business value. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365, refer to Microsoft 365 integration support.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Integration Services for Remote WorkersExchange Online is one of the most popular applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online provides the benefits of lower costs for physical infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high availability, and other advantages associated with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to operate transparently with on-premises Exchange environments, enabling customers to build hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's Exchange experts are available for as-needed help to guide you through challenging technical bottlenecks and also offer comprehensive project management services to ensure your teleworkers have easy and safe access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. To find out Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, visit Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and support consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for TeleworkersAmazon AWS is a trailblazer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's biggest provider of cloud-based services. Progent can provide fast and affordable online access to cloud integration experts who can help your business to plan, implement, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local resources and with other public clouds such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to assist your company to create a high-availability network architecture to make sure your employees have a consistent computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, at home, or on the move. For information about Progent's support services for Amazon AWS, see Amazon AWS integration services.

Google Cloud Integration for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud Platform (GCP) is a popular set of public cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist your business to scale your existing IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA consultants can show you how to make your critical apps cloud friendly so your teleworkers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can assist your business to deploy virtual machines on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage system with GCP Storage services, and streamline identity management for teleworkers with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent's experts can also assist your business to utilize GCP's unified management technology to administer and monitor your GCP environment. For details, go to Google Cloud Platform consulting support.

Help Desk Services for At-Home Workers
An emergency, organization-wide transition to a teleworker workforce, which could be the result of an epidemic or as an element of a disaster recovery plan, can overstretch even a high-performing internal Call Desk. Progent's Call Center services allow organizations of any size to outsource or expand their Call Center with Progent's remote Technical Response Center services.

  • Progent's Standard Help Desk support services utilize Progent's nationwide team of online IT support specialists along with world-class trouble ticketing and tracking technology to offer an affordable, modern Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that handles all aspects of online Level 1 PC technical support from initial service requests to ticket creation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal enables telecommuters to check or revise the status of their current tickets, add details, and append screen captures and attachments. Desktop support services are provided at a substantial price reduction off Progent's normal Level 1 technical service charges, and Progent makes available optional fast hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to deal with complex issues. For more information, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small companies.
  • Progent's Help Desk Augmentation Service enables you to augment your existing Call Center staff by sharing delivery of Support Desk support services seamlessly between your in-house support staff and Progent's extensive team of desktop support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's co-managed Call Desk service uses a collaborative support solution based on the leading PSA tool for handling help requests and ticketing, assigning ownership, tracking progress, and producing reports. To learn how Progent's Call Center Supplementation Services can help your business to provide best-in-class technical support to your at-home workforce, see Progent's Support Desk augmentation Services.

Security for At-Home Workers
Work-from-Home workers commonly use their own computers and usually operate in an unsecured physical environment. This situation multiplies their susceptibility to malware threats and calls for careful deployment of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, extensive end-user training, and the development of policies built on leading practices. Progent's veteran team of data security support consultants can help you to design, deploy and manage an effective security solution that guards vital IT assets in environments that incorporate an at-home workforce.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls allow companies to create a network environment that can be securely accessed by local users as well as by telecommuters, mobile employees, vendors, clients, and the public. Next-generation firewall devices permit you to configure and manage appropriate access rights to various groups of users and to scale your IT network and adjust your cybersecurity posture as your company evolves and as cyber threats become more complex. Progent works with both new and older firewall appliances from all major vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. To find out more about Progent's firewall integration expertise, visit firewall configuration and support services.

Remote Security Monitoring and Management for TeleworkersRemote Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it easy to track the disparate devices used by teleworkers and either reject or identify and mitigate the latest threats such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight agent is put on every secured endpoint device, watching all activity and using state-of-the-art AI technology from SentinelOne to identify new attacks on arrival. When a cyberattack is spotted, ProSight Active Security Monitoring instantly isolates the impacted endpoint device from the network to quarantine the malware. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is self-contained, endpoint devices stay protected even when they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. For details about ProSight ASM, see remote endpoint security monitoring for remote workers.

Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for TelecommutersProgent's Duo MFA Managed Services incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to protect against compromised passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables one-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Android, and other personal devices. With 2FA, whenever you sign into a secured online account and give your password you are asked to verify your identity on a unit that only you possess and that is accessed using a different network channel. A broad selection of devices can be used for this added form of authentication such as a smartphone or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You may register several validation devices. To learn more about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for at-home workers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your network to all types of external and internal security threats for an environment that includes teleworkers. Progent can deploy online, automated security analysis software for rapidly and economically uncovering a wide variety of security gaps that can be found over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment experts, which can be managed by security experts with advanced credentials such as CISA, CISSP, and GIAC, can help you to audit your procedures and governance policies and assess your network architecture to enable you to design the highest level of security for your at-home workers.

NodeZero Pentetration 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 threat assessment of your at-home environment and your internal and perimeter networks to help you find, rank, remediate, and verify cybersecurity weaknesses before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent can assist you to deploy NodeZero to carry out comprehensive pentests of your perimeter and your internal network in order to determine your current security profile. Progent's NodeZero experts can also help you to strengthen your network security and can assist you to design and implement a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and delivers maximum cyber defense for on-premises, multi-cloud, at-home, and perimeter IT resources. To find out more information about Progent's vulnerability assessment services based on on NodeZero's penetration test platform, refer to Consulting Services for NodeZero's Pentest Platform.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To read or download a white paper about critical areas to concentrate on for securing a network that supports telecommuters, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for Remote Workers
The field of Data Protection involves saving and restoring vital information so as to prevent data loss and minimize recovery time and effort in the event of storage system failures resulting from hardware issues, software glitches, operator error, cyber attack, or any other reason. Reliable data protection solutions can be particularly challenging to design and manage in hybrid environments that combine private data centers, cloud resources, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Restore solutions for remote workers must cover diverse types of user-owned endpoints. Progent can provide quick online help from experts familiar with a broad range of platforms for backing up 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 data protection experts include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up data spread across a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery service that utilizes cloud-based storage and features granular recovery and centralized management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) strategies commonly anticipate circumstances that call for a rapid changeover to a work-at-home environment. Progent's expert disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity specialists can help you to produce, document and test a DR/BC plan that addresses the process of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Telecommuters
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing onsite computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager features a unified solution for protecting critical information by controlling onsite, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting off-premises devices and software. Managed endpoint computers can be personally owned or business owned. Network administrators managing the endpoint devices of telecommuters can use Intune to provision and authenticate apps on devices, push patches and certificates, configure policies for accessing information and networks, manage passwords, establish VPN connections, control how home-based workers share information, establish threat defense, verify compliance, and delete corporate data from missing, stolen or deactivated devices. Intune can be used with Apple iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X endpoints. To find out about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can help you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the endpoint devices of your at-home workforce, see Intune telecommuter endpoint management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified Mobile Device Management platform that allows network administrators to keep off-premises endpoint devices current and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint management plus VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for access control, app management, and configuration management of endpoints. Workspace ONE operates with devices based on Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or popular distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises product via a perpetual license. Key capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air provisioning of new laptops, quick onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all classes of devices, unifies reporting and analytics, email encryption, and tight integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based services. For details about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE mobile endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Expertise
To get in touch with Progent about creating and managing an efficient work-from-home solution for your Yonkers, New York company, call 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.