Expanding your telecommuter workforce may have a major impact on network architecture, cybersecurity, and corporate workflows. Progent has 20 years of experience helping small and mid-size businesses to plan, deploy, administer, optimize, and debug IT networks that incorporate a remote workforce. Progent can help your San Rafael organization to select the appropriate technologies and adhere to leading practices in creating and operating a secure virtual office solution for telecommuters that promotes teamwork and returns maximum value. Progent offers services ranging from as-needed guidance for helping you past challenging technical bottlenecks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you carry out mission-critical tasks.

Progent can help San Rafael, California organizations to with any facet of creating a high-performing remote work environment by providing infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud connectivity, Call Desk outsourcing, security monitoring, data protection solutions, and unified management.

Network Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Integrating the physical and software infrastructure required to support a remote workforce can be particularly complex if you must accommodate a mix of personal hardware like desktop computers and laptops, Internet routers, and wireless APs from different manufacturers and with a variety of OS software and firmware levels. Progent's background providing remote help for both outdated as well as modern technologies in virtual office venues enables you to make efficient use of your available infrastructure and provides you with fast access to expertise for making essential updates. Support services offered by Progent to assist you to implement a high-functioning work-at-home infrastructure include:

  • Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology allows you to create a safe connection for authorized remote workers to access IT assets situated at your corporate data center or in the cloud. Progent's consultants can assist you to configure and manage VPN connections between your teleworkers and your various IT resources by providing remote VPN integration consulting. For businesses with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA consultants can help your at-home workers to utilize Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software for secure VPN tunneling for a broad range of endpoint devices including Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products enable a telecommuter to see and use a remote computer's desktop. This provides IT managers more control over the computing ecosystem of at-home employees and ensures them a familiar work experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
  • Routers connect home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, home wireless networks, and firewall services. Progent can provide expert online support for integrating home routers from a variety of manufacturers. See router integration services from Cisco-certified experts.
  • Home Wireless networks, often shared by an entire household and visitors, are frequently used by telecommuters to connect to their Internet router for work. This can create throughput and security issues. Progent can help businesses to resolve these problems by delivering services like Aironet integration consulting, Cisco Meraki WiFi deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti wireless AP setup assistance.
  • Internet connectivity solutions impact the speed and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the company data center. Business-critical processes may demand backup Internet access in the event the normal connection breaks. Progent can provide expertise for identifying ISPs, choosing sensible bandwidth and data volume packages, and configuring high-availability Internet connections. Refer to Internet access integration services.

VoIP Solutions for an At-Home Workforce
Extending the company PBX environment to include remote users is vital to maintaining a productive work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-centric digital PBX platforms are popular with small and mid-size businesses to support teleworkers. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's current or legacy products for VoIP management. Progent can assist organizations of all sizes to plan or maintain a remote VoIP environment that provides the versatility, transparency and security required for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants offer advanced support to help organizations optimize their existing Cisco IP voice systems to support a growing remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) extends advanced telephony capabilities to devices like VoIP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media apps used throughout the network. CUCM supports other mixed media services like messaging, video conferencing, and customer collaboration networks. For more information about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, see Cisco Unified CM expertise.
  • CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing agent and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent's consultants can assist your company to support your current CallManager deployment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. For details about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other legacy IP voice products, see CallManager consulting services.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with public telephony networks and with users operating outside the corporate perimeter like telecommuters. Progent can provide consulting expertise for Cisco's legacy IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products as well as for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway configuration expertise.
  • Other VoIP Platforms supported by Progent include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can assist you to update your wide area network infrastructure to support these VoIP solutions and provide as-needed configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Video Conferencing for Teleworkers
A wide selection of voice/video conferencing platforms from major technology companies enable virtual discussions, video conferencing, chat, and screen/content sharing for both onsite users and telecommuters. Many companies utilize a mix of products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can assist you to manage your current voice/video conferencing ecosystem and enhance the experience of your at-home employees.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications product that enables presence, instant messaging, voice and video conferencing plus the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can help your company to set up and manage Skype for Business client software to support your at-home employees. To learn more about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business consulting services.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video calling platform for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac devices. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later editions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 concurrent users for voice/video calls. For details about Progent's support services for FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing discrete content or screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, session capture, plus editing and playback for future reference. For details about Progent's consulting services for Webex and for other IP video solutions from Cisco, refer to Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams provides a hub for conversations, contacts, and information with features that include voice/video conferencing, persistent chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Teams as well as for other Microsoft 365 products, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Other Voice/Video Conferencing Apps supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide integration and debugging expertise for these conferencing platforms and assist you to optimize your WAN infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for Remote and Hybrid Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office suites, offering a powerful ecosystem of applications that deliver a consistent user experience for sharing information across a corporate network and on a broad selection of endpoints. Progent has provided online consulting services for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their first releases and can help businesses to configure these flagship collaboration products to maximize the effectiveness 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 Consultants for TelecommutersMicrosoft Teams works with Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration and communication. Developed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can enable chat, audio/video meetings with screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and application sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (previously called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its complete range of features. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams, see solution design and deployment consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint Server Deployment Consultants for Remote WorkersSharePoint uses web sites to enable collaboration and knowledge delivery by offering policy-based delivery of data, workflow, and utilities for looking through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint allows you to build protected web portals that permits at-home workers to see and edit aggregated corporate intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social networking web sites, and Web Parts. To find out about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, see SharePoint integration and development consulting.

Exchange Deployment 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. For information about Progent's Exchange support services, see deployment consulting services for Microsoft Exchange.

Microsoft Onedrive Deployment Experts for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote users can save files to OneDrive, and colleagues anywhere can share them securely via a web browser. Provided with Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables at-home workers to co-edit files. Edits created offline are automatically synced when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, go to Microsoft Onedrive integration experts.

Cloud Integration Services for At-Home Workers
Progent offers affordable remote assistance for helping businesses to create, maintain and troubleshoot integrated network architectures that incorporate physical data centers, at-home workers, branch offices, plus cloud services. Progent can provide expertise for all types of public cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help remote workers resolve issues with public cloud connectivity, authentication, and security.

Azure Integration Services for TeleworkersMicrosoft Azure is a leading platform for cloud software and services that enables you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key apps running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure offers more than one hundred services services including hosting for Windows and Linux-based VMs, on-demand cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can assist your organization to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity management with Azure AD, and plan data backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also help you create secure access to Azure services for remote workers by configuring and debugging firewalls and VPN IPsec tunnels. For details about Progent's expertise for Azure, see Microsoft Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft 365, previously called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of client productivity applications and cloud services offered by subscription. Office apps and services are marketed in a variety of bundles designed for customers ranging from individuals and households to large corporations. Progent can provide quick and easy remote access to experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible clients based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can assist your business to evaluate the numerous subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your remote workers in a way that delivers top business value. To learn about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft 365 consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Integration Services for TeleworkersExchange Online is one of the most widely used applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the advantages of lower costs for physical infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and additional advantages associated with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to operate transparently with local deployments of Exchange, enabling customers to build hybrid networks. Progent's certified Exchange experts can provide occasional assistance to get you past tough IT bottlenecks and can also provide comprehensive project management services to ensure your teleworkers have convenient and safe access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online environment. To find out Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online configuration and support expertise.

Amazon AWS Integration for At-Home WorkersAmazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud computing arena and is the world's biggest provider of cloud services. Progent offers rapid and affordable online contact with cloud connectivity consultants who can help your business to plan, deploy, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud services with local resources and with other public clouds like Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to help your company to build a high-uptime network model to make sure your users have a productive computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, from home, or on the road. To find out about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, see Amazon AWS integration support.

Google Cloud Integration Services for Remote WorkersGoogle Cloud Platform (GCP) is a leading collection of cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can assist your business to scale your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA consultants can help you make your mission-critical applications cloud friendly so your telecommuters can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent's consultants can assist you to set up VMs on GCP Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage system with GCP Storage, and simplify access management for teleworkers with Google Cloud Identity. Progent can also assist you to use GCP's management technology to control and monitor your Google Cloud environment. For details, visit Google Cloud Platform integration services.

Help Desk Services for Telecommuters
A rapid, organization-wide changeover to a teleworker business model, which could be motivated by a pandemic or as an element of a disaster recovery preparedness plan, can overwhelm even a high-performing internal Call Center. Progent's Call Center services allow organizations of any size to outsource or expand their Support Desk with Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

  • Progent's Standard Help Desk Call Center services utilize Progent's nationwide network of online technical support experts combined with enterprise-class ticketing and tracking software to offer an affordable, modern Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer a comprehensive solution that handles all facets of remote Level 1 PC support from service requests to ticket creation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal enables teleworkers to monitor or edit the status of their current tickets, enter details, and append screenshots and attachments. Support services are provided at a significant price reduction off Progent's normal Level 1 technical service rates, and Progent offers the option of rapid escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to resolve advanced problems. To find out more, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size businesses.
  • Progent's Help Desk Call Center Supplemental Service allows your company to supplement your existing Help Desk team by sharing responsibilities for Help Desk support transparently between your in-house IT support personnel and Progent's nationwide pool of PC support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's shared Call Desk service uses a co-sourcing support solution based on the number one professional services automation (PSA) platform for managing help requests and trouble tickets, establishing ownership, tracking progress, and producing management reports. To find out how Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Services can help your company to provide best-in-class IT support to your teleworkers, go to Progent's Help Desk supplementation Services.

Cybersecurity for Telecommuters
Work-from-Home (WFH) employees commonly use their own computers and often work in an unsecured physical space. This situation multiplies their susceptibility to malware attacks and requires careful deployment of corporate firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, extensive user education, and the development of security policies based on best practices. Progent's veteran team of data security support experts can assist your business to plan, deploy and maintain a compliant security solution that protects vital IT resources in environments that incorporate remote workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable you to create a network environment that can be securely utilized by on-premises users and by teleworkers, mobile employees, suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders. Modern firewall appliances permit you to configure and manage appropriate permissions to different groups of users and to expand your IT network and adjust your security profile as your company evolves and as network attacks become increasingly complex. Progent works with both current and older security devices from all leading manufacturers including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall configuration services, go to firewall support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring and Management for At-Home WorkersRemote Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the disparate computers used by remote workers and either reject or identify and mitigate the latest cyber attacks such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight agent is installed on every protected endpoint device, watching all activity and using state-of-the-art AI technology from SentinelOne to identify zero-day threats at inception. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM immediately isolates the infected endpoint device from the corporate network to quarantine the malware. Because the ProSight ASM software agent is autonomous, endpoint devices remain secure even when they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, refer to remote endpoint security monitoring for teleworkers.

Two-factor Authentication Services for TelecommutersProgent's Duo authentication Services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports one-tap identity verification with iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, when you log into a secured online account and enter your password you are asked to verify who you are on a device that only you have and that uses a separate network channel. A broad range of devices can be utilized for this added form of ID validation such as a smartphone or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You can register multiple verification devices. For details about ProSight Duo two-factor identity validation services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for remote workers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can assess the exposure of your information system to all classes of external and local security threats for an environment that incorporates an at-home workforce. Progent can run remote, automated security inventory software for quickly and economically uncovering a wide variety of security gaps that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's security assessment consulting services, which can be managed by security professionals with advanced certifications such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help your company to audit your procedures and policies and assess your IT architecture to allow you to design the highest level of security for your teleworkers.

NodeZero Pentetration Testing for Work-from-Home EnpointsHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Penetration Testing Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver autonomous threat assessment of your work-from-home connectivity solution and your internal and perimeter networks to help you expose, prioritize, remediate, and verify security weaknesses before threat actors can exploit them. Progent can assist you to use NodeZero to carry out comprehensive penetration tests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to evaluate your present security profile. Progent's NodeZero experts can also help you to harden your network security and can assist you to design and implement a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that streamlines management and delivers maximum cyber defense for on-premises, cloud-based, at-home, and perimeter IT resources. To learn additional details about Progent's vulnerability assessment solutions based on on NodeZero's penetration test platform, visit Consulting Services for NodeZero's Pentest Products.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To view or download a white paper about key things to concentrate on for protecting an IT environment that incorporates work-from-home staff, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for Teleworkers
The field of Data Protection covers backing up and recovering vital data so as to avoid data loss and minimize recovery time in case of storage system problems resulting from equipment breakdowns, software hiccups, operator mistakes, cyber attack, or other causes. Reliable data protection strategies can be especially difficult to architect and manage in hybrid networks that combine in-house data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Restore solutions for teleworkers must address multiple kinds of user-owned endpoints. Progent can provide quick online access to experts familiar with a broad range of platforms for protection Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktops as well as laptops, iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. Leading backup/restore solutions maintained by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To protect data distributed throughout a wide area network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery service that utilizes cloud-based storage and features fine-grained restore and unified management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) strategies commonly anticipate scenarios that require a temporary changeover to an at-home workforce. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity specialists can help your company to create, document and test a DR/BC strategy that addresses the logistics of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Telecommuters
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management platforms under the name Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a unified solution for protecting critical information by controlling on-premises, mobile, and home-based endpoints.

Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also features Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and protecting mobile computers and applications. Managed endpoint devices can be personally owned or company owned. IT administrators managing the endpoint devices of teleworkers can utilize Intune to provision and validate applications on devices, push updates and certificates, configure policies for permission to access data and resources, manage passwords, establish VPN connections, determine how home-based workers share data, set up threat protection, verify security compliance, and erase corporate information from lost, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Intune can be used with iOS/iPadOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X computers. To find out about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can help you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the endpoint devices of your at-home workers, visit Intune teleworker endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized Mobile Device Management (MDM) product that allows network administrators to keep offsite endpoint devices current and secure. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint administration along with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery technology for authorization control, application management, and configuration management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE runs with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises product through a one-time purchase. Key features of Workspace ONE include rapid remote provisioning of out-of-the-box notebooks, immediate onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all classes of endpoints, aggregated management reporting and analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft apps and cloud products. For information about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE mobile endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about creating and maintaining a productive telecommuter solution for your San Rafael, California company, call 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.