Expanding your telecommuter workforce may have a significant impact on network architecture, cybersecurity, and company culture. Progent has two decades of experience helping businesses of all sizes to plan, configure, manage, tune, and troubleshoot IT environments that incorporate at-home workers. Progent can assist your Pleasanton company to select the appropriate tools and follow leading practices in creating and maintaining a secure virtual solution for telecommuters that facilitates collaboration and returns top value. Progent can provide services that go from as-needed expertise for helping you over occasional technical bottlenecks to full project management or co-management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.

Progent can assist Pleasanton, California companies to with any aspect of building a high-functioning remote work ecosystem by delivering infrastructure configuration services, IP voice troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform customization and training, cloud connectivity, Call Desk outsourcing, security and compliance, data protection solutions, and streamlined management.

Infrastructure for Telecommuters
Setting up the physical and software infrastructure needed for a remote workforce can be particularly challenging if you have to manage a mix of worker-owned equipment like PCs and laptops, routers, and Wi-Fi APs from an assortment of manufacturers and with a mix of OS software and firmware levels. Progent's background providing online support for both legacy and current IT products in remote office solutions allows you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and offers ready access to expertise for making essential upgrades. Services available from Progent to help your company to create a productive work-at-home ecosystem include:

  • VPN technology allows you to create a safe connection for authorized at-home employees to access IT assets situated at your company datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent can help your company to deploy and manage VPN access between your at-home workforce and your key IT resources by providing online VPN integration consulting. For businesses using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA Firewall experts can help your at-home workers to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect software for secure VPN connections for a broad range of endpoint devices such as Microsoft Windows, Mac, Apple iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) products allow a teleworker to view and use a remote PC's desktop. This gives IT managers significant control over the computing ecosystem of telecommuters and ensures them a consistent and more productive work experience. Progent's virtual desktop consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI expertise.
  • Routers connect home networks to the Internet and typically support VPN connections, home wireless networks, and firewalls. Progent can provide expert remote support for setting up routers from a range of vendors. See router configuration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wireless networks, typically supporting families and guests, are commonly utilized by telecommuters to connect to their router for work. This can cause performance as well as security issues. Progent can assist businesses to mitigate these issues by delivering services like Cisco Aironet integration expertise, Cisco Meraki wireless deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access point integration help.
  • Internet access methods affect the performance and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the corporate data center. Vital applications might require redundant Internet access in case the primary connection breaks. Progent can provide expertise for identifying ISPs, choosing sensible bandwidth and data volume offerings, and setting up fault-tolerant Internet access. See Internet access integration services.

VoIP Integration for Teleworkers
Expanding the corporate phone system to accommodate teleworkers is critical to supporting a productive work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-centric VoIP products are used by small and mid-size businesses to server telecommuters. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's current or older platforms for VoIP management. Progent can help businesses of any size to plan or tune a remote IP voice service that provides the versatility, convenience and protection required for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants offer advanced support to assist organizations tune their current Cisco IP voice environments to handle a growing remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) extends high-end telephony capabilities to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media apps used across the network. CUCM supports other mixed media services such as messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For details about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM expertise, visit CUCM expertise.
  • CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been replaced by CUCM. Progent can help you to maintain your existing CallManager deployment or upgrade smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony solutions. To find out about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other legacy IP voice platforms, visit CallManager expertise.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with PSTN networks and with users operating outside the corporate perimeter like telecommuters. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products and for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway integration expertise.
  • Other VoIP Products supported by Progent include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your WAN infrastructure to support these solutions and deliver on-demand configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Video Conferencing for an At-Home Workforce
A broad selection of video conferencing platforms from leading technology companies support online discussions, video conferencing, chat sessions, and content sharing for both local users and telecommuters. Many organizations utilize a mix of products to meet the needs of their different partners and customers. Progent can assist your organization to manage your current conferencing environment and optimize the engagement of your remote employees.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications platform that enables real-time presence, instant messaging, voice and video conferencing plus the transparent integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist you to configure and maintain Skype for Business client software to accommodate your at-home workforce. For details about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business consulting services.
  • FaceTime is Apple's group video calling platform for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current editions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 concurrent users for video calls. For details about Progent's support expertise for FaceTime, visit Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for most desktop or mobile devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex capabilities include sharing specific content or screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based capture, plus editing and playback for training. For details about Progent's support services for Webex as well as 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 provides a portal for conferencing, contacts, and information with capabilities that include voice/video calling, threaded chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support expertise for Microsoft Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 apps, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Conferencing Apps supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide configuration and debugging services for these products and help your business to optimize your network infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for At-Home Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are closely integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office suites, providing a rich ecosystem of applications that deliver a cohesive user interface for sharing data and ideas across multiple sites and on a wide selection of endpoint devices. Progent has delivered remote consulting services for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their first releases and can help businesses to deploy these flagship collaboration products to maximize the productivity 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 Integration Experts for TelecommutersMicrosoft Teams works with Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can support chat, video meetings that include screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and app sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (formerly branded Azure Active Directory) for supporting its complete range of capabilities. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit planning and configuration expertise for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint Integration Experts for Remote WorkersSharePoint uses web entities to promote collaboration and knowledge delivery by providing policy-driven access to content, workflow, and utilities for looking through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint permits you to create protected web portals that allows remote workforce to view and update consolidated business intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social networking web sites, and Web Parts. To learn about Progent's SharePoint support services, see SharePoint configuration and development expertise.

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. For information about Progent's Exchange support services, go to planning and configuration consulting for Microsoft Exchange Server.

Onedrive Integration Experts for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud-based storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home users can store files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers can access them securely via a browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive allows remote workers to co-author documents. Revisions made offline are uploaded when you go back online. To find out about Progent's support services for OneDrive, go to Onedrive integration experts.

Cloud Integration for Teleworkers
Progent offers fast and affordable online support for helping businesses to build, maintain and troubleshoot cohesive network models that include internal data centers, remote workers, branches, and public cloud resources. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all modes of cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help at-home workers fix issues with cloud connectivity, authentication, and cybersecurity.

Microsoft Azure Integration Services for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft Azure is a popular platform for public cloud services that allows you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key apps running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure includes over 100 cloud-based services such as the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered VMs, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can help your organization to set up VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and plan backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also help you establish protected connections to Azure services for remote workers by setting up and debugging firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Azure, visit Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for TeleworkersMicrosoft 365, previously called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of business productivity applications and cloud services available by subscription. Office apps and services are marketed in a selection of bundles designed for users ranging from students and households to major corporations. Progent offers fast and affordable online access to consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible endpoints based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can assist you to evaluate the various subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and configure 365 applications for your at-home workers in a way that delivers maximum business value. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 consulting expertise.

Exchange Online Integration for TelecommutersExchange Online is among the most popular cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online provides the benefits of reduced costs for data center infrastructure, simplified management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and other benefits associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has designed Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate smoothly with on-premises deployments of Exchange, enabling customers to build hybrid information systems. Progent's certified Exchange consultants are available for as-needed assistance to guide you past tough IT roadblocks and can also provide end-to-end project management outsourcing to ensure your telecommuters have easy and safe access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. For details Progent's support services for Exchange Online, refer to Exchange Online integration and support consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for At-Home WorkersAmazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's top source of cloud services. Progent offers fast and economical online access to cloud connectivity consultants who can help your business to plan, implement, maintain, and debug hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud services with on-premises resources and with other popular cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help you to create a high-uptime network architecture so your employees have a productive computing environment whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, at home, or on the move. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, visit Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud Integration Services for Remote WorkersGoogle Cloud Platform (GCP) is a popular set of cloud computing services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help your organization to scale your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's database consultants can show you how to make your critical applications cloud ready so your remote workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud services. Progent's consultants can help your business to set up VMs on GCP Compute Engine, design an efficient storage system with Google Cloud Storage, and streamline identity control for telecommuters with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also assist your business to use GCP's unified management technology to administer and monitor your Google Cloud ecosystem. For information, go to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting services.

Help Desk Call Center Services for At-Home Workers
A rapid, company-wide transition to a teleworker business model, which could be motivated by a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery/business continuity plan, can overstretch even a well-staffed in-house Call Center. Progent's Help Desk services allow organizations of any size to outsource or augment their Call Center with Progent's remote Technical Response Center services.

  • Progent's Standard Support Desk services leverage Progent's nationwide network of remote IT support experts along with world-class ticketing and tracking technology to offer an economical, state-of-the-art Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide a comprehensive solution that handles all aspects of remote Level 1 PC support from help requests to ticket creation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows at-home employees to check or update the status of their active trouble tickets, add details, and append screen captures or attachments. Technical support services are delivered at a significant discount off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical service rates, and Progent makes available the option of fast escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to resolve complex issues. For more information, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size companies.
  • Progent's Call Center Augmentation Service allows you to augment your existing Support Desk staff by splitting responsibilities for Call Desk services seamlessly between your regular IT support personnel and Progent's nationwide roster of PC support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's co-managed Call Center service uses a collective support solution utilizing the leading PSA tool for managing service requests and trouble tickets, assigning responsibility, monitoring progress, and producing management reports. To find out how Progent's Help Desk Call Center Supplementation Services can enable your company to provide world-class desktop support to your telecommuters, visit Progent's Support Desk supplementation Services.

Security for Telecommuters
Work-from-Home (WFH) staff members typically utilize their own devices and usually operate in a poorly secured physical space. This multiplies their vulnerability to cyber attacks and calls for judicious deployment of firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, intensive user training, and the creation of policies based on leading practices. Progent's veteran team of cybersecurity solutions consultants can assist your business to plan, deploy and maintain an effective cybersecurity solution that guards critical information resources in networks that incorporate an at-home workforce.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls allow you to build a network that can be securely accessed by local users as well as by telecommuters, mobile workers, vendors, clients, and the public. Modern firewall devices permit you to configure and manage different access rights to different classes of users and to expand your network and modify your security profile as your business evolves and as cyber threats grow 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 details about Progent's firewall configuration services, refer to firewall support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring Services for TeleworkersRemote Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to watch over the disparate devices utilized by at-home workers and either reject or spot and respond to the latest threats such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a small-footprint software agent is installed on every protected endpoint, monitoring all activity and using state-of-the-art behavioral threat analysis from SentinelOne to detect zero-day threats at inception. When a cyberattack is spotted, ProSight Active Security Monitoring immediately disconnects the targeted endpoint from the network to contain the threat. Because the ProSight ASM software agent is autonomous, endpoint devices stay secure even if they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. To find out more about ProSight ASM, go to remote endpoint security monitoring for at-home workers.

Two-factor Authentication Services for At-Home WorkersProgent's Duo authentication Service Plans incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to defend against stolen passwords through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo enables one-tap identity verification with iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. With Duo 2FA, when you sign into a secured online account and give your password you are requested to verify who you are on a device that only you have and that is accessed using a separate network channel. A wide range of devices can be utilized 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 ProSight Duo two-factor identity validation services, visit Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for at-home workers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the exposure of your information system to all types of external and local security threats for an environment that incorporates remote workers. Progent can deploy remote, automated cybersecurity analysis software for quickly and economically uncovering a broad range of security holes that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's security assessment consulting services, which can be managed by network security experts with advanced credentials such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help your business to evaluate your workflows and governance policies and review your IT architecture to enable you to implement the highest level of security for your remote workers.

NodeZero Pentetration Testing for At-Home WorkersHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Penetration Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated threat assessment of your work-from-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can find, prioritize, remediate, and verify cybersecurity weaknesses before threat actors can exploit them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive penetration tests of your perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure so you can evaluate your current security posture. Progent's NodeZero experts can also assist you to strengthen your existing network security and can assist you to design and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that streamlines management and provides optimum protection for on-prem, cloud-based, at-home, and perimeter IT assets. To find out additional information about Progent's threat assessment solutions based on on NodeZero's penetration test products, refer to Consulting Support for NodeZero's Pentest Platform.

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

Data Protection Solutions for At-Home Workers
The field of 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 failures resulting from equipment breakdowns, programming glitches, human mistakes, malware, or other causes. Dependable data protection solutions can be especially difficult to design and maintain in hybrid networks that incorporate local data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Restore strategies for at-home workers must cover multiple types of user-owned endpoints. Progent can provide quick remote access to experts familiar with a wide range of platforms for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktops as well as notebooks, tablets and smartphones. Popular backup/recovery solutions supported by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To back up resources spread throughout a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud storage and features granular recovery and unified management capabilities.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plans commonly envision circumstances that require a quick switch to a work-at-home environment. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity planning specialists can help your business to develop, document and validate a DR/BC plan that addresses the process of moving to telecommuting.

Unified Management for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management platforms under the title Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud-based management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager offers a unified environment for safeguarding critical information by controlling onsite, 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. Remote endpoint devices can be user owned or company owned. IT admins managing the endpoint devices of at-home workers can use Intune to provision and validate apps on devices, push patches and certificates, configure policies for accessing data and resources, set passwords, create VPN connections, determine how home-based workers share information, set up threat protection, ensure compliance, and delete corporate data from lost, stolen or decommissioned devices. Intune can be used with Apple iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS devices. For details about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can help you to use this platform to manage the endpoint devices of your at-home workers, go to Intune remote endpoint management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified MDM platform that helps network managers to keep remote endpoint devices up to date and secure. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint management combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for identity control, app management, and setup management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google 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 through a one-time purchase. Key capabilities of Workspace ONE include rapid remote deployment of out-of-the-box laptops, immediate onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of devices, aggregated reporting and performance analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based products. To learn about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, visit VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To contact Progent about building and maintaining a productive work-from-home solution for your Pleasanton, California organization, call 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.