Enlarging your at-home workforce may have a major impact on IT architecture, cybersecurity, and company workflows. Progent has two decades of background assisting businesses of all sizes to plan, deploy, administer, tune, and troubleshoot IT networks that support at-home workers. Progent can help your Uniondale company to pick the right tools and adhere to best practices in creating and maintaining a secure virtual office ecosystem for telecommuters that promotes teamwork and delivers maximum business value. Progent offers services ranging from as-needed expertise for helping you past challenging technical bottlenecks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you successfully complete mission-critical initiatives.

Progent's consultants can assist Uniondale, New York companies to succeed with any facet of creating a high-performing remote work ecosystem by providing network infrastructure configuration services, IP voice expertise, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud integration, Help Desk services, security monitoring, data protection solutions, and streamlined management.

Network Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Setting up the network infrastructure needed for an at-home workforce can be particularly challenging if you must accommodate a mix of worker-owned hardware like desktop computers and laptops, routers, and wireless APs from different manufacturers and with a mix of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's experience delivering remote support for both legacy as well as modern IT products in remote office venues allows you to make efficient use of your available network infrastructure and provides you with fast access to top-tire consultants for making essential updates. Services offered by Progent to help your company to implement a productive telecommuting ecosystem include:

  • Virtual Private Network connectivity allows you to establish a safe tunnel for authorized remote employees to access IT assets situated at your corporate data center or in the cloud. Progent's consultants can help you to deploy and maintain VPN connections between your teleworkers and your key IT resources by providing remote VPN configuration support. For organizations with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA consultants can help your telecommuters to set up Cisco's popular AnyConnect software to provide secure VPN tunneling for a wide range of endpoint devices including Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) platforms enable an at-home worker to view and use a remote computer's desktop. This technology gives IT managers more control over the digital environment of at-home employees and offers remote users a familiar experience. Progent's virtual desktop services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI expertise.
  • Routers connect home networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, home wireless networks, and firewalls. Progent offers top-tier online consulting for integrating routers from a variety of vendors. See router integration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, typically shared by an entire household and guests, are frequently used by at-home employees to connect to their Internet router for work. This can create performance as well as security issues. Progent can assist businesses to resolve these issues by delivering expertise that include Cisco Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco Meraki WiFi deployment consulting, and Ubiquiti WiFi AP integration assistance.
  • Internet connectivity methods affect the performance and availability of connections between telecommuters and the corporate data center. Mission-critical applications may require backup Internet connections in case the normal connection breaks. Progent offers expertise for identifying Internet service providers, selecting sensible service offerings, and setting up fault-tolerant Internet connections. Refer to Internet connectivity integration services.

VoIP Integration for Telecommuters
Expanding the business PBX environment to accommodate teleworkers is critical to maintaining an effective work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-based digital PBX platforms are used by SMBs to support remote users. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's modern or legacy platforms for IP voice management. Progent can assist businesses of all sizes to design or maintain a telecommuter VoIP environment that delivers the flexibility, convenience and protection required for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts offer high-level support to help businesses optimize their current Cisco VoIP environments to handle a growing at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) extends high-end IP telephony capabilities to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media software deployed across the network. CUCM manages other combined media services like unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For more information about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM expertise, see CUCM expertise.
  • CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM. Progent can help you to support your current CallManager deployment or upgrade efficiently to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. To find out about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other legacy VoIP platforms, visit CallManager expertise.
  • Cisco IP Gateways provide connectivity with PSTN networks and with clients working outside the corporate firewall like at-home workers. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series as well as for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway integration consulting.
  • Other VoIP Platforms supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can assist you to expand your wide area network infrastructure to work with these solutions and provide as-needed configuration and debugging services.

Video Conferencing for an At-Home Workforce
A broad selection of video conferencing platforms from leading vendors enable online discussions, video conferencing, chat, and content sharing for both local workers and at-home workers. Many organizations use a mix of products to meet the needs of their different partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can assist you to manage your existing voice/video conferencing environment and enhance the engagement of your at-home workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications platform that enables presence, IM, audio and video calling and conferencing plus the transparent integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the skills of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help you to set up and maintain Skype for Business clients to accommodate your at-home workforce. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business consulting experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's group video phone app for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later versions of FaceTime support up to 32 concurrent users for voice/video calls. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Apple FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center provides online conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing discrete content or screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, session capture, plus editing and playback for future reference and training. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Cisco Webex as well as for other video conferencing solutions from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams provides a hub for conferencing, contacts, and content with capabilities that include video calling, persistent threaded chat, plus file sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 products, see 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 deliver configuration and debugging services for these conferencing platforms and help your business to optimize your WAN infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 families, offering a powerful environment of applications that deliver a consistent user interface for exchanging information across a corporate network and on a wide range of endpoint computers. Progent has provided remote consulting services for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their first releases and can assist your company to tune these flagship collaboration products to maximize the productivity of your at-home workers.

SharePoint Integration Consultants for Remote WorkersSharePoint utilizes web sites to enable collaboration and information delivery by providing policy-based access to content, business processes, and tools for searching through company-wide business data. SharePoint allows you to build protected web portals that enables at-home workers to view and edit consolidated corporate intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts. For information about Progent's SharePoint expertise, go to 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. To learn about Progent's Exchange consulting services, refer to planning and configuration consulting for Microsoft Exchange Server.

Microsoft Onedrive Deployment Experts for At-Home WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft's collaborative cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote workers can store files to OneDrive, and co-workers anywhere can share them safely via a web browser. Included with Office and Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables remote employees to jointly author documents. Edits made offline are automatically synced when you go back online. For information about Progent's support services for OneDrive, visit Microsoft Onedrive configuration consulting.

Public Cloud Integration for Teleworkers
Progent can provide fast and affordable remote assistance for helping organizations to build, manage and troubleshoot integrated hybrid network architectures that incorporate internal data centers, remote workers, branches, and cloud resources. Progent can provide expertise for all modes of cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. Progent can help at-home workers resolve problems with cloud access, authentication, and security.

Microsoft Azure Integration Services for At-Home WorkersAzure is a leading family of public cloud software and services that allows you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and critical apps hosted on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure offers more than one hundred cloud-based 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 assist you to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and design data backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also help you create protected connections to Azure services for teleworkers by configuring and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. To learn about Progent's support services for Microsoft Azure, go to Microsoft Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Integration for TelecommutersMicrosoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of client productivity applications and cloud-based services offered by subscription. Office apps and services are provided in a selection of bundles designed for users ranging from individuals and small offices to major enterprises. Progent can provide fast and easy remote contact with experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can help your business to evaluate the various subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your telecommuters in a way that delivers maximum business value. For details about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 integration services.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Integration for At-Home WorkersExchange Online is among the most widely used cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the benefits of reduced costs for physical infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and additional advantages associated with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to operate smoothly with local Exchange environments, enabling you to build hybrid information systems. Progent's Exchange consultants can provide occasional assistance to guide you past challenging technical roadblocks and also offer comprehensive project management services to make sure your telecommuters have convenient and safe access to your Exchange Online environment. For details Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Exchange Online integration and support expertise.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for At-Home WorkersAmazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud computing arena and is the world's top provider of cloud services. Progent can provide quick and economical online access to cloud connectivity consultants who can help your organization to plan, deploy, maintain, and debug hybrid information networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud services with local resources and with other public clouds such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help you to create a high-uptime network model to make sure your employees have a productive computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, from home, or on the road. To learn about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud Platform Integration Services for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud is a leading collection 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 help your organization to extend your existing IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database consultants can help you make your critical apps cloud ready so your teleworkers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can assist your business to set up VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design an efficient storage solution with GCP Storage services, and simplify access control for telecommuters with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also assist you to use GCP's management technology to administer and monitor your Google Cloud ecosystem. For information, visit Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration services.

Help Desk Call Center Support for At-Home Workers
A rapid, company-wide changeover to a telecommuter workforce, which might be activated by a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery/business continuity preparedness plan, can overstretch even a well-staffed in-house Support Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services allow businesses of any size to outsource or augment their Support Desk by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) services.

  • Progent's Standard Help Desk services leverage Progent's extensive network of online technical support experts along with enterprise-class ticketing and follow-up technology to provide an economical, modern Call Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer an end-to-end solution that handles all aspects of remote Level 1 desktop support from initial service requests to ticket generation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables from-home workers to check or revise the status of their active trouble tickets, add information, and upload screenshots or relevant files. Technical support services are delivered at a significant price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical service rates, and Progent offers optional rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to deal with advanced issues. For details, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small companies.
  • Progent's Help Desk Augmentation Service allows you to augment your current Help Desk Call Center organization by splitting delivery of Call Center support seamlessly between your regular support organization and Progent's extensive pool of PC support engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's co-managed Call Center service is based on a co-sourcing support model based on the leading professional services automation tool for handling service requests and trouble tickets, assigning responsibility, monitoring progress, and generating reports. For details about how Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Services can help your business to deliver best-in-class desktop support to your at-home employees, go to Progent's Call Desk supplementation Services.

Cybersecurity for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home workers commonly utilize their own computing devices and often work in an unsecured physical environment. This increases their vulnerability to malware threats and calls for judicious configuration of corporate firewalls, AV tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, thorough end-user training, and the development of security policies based on leading practices. Progent's veteran roster of cybersecurity support consultants can help you to design, configure and maintain an effective security solution that guards vital information resources in networks that incorporate at-home workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable you to create a network environment that can be safely accessed by on-premises users as well as by teleworkers, mobile employees, vendors, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall devices allow you to assign and control appropriate access rights to different classes of users and to scale your network and adjust your security as your company evolves and as network attacks grow more complex. Progent supports both new and legacy security appliances from all major vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. To find out more about Progent's firewall support services, visit firewall configuration and support expertise.

Remote Security Monitoring and Management Services for TeleworkersRemote Endpoint Monitoring makes it possible to track the various computers used by teleworkers and either block or spot and respond to modern cyber attacks like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight software agent is put on each protected endpoint, monitoring all activity and utilizing advanced machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to detect zero-day attacks at inception. When an attack is discovered, ProSight Active Security Monitoring immediately isolates the infected endpoint device from the corporate network to contain the threat. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is self-contained, endpoints stay protected even if they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, go to remote endpoint monitoring for remote workers.

Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for TeleworkersProgent's Duo authentication service plans incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to protect against compromised passwords by using two-factor authentication. Duo enables single-tap identity confirmation on Apple iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, when you log into a protected application and enter your password you are requested to confirm your identity via a unit that only you have and that uses a different network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be utilized as this second means of ID validation such as an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware token, a landline telephone, etc. You can register multiple verification devices. To learn more about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, see Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for telecommuters.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can assess the exposure of your information system to all classes of outside and internal security attacks for an environment that includes teleworkers. Progent can run online, automated cybersecurity analysis software for rapidly and affordably uncovering a broad range of security gaps that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's security audit consulting services, which can be provided by data security professionals with top credentials such as CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help you to evaluate your procedures and policies and assess your WAN infrastructure to enable you to design the highest level of security for your teleworkers.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network
To view or download a white paper describing key things to focus on for protecting a network that includes work-from-home staff, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for Teleworkers
The field of Data Protection covers backing up and restoring vital data in order to avoid data loss and reduce recovery time in the event of storage system problems resulting from hardware issues, software hiccups, operator mistakes, cyber attack, or any other reason. Reliable data protection strategies can be particularly challenging to architect and manage in hybrid networks that incorporate local data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

  • Backup/Restore solutions for telecommuters must cover multiple kinds of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent offers quick remote access to consultants knowledgeable about a broad array of products for protection Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktops as well as notebooks, iPads and smartphones. Popular backup/recovery solutions maintained by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect resources distributed throughout a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services, a managed backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud-based storage and includes granular restore and unified management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies often anticipate circumstances that call for a temporary switch to telecommuting. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness consultants and business continuity planning specialists can assist your company to create, document and test a DR/BC plan that includes the logistics of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud-based management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing local endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager features a centralized platform for protecting critical information by controlling on-premises, mobile, and at-home endpoints.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also features Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and securing mobile computers and applications. Remote endpoint computers can be personally owned or company owned. Network administrators managing the endpoint computers of teleworkers can use Intune to provision and authenticate applications on devices, push updates and certificates, configure policies for accessing information and networks, manage passwords, create VPN tunnels, control how home-based workers share data, establish threat protection, ensure compliance, and erase corporate information from missing, stolen or deactivated devices. Intune can be used with iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS endpoints. To learn about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can help you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the devices of your at-home workers, see Intune teleworker endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized Mobile Device Management (MDM) product that helps network managers to keep offsite endpoint devices current and secure. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint administration plus VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for access control, app management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or popular distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site product through a one-time purchase. Key capabilities of Workspace ONE include rapid remote deployment of out-of-the-box notebooks, quick onboarding of new users, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, unifies reporting and performance analytics, an email encryption gateway, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud products. To learn about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, go to VMware Workspace ONE remote device management expertise.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Expertise
To get in touch with Progent about building and maintaining a productive work-from-home solution for your Uniondale, New York business, call 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.