Enlarging your remote workforce can have a major impact on IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and corporate culture. Progent has 20 years of experience helping small and mid-size businesses to plan, deploy, administer, optimize, and troubleshoot IT environments that support work-from-home employees. Progent can assist your Chattanooga organization to select the right technologies and follow leading practices in creating and maintaining a secure virtual ecosystem for teleworkers that promotes teamwork and delivers maximum value. Progent offers support services that go from as-needed expertise for helping you past challenging technical bottlenecks to full project management or co-management to help you successfully complete mission-critical tasks.

Progent can assist Chattanooga, Tennessee businesses to with any facet of creating a high-performing remote work ecosystem by delivering network infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX expertise, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud integration, Call Desk outsourcing, cybersecurity, data protection solutions, and centralized management.

Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Configuring the network infrastructure required for an at-home work environment can be particularly challenging if you must manage a combination of worker-owned hardware such as desktop computers and laptops, Internet routers, and wireless appliances from different vendors and with a variety of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's experience providing remote support for both outdated as well as modern technologies in remote office venues allows you to make efficient use of your available infrastructure and provides you with ready access to expertise for implement necessary updates. Services offered by Progent to help you to implement a productive telecommuting infrastructure include:

  • Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology makes it possible to create a safe connection for authorized remote employees to access IT assets located at your corporate data center or in the cloud. Progent's consultants can assist you to configure and manage VPN access between your at-home workforce and your various network resources by providing online VPN configuration consulting. For businesses with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall consultants can assist your telecommuters to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect software to provide secure VPN tunneling for a broad range of endpoint devices including Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, and Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products allow an at-home worker to see and interact with a data center PC's desktop. This provides network managers substantial control over the digital environment of telecommuters and offers remote users a familiar work experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
  • Routers attach home networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, local Wi-Fi connectivity, and firewalls. Progent can provide expert online support for integrating home routers from a variety of vendors. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wireless networks, often supporting an entire household and guests, are frequently utilized by telecommuters to connect to their Internet router for work. This can cause throughput and security problems. Progent can help businesses to resolve these issues by delivering expertise like Cisco Aironet integration consulting, Cisco Meraki wireless deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti WiFi AP integration assistance.
  • Internet access solutions impact the performance and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate network. Line-of-business applications might require redundant Internet access in the event the normal connection fails. Progent offers guidance for selecting Internet service providers, selecting sensible service bundles, and integrating fault-tolerant Internet connections. See Internet connectivity solutions.

IP Voice Integration for an At-Home Workforce
Expanding the business phone system to accommodate teleworkers is vital to supporting a productive work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-centric IP voice products are popular with SMBs to server teleworkers. Many larger organizations rely on Cisco's current or legacy platforms for VoIP solutions. Progent can help businesses of any size to plan or maintain a telecommuter VoIP service that delivers the versatility, transparency and protection required for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts offer high-level support to help organizations tune their existing Cisco VoIP systems to handle an expanding remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) extends high-end IP telephony features to devices like IP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media applications deployed throughout the network. CUCM supports other mixed media services such as messaging, video conferencing, and customer interaction networks. For details about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM expertise, see CUCM expertise.
  • Cisco CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent can assist you to support your existing CallManager deployment or upgrade efficiently to Cisco's current IP telephony products. For details about Progent's support services for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other early IP voice platforms, see Cisco CallManager consulting services.
  • Cisco IP Gateways provide integration with public telephony networks and with clients working outside the corporate perimeter such as at-home workers. Progent offers consulting expertise for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 product lines as well as for current Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration consulting.
  • Other VoIP Platforms supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to update your wide area network infrastructure to support these VoIP solutions and deliver as-needed configuration and troubleshooting services.

Video Conferencing for At-Home Workers
A broad selection of voice/video conferencing products from major vendors support online meetings, video conferencing, chat, and content sharing for both onsite workers and at-home workers. Many companies utilize multiple conferencing products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent can help your organization to maintain your current conferencing environment and optimize the experience of your remote workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications product that supports real-time presence, instant messaging, audio and video conferencing plus the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can help your company to set up and maintain Skype for Business clients to support your remote employees. For details about Progent's support expertise for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business integration services.
  • FaceTime is Apple's group video calling app for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime runs over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current editions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 simultaneous users for voice/video calls. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Apple FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center provides online conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing granular content or screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, session capture, plus revision and playback for future reference. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Webex and for additional video conferencing products from Cisco, refer to 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 information with features that include voice/video calling, persistent chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 apps, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Voice/Video Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide integration and troubleshooting expertise for these products and assist your business to optimize your network infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for Teleworkers
Microsoft's collaboration products are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 suites, providing a powerful ecosystem of applications that create a consistent user experience for exchanging information across multiple sites and on a wide range of endpoint computers. Progent has delivered online consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their original releases and can help businesses to deploy these flagship collaboration products to maximize the effectiveness of your at-home workers.

Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office suite, providing a rich ecosystem of applications that deliver a consistent user experience for sharing information across multiple sites and on a wide variety of endpoint devices. Progent has provided remote consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their initial releases and can help at-home workers set up and use these flagship collaboration platforms to maximize productivity.

Microsoft Teams Integration Consultants for TelecommutersMicrosoft Teams works with Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration and communication. Developed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can support chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and app sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (previously called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its complete range of capabilities. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit planning and deployment expertise for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint Integration Consultants for At-Home WorkersSharePoint utilizes web entities to facilitate collaboration and information delivery by offering policy-driven access to data, workflow, and tools for searching through company-wide business data. SharePoint allows you to create protected web portals that allows at-home workforce to view and update consolidated business intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For information about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, visit SharePoint configuration and development expertise.

Exchange Integration Consultants 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 find out about Progent's Exchange support services, go to integration expertise for Exchange.

Microsoft Onedrive Integration Experts for At-Home WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, similar to GoogleDrive. At-home users can store files to OneDrive, and colleagues anywhere can share them safely through a browser. Provided with Microsoft 365, OneDrive allows home employees to co-edit documents. Edits made offline are synced when you reconnect to the Internet. To learn about Progent's consulting expertise for OneDrive, refer to Microsoft Onedrive configuration consulting.

Public Cloud Integration Services for Remote Workers
Progent can provide fast and affordable remote support for helping organizations to create, manage and troubleshoot integrated network models that include internal data centers, teleworkers, branch offices, plus cloud services. Progent offers expertise for all types of cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help remote workers resolve issues with cloud connectivity, identity, and security.

Azure Integration for Remote WorkersAzure is a leading family of public cloud software and services that enables you to utilize infrastructure, servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure offers more than one hundred services services such as the ability to host Windows and Linux-based VMs, on-demand cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can assist you to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure Active Directory, and design data backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also help you establish secure access to Azure for telecommuters by configuring and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Azure, visit Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for TelecommutersMicrosoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of business productivity software and cloud-based services offered on a subscription basis. Office applications and services are provided in a selection of bundles designed for users ranging from students and households to large corporations. Progent can provide fast and easy online access to consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can assist you to assess the various subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your teleworkers to achieve top business value. For details about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft 365 consulting expertise.

Exchange Online Integration Services for TeleworkersExchange Online is among the most popular cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the advantages of reduced spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and other benefits inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to operate smoothly with local deployments of Exchange, allowing customers to build hybrid information systems. Progent's Exchange consultants can provide as-needed assistance to get you past challenging IT bottlenecks and also offer comprehensive project management services to make sure your remote workers have easy and secure access to your Exchange Online deployment. To find out Progent's support services for Exchange Online, go to Exchange Online configuration and support expertise.

Amazon AWS Integration for Remote WorkersAmazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's top provider of cloud-based services. Progent can provide fast and affordable online contact with cloud integration experts who can help your business to design, deploy, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local resources and with other public clouds such as Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist you to create a high-uptime network model so your employees have a productive computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, from home, or on the road. To find out about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, visit Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud Integration Services for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud Platform (GCP) is a popular set of cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help your business to expand your current IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA experts can help you make your critical apps cloud friendly so your teleworkers can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent can help your business to set up virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage system with GCP Storage, and simplify identity control for at-home workers with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent's experts can also assist your organization to utilize GCP's management tools to control and track your Google Cloud ecosystem. For details, refer to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration services.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Telecommuters
A fast, enterprise-wide changeover to a teleworker business model, which could be driven by a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery plan, can overstretch even a well-staffed in-house Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services allow businesses of any size to outsource or supplement their Support Desk by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center services.

  • Progent's Standard Support Desk services leverage Progent's nationwide network of online technical support specialists along with enterprise-class trouble ticketing and tracking software to offer an affordable, modern Support Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide a comprehensive solution that handles all aspects of remote Level 1 PC technical support from help requests to trouble ticket generation, desktop sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows at-home employees to check or edit the status of their active tickets, add information, and upload screenshots and attachments. Technical support services are delivered 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 support specialists to resolve advanced problems. To find out more, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size companies.
  • Progent's Call Center Augmentation Service enables your company to supplement your existing Help Desk team by sharing responsibilities for Help Desk support transparently between your regular support staff and Progent's nationwide team of PC support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's co-managed Help Desk Call Center service uses a co-sourcing support solution based on the leading professional services automation (PSA) tool for handling help requests and trouble tickets, assigning ownership, tracking progress, and producing management reports. To learn how Progent's Call Center Supplementation Services can help your company to provide best-in-class IT support to your from-home workers, go to Progent's Help Desk Call Center augmentation Services.

Security for Remote Workers
Work-from-Home staff members typically utilize their personal computing devices and usually operate in a poorly secured physical space. This multiplies their vulnerability to cyber threats and requires careful deployment of firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, thorough user education, and the development of policies built on leading practices. Progent's veteran group of IT security solutions experts can assist your business to design, deploy and manage a compliant cybersecurity solution that guards vital information resources in networks that include telecommuters.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable companies to build a network that can be safely utilized by on-premises users and by at-home workers, mobile users, vendors, customers, and other stakeholders. Modern firewall appliances permit you to assign and control different access rights to various classes of users and to expand your IT network and modify your cybersecurity posture as your company evolves and as cyber threats become increasingly complex. Progent supports both current and legacy security devices from all major vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall support services, see firewall integration and support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring and Management Services for TeleworkersRemote Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to track the disparate devices used by teleworkers and either reject or identify and respond to modern threats such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight software agent is installed on each protected endpoint, monitoring all activity and using advanced behavioral threat analysis from SentinelOne to identify new attacks on arrival. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the targeted endpoint from the network to quarantine the threat. Because the ProSight ASM agent is self-contained, endpoint devices remain protected even when they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, see remote endpoint security monitoring for an at-home workforce.

Two-factor Authentication Services for Remote WorkersProgent's Duo MFA Managed Services incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against stolen passwords by using two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables one-tap identity confirmation with iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, whenever you log into a secured application and give your password you are requested to verify who you are on a device that only you have and that uses a separate network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be utilized for this second means of authentication including a smartphone or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You may designate several validation devices. For details about ProSight Duo identity authentication services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for telecommuters.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can assess the vulnerability of your network to all classes of external and local security attacks for an environment that includes teleworkers. Progent can run remote, automated cybersecurity analysis software for quickly and economically detecting a wide variety of security holes that can be found over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment experts, which can be provided by data security experts with top certifications such as CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help your company to evaluate your workflows and governance policies and review your IT architecture to allow you to implement top-level security for your remote workers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for At-Home WorkersHorizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated testing of your at-home connectivity solution and your internal and perimeter networks to help you find, rank, fix, and verify cybersecurity weaknesses before threat actors can exploit them. Progent's pentest experts can help you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive pentests of your network perimeter and your internal network so you can evaluate your current security posture. Progent's NodeZero experts can also assist you to harden your network security and can assist you to design and deploy a unified cybersecurity ecosystem that simplifies management and delivers maximum protection for on-prem, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To learn additional information about Progent's vulnerability analysis services powered by on NodeZero's PEN test platform, refer to Consulting Services for NodeZero's PEN Test Products.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home Environment
To read or download a white paper about critical areas to focus on for securing an IT environment that supports work-from-home staff, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for Teleworkers
The field of Data Protection covers saving and recovering vital data so as to prevent data loss and reduce recovery time and effort in the event of storage failures resulting from equipment issues, software glitches, user error, malware, or other causes. Dependable data protection strategies can be especially difficult to architect and manage in hybrid networks that incorporate private data centers, cloud resources, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Recovery solutions for an at-home workforce must cover diverse types of user-owned endpoints. Progent offers fast online help from consultants knowledgeable about a wide array of platforms for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktops as well as notebooks, iPads and smartphones. Leading backup/restore products maintained by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To protect data spread across a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud-based storage and features granular recovery and centralized management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies typically anticipate scenarios that call for a temporary changeover to telecommuting. Progent's expert disaster recovery preparedness consultants and business continuity consultants can assist you to develop, document and test a DR/BC strategy that addresses the logistics of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for Telecommuters
Microsoft has rebranded and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the title Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing onsite endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a centralized solution for safeguarding corporate information by managing onsite, mobile, and at-home endpoints.

Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and securing off-premises computers and software. Remote endpoint devices can be personally owned or business owned. IT admins managing the endpoint computers of telecommuters can use Intune to deploy and validate apps on managed devices, push updates and certificates, set up rules for accessing data and networks, set passwords, establish VPN connections, determine how teleworkers share information, set up threat defense, verify compliance, and erase sensitive information from lost, stolen or decommissioned devices. Intune can be used with iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS computers. To learn about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can assist your company to use this platform to manage the endpoint devices of your at-home workers, visit Intune mobile endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized MDM platform that helps network administrators to keep remote endpoints up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch for unified endpoint administration plus VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for authorization control, application management, and configuration management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints based on Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises deployment through a perpetual license. Top 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 endpoints, aggregated management reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud services. For information about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, go to VMware Workspace ONE mobile endpoint management consultants.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Support Services
To contact Progent about building and maintaining an efficient telecommuter environment for your Chattanooga, Tennessee business, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.