Enlarging your at-home workforce can have a significant impact on IT infrastructure, security/compliance, and corporate processes. Progent has 20 years of background assisting businesses of all sizes to design, deploy, administer, optimize, and troubleshoot IT environments that support at-home workers. Progent can help your Kansas City organization to select the right tools and adhere to leading practices in building and maintaining a secure virtual office solution for telecommuters that promotes teamwork and returns maximum business value. Progent can provide support services that go from on demand guidance for getting you past challenging technical bottlenecks to comprehensive project management to help you carry out mission-critical initiatives.

Progent's consultants can help Kansas City, Missouri companies to succeed with any facet of building a high-performing work-at-home environment by providing infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud connectivity, Help Desk outsourcing, endpoint security, data protection solutions, and unified management.

Infrastructure for Telecommuters
Configuring the network infrastructure required for an at-home work environment can be especially complicated if you have to manage a combination of worker-owned equipment like desktop computers and notebooks, Internet routers, and wireless APs from different manufacturers and with a variety of OS software and firmware levels. Progent's experience providing online support for both legacy as well as current technologies in remote office venues enables you to make efficient use of your existing network infrastructure and provides you with ready access to top-tire consultants for making essential upgrades. Support services available from Progent to assist your company to create a productive work-at-home ecosystem include:

  • Virtual Private Network connectivity makes it possible to create a secure tunnel for authorized remote employees to access IT resources situated at your company datacenter or in the cloud. Progent's consultants can help you to configure and manage VPN connections between your teleworkers and your various network resources by providing online VPN integration consulting. For businesses using Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA experts can assist your remote workers to set up Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software to provide secure VPN connections for a broad range of devices such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products enable a teleworker to see and interact with a data center PC's desktop. This technology provides IT managers substantial control over the digital environment of telecommuters and ensures remote users a familiar experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI solutions.
  • Routers attach home networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, local wireless connectivity, and firewall services. Progent can provide expert online consulting for deploying home routers from a range of vendors. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, often shared by families and visitors, are commonly used by telecommuters to access their Internet router for work. This can cause performance as well as security issues. Progent can assist you to resolve these problems by providing services that include Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco Meraki wireless installation consulting, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless AP integration help.
  • Internet access solutions impact the speed and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the company data center. Vital processes might demand redundant Internet access in case the primary connection breaks. Progent can provide expertise for picking service providers, choosing sensible service bundles, and setting up redundant Internet connections. See Internet connectivity integration services.

VoIP Solutions for Remote Workers
Expanding the corporate PBX system to include remote users is vital to supporting an effective at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-based IP voice platforms are popular with SMBs to server telecommuters. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's modern or older platforms for IP voice solutions. Progent can help businesses of any size to plan or tune a telecommuter IP voice environment that delivers the flexibility, convenience and protection required for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants offer high-level support to help organizations optimize their existing Cisco VoIP systems to handle an expanding remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) extends advanced IP telephony features to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media software deployed across the network. CUCM supports other combined media services such as unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer interaction networks. For more information about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, refer to Cisco Unified CM consultants.
  • Cisco CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM. Progent can help you to support your existing CallManager environment or migrate efficiently to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. To find out about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other older VoIP platforms, refer to CallManager expertise.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with public telephony networks and with users operating beyond the corporate firewall such as at-home workers. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for modern Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration consulting.
  • Other VoIP Products supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can assist you to enhance your WAN architecture to support these solutions and provide as-needed integration and debugging expertise.

Video Conferencing for Telecommuters
A wide range of video conferencing platforms from major technology companies enable virtual meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and content sharing for both onsite workers and teleworkers. Many organizations utilize a mix of products to meet the needs of their different partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can assist you to manage your current conferencing ecosystem and optimize the productivity of your remote employees.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications platform that supports real-time presence, IM, voice and video conferencing as well as the seamless 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 assist your company to configure and maintain Skype for Business clients to support your at-home employees. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business integration experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video calling app for compatible iOS and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime works over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current versions of FaceTime allow as many as 32 simultaneous users for 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 computing devices. Offered through Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex services include sharing specific content or screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based recording, plus revision and playback for future reference and training. For details about Progent's consulting services for Cisco Webex as well as for additional 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 information with capabilities such as video calling, threaded chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 products, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver configuration and troubleshooting services for these conferencing platforms and help you to optimize your WAN architecture to run them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Software for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office families, offering a rich environment of productivity apps that deliver a cohesive user interface for sharing information across a corporate network and on a wide selection of endpoints. Progent has delivered online consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their original publication and can help businesses to configure these flagship collaboration products to optimize 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 and Teams Premium Solutions Consultants for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft Teams works on top of Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration. Developed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can support 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 depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (formerly branded Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of features. For additional information about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit solution design and configuration consulting for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint Integration Experts for At-Home WorkersSharePoint utilizes web sites to promote collaboration and information sharing by providing policy-driven delivery of data, workflow, and utilities for looking through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint allows you to create secure web portals that enables remote workforce to see and update aggregated corporate intelligence by means of Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For details about Progent's SharePoint expertise, refer to SharePoint integration and development consulting.

Exchange Configuration Consultants for At-Home WorkersExchange and Exchange Online offer secure collaboration features including public folders, shared mailboxes, and shared calendars and contacts. Progent's Microsoft certified Exchange experts can show you how to activate and utilize these features for your at-home workers. For information about Progent's Exchange support services, go to deployment consulting services for Exchange Server.

Microsoft Onedrive Configuration 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 access them safely through a web browser. Included with Microsoft 365, OneDrive allows home employees to co-edit files. Revisions created offline are automatically uploaded when you go back online. For information about Progent's support services for Microsoft OneDrive, refer to Onedrive integration experts.

Public Cloud Integration Services for Remote Workers
Progent can provide affordable remote support for helping businesses to create, maintain and troubleshoot integrated network models that combine physical data centers, at-home workers, branch offices, plus cloud resources. Progent can provide top-tier consultant for all types of public cloud service delivery such as Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help remote workers fix issues with cloud connectivity, identity, and security.

Microsoft Azure Integration Services for At-Home WorkersAzure is a popular platform for cloud software and services that enables you to utilize infrastructure, servers, and critical applications running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Azure offers more than 100 services services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can assist your organization to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control with Azure AD, and plan backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also help you create secure access to Azure services for remote workers by setting up and debugging firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. To find out about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Azure, see Microsoft Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365 Integration for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of business productivity applications and cloud-based services available on a subscription basis. Office applications and cloud services are provided in a selection of plans intended for customers ranging from students and households to large enterprises. Progent can provide quick and affordable online contact with experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible endpoints based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can assist your business to assess the numerous subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your teleworkers in a way that delivers maximum business value. For information about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft 365 consulting support.

Exchange Online Integration Services for Remote WorkersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most popular applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the advantages of reduced costs for data center infrastructure, simplified management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and other advantages inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to run smoothly with on-premises deployments of Exchange, enabling customers to create hybrid cloud/onsite networks. Progent's certified Exchange experts are available for occasional assistance to guide you past challenging technical bottlenecks and can also provide end-to-end project management outsourcing to make sure your remote workers have easy and safe access to your Exchange Online environment. To learn Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and support consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration for Remote WorkersAmazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud computing market and is the world's leading provider of cloud services. Progent offers rapid and economical online contact with cloud connectivity experts who can help your business to plan, implement, maintain, and debug hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises data centers and with other popular cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help you to create a high-uptime network architecture so your employees have a consistent computing experience whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, at home, or on the move. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, see Amazon AWS integration services.

Google Cloud Platform Integration for Remote WorkersGoogle Cloud (GCP) is a popular set of 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 business to scale your current IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database consultants can show you how to make your critical applications cloud friendly so your telecommuters can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can assist your business to deploy virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage solution with GCP Storage services, and simplify access management for remote workers with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent can also assist you to use GCP's unified management tools to control and track your GCP ecosystem. To find out, refer to Google Cloud Platform consulting services.

Help Desk Call Center Services for At-Home Workers
A fast, enterprise-wide switchover to a telecommuter business model, which might be driven by an epidemic or as part of a business continuity plan, can overwhelm even a well-staffed in-house Support Desk. Progent's Help Desk services allow businesses to outsource or augment their Call Desk by using Progent's remote Technical Response Center services.

  • Progent's Standard Help Desk Call Center support services leverage Progent's nationwide network of remote IT support experts along with world-class ticketing and tracking software to provide an economical, advanced Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer a comprehensive solution that handles all aspects of remote Level 1 PC technical support from initial help requests to trouble ticket generation, desktop sharing, issue resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables from-home workers to monitor or edit their active tickets, enter information, and upload screen captures and attachments. Technical support services are provided at a substantial discount off Progent's ordinary Level 1 desktop support charges, and Progent offers optional fast escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to resolve complex problems. To find out more, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small companies.
  • Progent's Call Center Supplemental Service allows your business to augment your current Help Desk staff by sharing delivery of Support Desk support services transparently between your in-house IT support organization and Progent's nationwide roster of PC support engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's co-managed Support Desk service uses a collaborative support model based on the number one professional services automation platform for managing service requests and trouble tickets, assigning responsibility, tracking progress, and producing reports. To learn how Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Services can help your company to deliver world-class technical support to your at-home workforce, visit Progent's Help Desk supplementation Services.

Security for Teleworkers
Work-from-Home employees typically utilize their personal devices and often operate in an unsecured physical space. This multiplies their susceptibility to cyber threats and requires careful deployment of firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, thorough user training, and the development of policies built on leading practices. Progent's seasoned group of cybersecurity solutions experts can help your business to plan, deploy and manage a compliant security solution that protects critical IT resources in environments that include remote workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable you to create a network that can be safely accessed by local users and by teleworkers, mobile users, vendors, clients, and other stakeholders. Modern firewall devices permit you to configure and control appropriate permissions to different groups of users and to expand your network and modify your cybersecurity posture as your business evolves and as cyber threats grow increasingly complex. Progent works with both new and legacy firewall devices from all leading manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall configuration expertise, refer to firewall integration and support services.

Remote Security Monitoring for TelecommutersOnline Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it easy to track the disparate devices used by telecommuters and either reject or identify and mitigate modern cyber attacks such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a small-footprint software agent is put on each protected endpoint, watching all activity and using advanced behavioral threat analysis from SentinelOne to identify zero-day attacks at inception. When an attack is spotted, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the targeted endpoint device from the network to contain the malware. Because the ProSight ASM agent is autonomous, endpoints remain protected even if they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight ASM, see remote endpoint monitoring for an at-home workforce.

Two-factor Authentication Services for TeleworkersProgent's Duo authentication Service Plans incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo supports one-tap identity verification on Apple iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, when you log into a secured online account and enter your password you are requested to confirm your identity via a device that only you possess and that uses a separate network channel. A broad selection of out-of-band devices can be utilized for this second means of authentication such as a smartphone or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline phone, etc. You may designate multiple verification devices. For more information about ProSight Duo two-factor identity authentication services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for teleworkers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your network to all types of external and local security attacks for an environment that incorporates telecommuters. Progent can deploy online, automated cybersecurity inventory scanning for quickly and economically detecting a broad range of security gaps that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's security assessment consulting services, which can be provided by network security professionals with top certifications including CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your company to evaluate your workflows and governance policies and review your WAN architecture to enable you to implement the highest level of protection for your teleworkers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for At-Home WorkersHorizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports autonomous threat assessment of your at-home connectivity solution and your internal and perimeter networks to help you identify, prioritize, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity weaknesses before threat actors can exploit them. Progent's pentest experts can help you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive pentests of your perimeter and your internal network in order to evaluate your present security posture. Progent's NodeZero experts can also assist you to strengthen your existing network security and can assist you to design and implement a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that streamlines management and delivers optimum cyber defense for on-prem, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To find out additional information about Progent's threat assessment services powered by on NodeZero's pentest products, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's Pentest Products.

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

Data Protection for Telecommuters
Data Protection covers saving and recovering vital information in order to avoid data loss and reduce recovery time in case of storage failures due to equipment issues, programming hiccups, user mistakes, cyber attack, or other causes. Dependable data protection strategies can be particularly challenging to design and maintain in hybrid environments that combine in-house data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Recovery solutions for telecommuters must cover diverse types of user-owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide fast online access to experts familiar with a wide array of platforms for protection Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktops as well as laptops, iPads and smartphones. Popular backup/restore products maintained by Progent's data protection experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To protect resources spread across a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud storage and features fine-grained restore and centralized management capabilities.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies often envision scenarios that call for a temporary switch to telecommuting. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity planning specialists can help your company to develop, document and test a DR/BC strategy that includes the logistics of moving to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Remote Workers
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management platforms under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing onsite computers. Endpoint Manager offers a centralized platform for protecting corporate data by controlling onsite, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and securing off-premises devices and software. Managed endpoint devices can be personally owned or company owned. IT admins managing the endpoint devices of teleworkers can use Intune to provision and validate applications on devices, push patches and certificates, set up rules for accessing information and resources, set passwords, create VPN connections, control how home-based workers share information, establish threat defense, verify compliance, and wipe corporate information from missing, stolen or deactivated devices. Intune works with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X computers. To learn about Microsoft Intune and how Progent can assist you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the endpoint devices of your teleworkers, see Intune remote endpoint management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified Mobile Device Management (MDM) product that helps network administrators to keep off-premises endpoints up to date and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint management plus VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery technology for authorization control, application management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE operates with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or popular distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises product via a perpetual license. Top capabilities of Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air deployment of out-of-the-box notebooks, immediate onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of devices, aggregated management reporting and performance analytics, an email encryption gateway, and integration with Microsoft apps and cloud services. For information about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE remote device management consultants.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Expertise
To get in touch with Progent about creating and managing an efficient work-from-home solution for your Kansas City, Missouri company, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.