Enlarging your telecommuter workforce can have a major impact on network infrastructure, security, and company workflows. Progent has two decades of experience helping businesses of all sizes to plan, deploy, administer, tune, and debug IT networks that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Leeds organization to select the right tools and adhere to leading practices in creating and operating a secure virtual office solution for teleworkers that facilitates collaboration and returns top business value. Progent can provide services that go from on demand expertise for helping you past challenging technical bottlenecks to comprehensive project management to help you carry out business-critical initiatives.

Progent can assist Leeds, United Kingdom companies to with any facet of building a high-functioning remote work ecosystem by providing network infrastructure configuration services, IP voice expertise, video conferencing support, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud connectivity, Help Desk outsourcing, data security, data protection solutions, and unified management.

Network Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Integrating the physical and software infrastructure needed to support an at-home workforce can be especially complicated if you have to manage a combination of personal hardware such as desktop computers and laptops, routers, and wireless appliances from various vendors and with a variety of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's background delivering online support for both outdated as well as modern technologies in remote office venues enables you to make efficient use of your existing infrastructure and offers ready access to top-tire consultants for making necessary updates. Support services offered by Progent to assist your company to implement a productive work-at-home ecosystem include:

  • Virtual Private Network technology makes it possible to create a secure connection for authenticated at-home employees to use IT resources situated at your company data center or in the cloud. Progent can help your company to configure and maintain VPN connections between your at-home workforce and your key network resources by providing remote VPN integration consulting. For organizations with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall consultants can help your at-home workers to set up Cisco's AnyConnect software for safe VPN tunneling for a broad selection of endpoint devices such as Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products allow a telecommuter to see and use a remote PC's desktop. This technology provides IT managers significant control over the digital ecosystem of telecommuters and ensures remote users a familiar work experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI solutions.
  • Routers connect home networks to the Internet and support VPN tunnels, home Wi-Fi connectivity, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier online support for deploying home routers from all major vendors. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wireless networks, typically supporting an entire household and guests, are commonly utilized by at-home employees to access their router for work. This can create throughput as well as security problems. Progent can assist you to resolve these problems by delivering services like Aironet integration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki WiFi installation consulting, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access point setup assistance.
  • Internet access solutions impact the speed and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the company data center. Business-critical processes may demand backup Internet connections in case the normal connection fails. Progent can provide expertise for selecting Internet service providers, selecting sensible bandwidth and data volume packages, and integrating fault-tolerant Internet access. See Internet connectivity solutions.

VoIP Solutions for an At-Home Workforce
Extending the business PBX environment to accommodate telecommuters is vital to maintaining a productive work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-centric VoIP platforms are popular with small and mid-size businesses to support remote users. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's modern or older platforms for IP voice solutions. Progent can help organizations of all sizes to design or tune a remote VoIP environment that delivers the flexibility, convenience and protection needed for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts offer advanced support to assist businesses tune their existing Cisco VoIP environments to handle a growing at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) extends enterprise telephony features to devices like VoIP phones, media processing products, VoIP gateways, and multimedia applications deployed across the network. Unified Communications Manager manages other combined media services like unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team collaboration networks. For details about Progent's Unified Communications Manager support, see Cisco Unified Communications Manager consulting services.
  • Cisco CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM. Progent can help your company to support your current CallManager deployment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony products. To find out about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other older IP voice products, refer to Cisco CallManager consulting.
  • Cisco IP Gateways provide connectivity with PSTN networks and with clients working beyond the corporate firewall such as telecommuters. Progent offers consulting expertise for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 product lines and for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway integration expertise.
  • Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can help you to enhance your WAN architecture to work with these solutions and deliver as-needed integration and troubleshooting expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for At-Home Workers
A wide selection of voice/video conferencing products from major vendors support online discussions, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen/content sharing for both onsite users and telecommuters. Many organizations use multiple conferencing products to accommodate their different partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can assist your organization to maintain your current conferencing ecosystem and optimize the experience of your at-home employees.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications platform that supports real-time presence, instant messaging, voice and video calling and conferencing plus the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent offers the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can help your company to set up and manage Skype for Business client software to accommodate your at-home employees. To learn more about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, refer to Skype for Business consulting experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video calling app for compatible iOS and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current editions of FaceTime support as many as 32 concurrent users for voice/video sessions. To learn more about Progent's support services for Apple FaceTime, see 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 specific content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based recording, plus revision and playback for training. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Webex as well as for additional video conferencing solutions from Cisco, see Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams provides a portal for conversations, contacts, and content with features such as IP voice and video conferencing, persistent chat, plus data sharing. For details about Progent's support services for Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 products, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Other Voice/Video Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide configuration and troubleshooting services for these products and assist you to tune your network infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for Remote Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 families, providing a rich ecosystem of applications that deliver a cohesive user interface for exchanging data and ideas across a corporate network and on a wide selection of endpoints. Progent has delivered online consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their initial releases and can assist your company to configure these flagship collaboration products to maximize the effectiveness 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 Solutions Consultants for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft Teams works with Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration and communication. Designed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can support chat, video meetings with screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and app sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (previously branded Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of features. To learn more about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit planning and deployment expertise for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint Deployment Experts for At-Home WorkersSharePoint uses web entities to allow collaboration and information delivery by providing policy-based access to content, workflow, and utilities for looking through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint enables you to build secure web portals that permits at-home workers to view and update aggregated corporate intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social networking sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For information about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, visit SharePoint configuration and application 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. To learn about Progent's Exchange consulting services, visit integration consulting services for Microsoft Exchange.

Onedrive Deployment Experts for At-Home WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud file hosting and synchronization service, similar to GoogleDrive. Remote users can store files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers anywhere can share them securely via a web browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive allows home workers to co-author documents. Revisions made offline are synced when you go back online. To find out about Progent's support services for OneDrive, visit Onedrive integration consulting.

Public Cloud Integration Services for Teleworkers
Progent can provide fast and affordable online support for enabling businesses to create, maintain and repair cohesive network models that incorporate internal data centers, at-home workers, branches, plus cloud resources. Progent can provide top-tier consultant for all modes of cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help at-home workers fix problems with public cloud connectivity, authentication, and cybersecurity.

Microsoft Azure Integration for At-Home WorkersAzure is a popular family of cloud software and services that allows you to use IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and critical applications running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure features more than 100 cloud-based services including hosting for Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can help you to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity management with Azure AD, and plan backup and restore systems with Azure Backup. Progent can also help you establish protected access to Azure services for at-home workers by setting up and debugging firewalls and VPN IPsec tunnels. For information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Azure, visit Microsoft Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365 Integration for Remote WorkersMicrosoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular suite of business productivity applications and cloud services offered on a subscription basis. Microsoft applications and cloud services are marketed in a selection of plans intended for customers ranging from individuals and small offices to major enterprises. Progent can provide quick and easy remote contact with consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can assist your business to evaluate the various subscription plans available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your remote workers to achieve top business value. For details about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Integration Services for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most popular cloud-based applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the benefits of lower costs for data center infrastructure, simplified management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and other benefits associated with public clouds. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate smoothly with on-premises deployments of Exchange, allowing you to create hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's Exchange experts can provide occasional help to guide you through challenging technical bottlenecks and can also provide comprehensive project management services to ensure your at-home workers have easy and safe access to your Exchange Online environment. To learn Progent's support services for Exchange Online, go to Exchange Online integration and support consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration for Remote WorkersAmazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud market and is the industry's top provider of cloud-based services. Progent can provide quick and economical online contact with cloud connectivity experts who can help your business to plan, deploy, maintain, and debug hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with on-premises resources and with other popular cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure. Progent also offers the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist you to create a high-uptime network architecture to make sure your employees have a consistent computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a remote branch, at home, or on the road. To learn about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, see Amazon AWS integration support.

Google Cloud Platform Integration Services for At-Home WorkersGoogle Cloud Platform is a popular collection of cloud computing services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist you to expand your current IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's database experts can help you make your critical apps cloud friendly so your telecommuters can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can help your organization to set up virtual machines on Google Cloud Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage system with GCP Storage, and streamline access control for telecommuters with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent can also help you to use GCP's management technology to control and track your GCP environment. To learn, visit Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting services.

Help Desk Support for Teleworkers
A rapid, company-wide changeover to a teleworker workforce, which might be the result of a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery plan, can overwhelm even the most efficient internal Call Center. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services make it possible for businesses of any size to outsource or expand their Help Desk Call Center by using Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) services.

  • Progent's Standard Help Desk support services leverage Progent's extensive team of remote technical support specialists combined with world-class ticketing and tracking technology to offer an affordable, modern Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that handles all facets of online Level 1 desktop technical support from service requests to trouble ticket generation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows from-home workers to check or edit their current trouble tickets, add information, and upload screenshots and attachments. Desktop support services are delivered at a significant price reduction off Progent's normal Level 1 technical support charges, and Progent offers the option of rapid escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to deal with advanced problems. To learn more, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size companies.
  • Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Service enables you to supplement your current Call Desk team by sharing responsibilities for Call Center services seamlessly between your in-house support organization and Progent's extensive pool of desktop support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Support Desk service is based on a collaborative support model utilizing the number one PSA platform for handling help requests and ticketing, assigning ownership, tracking progress, and generating management reports. To learn how Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Services can help your business to deliver world-class technical support to your telecommuters, go to Progent's Help Desk Call Center augmentation Services.

Security for Teleworkers
At-home staff members commonly utilize their own computers and often work in an unsecured physical environment. This multiplies their susceptibility to malware attacks and calls for judicious deployment of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, intensive end-user education, and the creation of security policies built on leading practices. Progent's veteran team of IT security solutions consultants can help your business to design, deploy and manage a compliant cybersecurity solution that guards critical IT 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 and by teleworkers, mobile users, vendors, customers, and the public. Modern firewall devices allow you to configure and manage different access rights to various classes of users and to expand your network and adjust your cybersecurity posture as your business evolves and as cyber threats grow more sophisticated. Progent supports both current and legacy security appliances from all leading vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall integration services, go to firewall integration and support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring and Management Services for TeleworkersRemote Endpoint Monitoring makes it possible to watch over the various computers utilized by telecommuters and either reject or spot and mitigate the latest threats such as ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) 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 before they can spread. When an attack is discovered, ProSight Active Security Monitoring immediately disconnects the infected device from the network to quarantine the threat. Because the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoints remain secure even when they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight ASM, visit remote endpoint security monitoring for at-home workers.

Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for TelecommutersProgent's Duo authentication Managed Services incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to defend against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo enables single-tap identity confirmation with iOS, Android, and other personal devices. Using 2FA, whenever you log into a secured online account and enter your password you are asked to confirm who you are on a device that only you possess and that is accessed using a different network channel. A broad selection of devices can be used for this second means of authentication such as an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You can designate multiple validation devices. For more information about ProSight Duo identity authentication services, visit Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for an at-home workforce.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can assess the vulnerability of your information system to all classes of external and internal security attacks for an environment that includes teleworkers. Progent can run remote, automated security analysis scanning for rapidly and affordably detecting a broad range of security holes that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's endpoint security assessment consulting services, which can be managed by network security experts with top credentials such as CISA, CISSP, and GIAC, can assist your business to evaluate your operations and policies and assess your network infrastructure to enable you to implement top-level security for your teleworkers.

NodeZero Pentetration Testing for At-Home WorkersHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a cutting-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports autonomous threat assessment of your work-from-home environment and your internal and perimeter networks so you can find, rank, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity weaknesses before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent's pentest experts can assist you to deploy NodeZero to carry out comprehensive pentests of your perimeter and your internal network in order to determine your present security posture. Progent can also help you to harden your existing network security and can assist you to plan and implement a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and delivers optimum cyber defense for on-prem, multi-cloud, at-home, and perimeter IT resources. To learn additional information about Progent's threat assessment solutions based on on NodeZero's pentest platform, visit Consulting Services for NodeZero's Pentest Products.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home Environment
To view or download a white paper describing critical things to focus on for securing an IT environment that incorporates telecommuters, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for Telecommuters
The field of Data Protection involves saving and recovering vital data in order to avoid data loss and minimize recovery time in case of storage failures resulting from equipment breakdowns, programming glitches, user error, malware, or other causes. Dependable data protection strategies can be especially challenging to design and manage in hybrid environments that incorporate private data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

  • Backup/Restore strategies for telecommuters must cover diverse types of user-owned endpoint devices. Progent offers fast online help from consultants familiar with a broad range of platforms for protection Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktops as well as laptops, tablets and handhelds. Popular backup/restore solutions supported by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up resources spread throughout a wide area network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery service that uses cloud-based storage and includes granular recovery and unified management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) strategies typically anticipate circumstances that require a temporary changeover to telecommuting. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness consultants and business continuity specialists can help your business to create, document and validate a DR/BC plan that addresses the logistics of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management products under the name Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing local endpoints. Endpoint Manager features a centralized platform for protecting corporate data by managing local, mobile, and at-home endpoints.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting off-premises computers and software. Remote endpoint devices can be user owned or business owned. IT admins managing the endpoint computers of teleworkers can use Intune to provision and validate apps on managed devices, push patches and certificates, set up rules for accessing information and resources, set passwords, create VPN connections, determine how teleworkers share data, establish threat protection, verify security compliance, and wipe corporate data from missing, stolen or deactivated devices. Microsoft Intune runs with Apple iOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. For details about Intune and to find out how Progent can assist your company to use this platform to manage the devices of your telecommuters, go to Intune mobile device management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is an advanced unified Mobile Device Management product that allows network managers to keep off-premises endpoint devices up to date and protected. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch for unified endpoint management along with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery technology for access control, application management, and setup management of endpoints. Workspace ONE operates with devices based on Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or popular distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises product through a perpetual license. Top features of VMware Workspace ONE include fast remote provisioning of new notebooks, immediate onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated reporting and analytics, email encryption, and integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based services. For information about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management consultants.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Expertise
To get in touch with Progent about creating and managing a productive telecommuter environment for your Leeds, United Kingdom company, phone 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.