Expanding your at-home workforce can have a major effect on network infrastructure, cybersecurity, and company processes. Progent has two decades of background assisting small and mid-size businesses to plan, configure, manage, optimize, and debug IT networks that support a remote workforce. Progent can assist your Buffalo organization to pick the right technologies and follow best practices in creating and operating a secure virtual office ecosystem for telecommuters that facilitates collaboration and returns maximum business value. Progent can provide support services that go from as-needed expertise for getting you past occasional technical roadblocks to full project management to help you successfully complete mission-critical initiatives.

Progent can help Buffalo, New York companies to succeed with any facet of building a high-functioning work-at-home environment by delivering infrastructure configuration services, IP voice expertise, video conferencing support, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud integration, Help Desk services, endpoint security, data protection solutions, and streamlined management.

Network Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Configuring the network infrastructure needed for a remote workforce can be particularly complicated if you have to manage a combination of worker-owned hardware such as PCs and laptops, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from different manufacturers and with a mix of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's experience delivering online support for both legacy as well as modern IT products in remote office venues allows you to make cost-effective use of your existing network infrastructure and provides you with fast access to expertise for making necessary updates. Services offered by Progent to assist you to implement a productive telecommuting infrastructure include:

  • Virtual Private Network technology makes it possible to create a safe connection for authorized remote employees to use IT assets situated at your company datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent 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-certified ASA Firewall consultants can assist your telecommuters to set up Cisco's AnyConnect client software to provide secure VPN tunneling for a wide selection of endpoint devices such as Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products allow a telecommuter to see and use a remote computer's desktop. This gives IT managers substantial control over the digital environment of at-home employees and ensures remote users a consistent and more productive work experience. Progent's virtual desktop services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
  • Routers attach at-home networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, local wireless networks, and firewalls. Progent can provide expert remote consulting for deploying home routers from a range of vendors. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified experts.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, often shared by families and visitors, are frequently used by at-home employees to connect to their router for work. This can create performance and security issues. Progent can help businesses to mitigate these issues by delivering services that include Aironet integration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless AP setup help.
  • Internet connectivity solutions impact the speed and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the company network. Vital applications may require backup Internet connections in the event the primary connection fails. Progent offers guidance for selecting ISPs, picking appropriate bandwidth and data volume offerings, and configuring redundant Internet access. Refer to Internet access integration services.

VoIP Integration for an At-Home Workforce
Expanding the corporate PBX environment to include teleworkers is vital to maintaining a productive work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-centric digital PBX products are used by SMBs to server telecommuters. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's current or older platforms for IP voice management. Progent can assist businesses of any size to plan or tune a telecommuter IP voice service that delivers the versatility, convenience and security required for telecommuters. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice experts can provide high-level support to help organizations optimize their current Cisco IP voice environments to handle an expanding at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) delivers enterprise telephony capabilities to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media apps used across the network. Unified Communications Manager supports other combined media services like messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer collaboration networks. For details about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM support, see Cisco Unified Communications Manager expertise.
  • CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM. Progent can assist you to maintain your existing CallManager environment or upgrade smoothly to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. For details about Progent's expertise for CallManager and Cisco's other early IP voice platforms, visit Cisco CallManager consulting services.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with PSTN networks and with users working outside the corporate perimeter like telecommuters. Progent offers consulting expertise for Cisco's legacy IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for current Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway configuration consulting.
  • Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your wide area network architecture to work with these solutions and provide online configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Video Conferencing for Remote Workers
A wide range of video conferencing products from major vendors support online discussions, video conferencing, chat sessions, and content sharing for both onsite users and teleworkers. Many organizations use multiple products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can assist your organization to maintain your existing conferencing ecosystem and enhance the experience of your at-home employees.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications product that enables real-time presence, IM, voice and video conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help you to set up and manage Skype for Business client software to accommodate your remote employees. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business integration services.
  • 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. Current versions of FaceTime support as many as 32 simultaneous users for voice/video calls. For details about Progent's support expertise for Apple FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center supports remote conferencing for virtually all computing devices. Offered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing granular content or computer screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, session capture, plus editing and playback for future reference and training. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Webex as well as for other video conferencing solutions 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 portal for conferencing, contacts, and content with features that include voice/video calling, threaded chat, plus file sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Teams and for additional Microsoft 365 products, see 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 configuration and troubleshooting expertise for these products and help you to optimize your network architecture to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office and Microsoft 365 families, providing a powerful environment of productivity apps that deliver a consistent user interface for sharing data and ideas across multiple sites and on a broad selection of endpoint computers. Progent has provided online consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange Server since their original releases and can help businesses to tune these critical collaboration products to optimize the productivity 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 Integration Experts for TelecommutersMicrosoft Teams works on top of Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration and communication. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can support chat, video meetings that include screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and app sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (formerly called Azure Active Directory) for supporting its complete range of capabilities. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams, visit solution design and deployment consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint Server Configuration Experts for Remote WorkersSharePoint uses web entities to facilitate collaboration and knowledge delivery by offering policy-based delivery of content, workflow, and utilities for searching through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint enables you to create protected web portals that allows at-home workforce to see and update consolidated business intelligence by means of Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social networking sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). To learn about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, go to SharePoint integration and application development consulting.

Exchange Deployment 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. For details about Progent's Exchange consulting services, see deployment consulting services for Microsoft Exchange Server.

Microsoft Onedrive Configuration Experts for At-Home WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, similar to GoogleDrive. At-home users can store files to OneDrive, and colleagues can retrieve them safely via a web browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive enables remote workers to co-author files. Edits made offline are automatically uploaded when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for OneDrive, refer to Microsoft Onedrive integration consulting.

Cloud Integration for Telecommuters
Progent offers fast and affordable remote assistance for helping businesses to build, maintain and repair cohesive network models that combine internal data centers, at-home workers, branches, and cloud services. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all modes of cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help telecommuters resolve issues with cloud connectivity, authentication, and security.

Azure Integration Services for TeleworkersMicrosoft Azure is a popular family of public cloud software and services that enables you to utilize IT infrastructure, servers, and critical applications running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Microsoft Azure offers over 100 services services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can assist your organization to set up VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, configure storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity management with Azure Active Directory, and plan backup and recovery systems with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to create protected connections to Azure for telecommuters by configuring and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. For information about Progent's consulting services for Azure, refer to Microsoft Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for TeleworkersMicrosoft 365, previously called Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of client productivity applications and cloud-based services available on a subscription basis. Microsoft applications and cloud services are provided in a selection of plans intended for users ranging from individuals and small offices to large enterprises. Progent can provide fast and easy remote contact with experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can help your business to evaluate the numerous subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your teleworkers in a way that delivers maximum business value. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 integration services.

Exchange Online Integration Services for TeleworkersExchange Online is one of the most widely used applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online offers the advantages of lower spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high reliability, and additional benefits associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has designed Exchange Online to operate smoothly with local deployments of Exchange, allowing you to build hybrid information systems. Progent's Exchange consultants can provide as-needed assistance to get you through challenging IT roadblocks and can also provide comprehensive project management outsourcing to ensure your at-home workers have convenient and secure access to your Exchange Online deployment. To learn Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, see Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for TeleworkersAmazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud computing arena and is the industry's leading provider of cloud-based services. Progent can provide fast and affordable online access to cloud integration consultants who can help your organization to plan, deploy, manage, and debug hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with on-premises data centers and with other popular cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist you to build a high-availability network model to make sure your users have a consistent computing environment whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, at home, or on the move. For information about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS integration support.

Google Cloud Integration Services for TeleworkersGoogle Cloud is a popular set of cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist you to extend your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA consultants can help you make your key applications cloud ready so your at-home workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can help your organization to deploy VMs on GCP Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage solution with Google Cloud Storage services, and streamline access control for remote workers with Google Cloud Identity. Progent's experts can also help your organization to use GCP's unified management tools to administer and monitor your GCP environment. For details, see Google Cloud Platform integration support.

Help Desk Call Center Support for Teleworkers
An emergency, company-wide transition to a from-home workforce, which could be the result of a pandemic or as part of a business continuity preparedness plan, can overstretch even the most efficient in-house Help Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services allow organizations of any size to outsource or augment their Help Desk by using Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) team.

  • Progent's Standard Call Center services leverage Progent's extensive team of remote technical support experts combined with world-class ticketing and follow-up software to provide an affordable, modern Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer an end-to-end solution that addresses all aspects of online Level 1 PC technical support from service requests to trouble ticket creation, screen sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal enables teleworkers to monitor or edit the status of their active trouble tickets, add details, and upload screenshots and relevant files. Technical support services are delivered at a significant price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical service rates, and Progent makes available optional rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to deal with advanced problems. For details, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small businesses.
  • Progent's Help Desk Augmentation Service enables your business to expand your current Help Desk Call Center team by splitting delivery of Support Desk support seamlessly between your regular IT support personnel and Progent's nationwide roster of PC support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Help Desk service uses a co-sourcing support model based on the number one PSA tool for handling service requests and trouble tickets, establishing responsibility, tracking progress, and generating management reports. For information about how Progent's Support Desk Supplementation Services can enable your business to provide best-in-class desktop support to your at-home workforce, see Progent's Help Desk augmentation Services.

Cybersecurity for Teleworkers
At-home staff members typically utilize their personal computers and often operate in an unsecured physical space. This multiplies their susceptibility to malware threats and calls for judicious configuration of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, thorough user training, and the creation of security policies based on leading practices. Progent's seasoned team of cybersecurity support experts can assist you to design, implement and maintain an effective cybersecurity solution that guards critical IT resources in environments that include at-home workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable you to build a network that can be securely accessed by local users as well as by at-home workers, mobile users, suppliers, clients, and the public. Next-generation firewall devices allow you to configure and control different permissions to various classes of users and to expand your IT network and adjust your cybersecurity posture as your business evolves and as network attacks grow more complex. Progent supports both new and legacy security devices from all major vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall configuration expertise, visit firewall integration and support services.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring and Management for At-Home WorkersRemote Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to watch over the various computers used by telecommuters and either reject or identify and respond to the latest threats like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a small-footprint software agent is put on every protected endpoint device, monitoring all activity and utilizing state-of-the-art AI technology from SentinelOne to identify new attacks at inception. When an attack is discovered, ProSight ASM instantly isolates the impacted endpoint from the corporate network to contain the malware. Since the ProSight ASM software agent is autonomous, endpoint devices remain protected even if they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. To find out more about ProSight ASM, visit remote endpoint security monitoring for telecommuters.

Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for TelecommutersProgent's Duo MFA Managed Services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against stolen passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports one-tap identity confirmation with iOS, Android, and other personal devices. With Duo 2FA, whenever you sign into a secured online account and give your password you are asked to verify who you are on a unit that only you have and that uses a different network channel. A wide selection of out-of-band devices can be used as this added means of authentication including an iPhone or Android or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You can designate multiple validation devices. To find out more about Duo two-factor identity validation services, visit Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for at-home workers.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can evaluate the vulnerability of your information system to all types of external and internal security threats for a network that includes telecommuters. Progent can run remote, automated cybersecurity analysis software for rapidly and economically uncovering a wide variety of security gaps that can be surfaced over the Internet. Progent's security audit consulting services, which can be managed by data security experts with advanced credentials including CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can assist your company to evaluate your workflows and governance policies and review your IT infrastructure to allow you to implement the highest level of security for your teleworkers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for Work-from-Home EnpointsHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Penetration Testing Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that supports automated testing of your at-home environment and your internal and perimeter networks to help you expose, rank, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity weaknesses before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent can assist you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive pentests of your network perimeter and your internal network so you can evaluate your present security profile. Progent's NodeZero experts can also assist you to harden your network security and can help you to design and implement a unified cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and provides maximum cyber defense for on-prem, cloud-based, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To learn more information about Progent's threat assessment services powered by on NodeZero's penetration test products, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's PEN Test Products.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To view or download a white paper about key things to concentrate 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 At-Home Workers
Data Protection covers saving and restoring vital information in order to prevent data loss and reduce restoration time in case of storage system problems resulting from equipment breakdowns, software glitches, human error, malware, or any other reason. Dependable data protection strategies can be particularly difficult to architect and manage in hybrid networks that incorporate private data centers, public clouds, and an at-home workforce.

  • Backup/Recovery strategies for telecommuters must cover diverse kinds of personally owned endpoint devices. Progent offers fast remote access to consultants knowledgeable about a broad array of platforms for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and handhelds. Leading backup/restore solutions supported by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To protect resources distributed across a hybrid network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services, a managed backup/recovery service that utilizes cloud-based storage and includes fine-grained restore and unified management.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies often anticipate circumstances that call for a rapid changeover to a work-at-home environment. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity consultants can assist your company to produce, document and test a DR/BC plan that addresses the logistics of moving 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 includes Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing onsite endpoints. Endpoint Manager provides a centralized solution for protecting corporate data by managing onsite, mobile, and at-home endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and protecting remote computers and software. Remote endpoint devices can be user owned or business owned. Network admins managing the endpoint computers of telecommuters can utilize Intune to provision and validate applications on devices, push patches and certificates, configure policies for permission to access information and networks, set passwords, establish VPN connections, control how teleworkers share data, set up threat defense, verify compliance, and delete corporate data from missing, stolen or decommissioned devices. Intune can be used with iOS/iPadOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X computers. For information about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can assist you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the endpoint devices of your telecommuters, go to Intune teleworker endpoint management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified MDM product that allows network managers to keep offsite endpoints up to date and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint administration plus VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for authorization control, app management, and setup management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or popular distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises deployment via a one-time purchase. Top features of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid remote deployment of new laptops, immediate onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all classes of devices, unifies reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud services. To find out about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, go to VMware Workspace ONE remote device management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To contact Progent about creating and maintaining an efficient telecommuter solution for your Buffalo, New York company, phone 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.