IT Technology News and Progent Solutions

Cisco announced innovative products intended specifically for small business networks and engineered to provide exceptional levels of security and connectivity for a budget-friendly price. Products introduced by Cisco were the Cisco Spam and Virus Blocker, the Small Business series NSS2000 and NSS3000 Network Storage Systems, and the newest version of the SBCS.

The Cisco Spam and Virus Blocker is a purpose-built spam, virus, and phishing filter security product that virtually eradicates email threats right out of the box. Cisco's NSS2000 and NSS3000 Small Business Network Storage Systems are economical desktop NAS appliances that offer security for important information and enable employees to access shared information effortlessly. The Cisco Smart Business Communications System Version 1.4, a full collaboration and communications system that seamlessly interconnects sites, employees, and customers however dispersed. Cisco's current version incorporates the first cordless small-footprint VoIP phone with Bluetooth capabilities. To read Cisco's news release, visit Cisco Unveils Security and Collaboration Solutions for Small Companies.

Cisco Spam Blocker Appliance
The Spam and Virus Blocker safeguards small organizations by providing powerful protection against junk mail, viruses and phishing as well as other email attacks to guard your network and business data while at the same time enhance efficiency. Since the appliance stops spam right out of the box and updates automatically, it does away with the expense and time with initial configuration and ongoing and management. By filtering out spam, Cisco's Spam Blocker helps the throughput of network connections, application servers, and workstations. The Spam and Virus Blocker appliance represents an end-to-end defense against email-born threats by featuring a physical appliance, software, ongoing updates, and product assistance in a unified bundle.

Notable features of Cisco's Spam and Virus Blocker appliance are:

• Accuracy: Assists to ensure that email-borne attacks and spam are intercepted and legitimate email is delivered.
• Continuous automatic updates: Non-stop interaction with SenderBase security, a network library of email safety threats, ensures that the Spam & Virus Blocker installs the most current patches to guard your corporate email.
• Simple installation and use: User-friendly web-based installation wizards allow you to configure the Spam Blocker in almost any environment in minutes, delivering immediate protection for your business.
• Streamlined administration: As soon as you deploys the the Spam Blocker, you benefit from junk mail and malware filtering with no extra hassle required of your network support staff.

Cisco NSS2000 and 3000 Network Storage Systems
The NSS2000 and 3000 Network Storage Systems offer the dependable security and advanced data backup features that your company requires, at a price small companies can handle. The NSS3000 accommodates as much as to 4 terabytes of data and as many as 15 concurrent clients per enclosure, provides the ideal answer for holding, accessing, and archiving your vital business data. As distinct from less sophisticated network-attached storage systems, the Cisco NSS3000 delivers the state-of-the-art archiving, cryptography, user authentication, and high availability your company requires.

The Cisco Small Business NSS3000 four-Bay Gigabit Storage enclosure supports any certified disk drive. The chassis provides a range of capabilities in a desktop-size footprint designed specifically for small businesses. The Cisco NSS3000 Storage Chassis also offers your company the flexibility to deploy the system without any attached hard disks, to reconfigure it at any time, and to link several NAS chassis together, providing a platform that can smoothly expand with your business.

You can utilize the Small Business NSS2000 or NSS3000 Network Storage Systems to:

• Intelligently copy vital information from each desktop and application server in your organization
• Offer unified preservation and distribution of important files
• Employ Continuous Data Protection to back up automatically every version of each file saved by employees, permitting you to recover data easily
• Store and save video from your surveillance cameras

Smart Business Communications System
The Cisco SBCS Version 1.4 is an easy-to-manage and comprehensive sharing and communications system that enables small companies to interconnect at-home workers, on-the-road workers and employees in separate sites to enhance their ability to communicate with customers and teammates. In Release 1.4, the affordable solution offers enhanced wireless support such as the industry's first wireless desktop IP phone with built-in Bluetooth, the SPA525G IP phone, which allows companies to grow cost-effectively by adding phones in places where traditional telephone lines or network cables are not present or cannot conveniently be added.

Other new pieces of the Cisco Smart Business Communications System (SBCS) 1.4 version are:

• Cisco's 520 Secure Router product to help protect the company's network and give employees secure access to the Internet and important business data remotely or locally
• The Cisco Configuration Assistant v. 1.9 to enable partners to simplify the configuration and deployment of solutions created specifically for certain businesses

How Progent's Certified Professionals Can Assist Your Company to Get the Most Out of Cisco Technology
Progent's Cisco-qualified support professionals and Cisco CCIE networking experts can assist you to assess new Cisco products to understand their usefulness for your IT system, deploy Cisco solutions to improve the security and efficiency of your information network, and troubleshoot Cisco devices both onsite and online to keep your network running dependably. Progent's consultants offer a variety of affordable support services to improve the reliability, protection, efficiency, and maintainability of a small business IT system:

Immediate Online Access to Cisco CCIE Certified Network Engineers
Progent delivers convenient, quick, and low-cost help from CCIE engineers. CCIEs are highly-qualified networking experts who are awarded this prestigious certification only after thorough testing by Cisco. CCIEs can tackle even the most challenging problems surrounding network infrastructure planning, setup, repair, and service. Progent's CCIE professionals work intimately with Cisco in-house staff in analyzing problems with Cisco's IOS software and developing fixes or acquiring patches to correct problems. Progent offers fast contact with a CCIE by telephone so that you are able to receive instant assistance for tough network troubles that are undermining business efficiency but are outside the expertise of your usual IT service providers. Progent's CCIE consulting engineers can access your network via state-of-the-art remote connectivity tools in order to provide timely and affordable diagnosis and repair of urgent infrastructure problems.

Cisco Voice over IP Phone and IP Video Phone Solutions
Progent's Cisco VoIP phone and video IP phone consultants can help your business to configure, maintain, and troubleshoot Cisco VoIP phones, desktop video IP phones and wireless IP phones. Progent can provide support for all models of Cisco's IP phones from discontinued VoIP devices to the newest HD media phones. Progent's IP telephony experts can also help you to integrate your IP phones with Cisco Unified CM, formerly known as CallManager, or with Unified Communications Manager Express (CME) to build a state-of-the-art IP-PBX ecosystem for unified messaging and company-wide collaboration. Progent's consultants can deliver support with all aspects of Cisco IP Phone integration including reviewing dial plans, solving QoS, configuring SIP gateways, deploying ISR routers with CUBE VoIP networking capability, and designing Cisco UCS server failover and Cisco SRST solutions for high availability. For more information on Progent's expertise for Cisco's collaboration solutions, read Cisco IP Telephony and Unified Communications Professional Support.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Cisco CallManager Collaboration
Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM), previously known as CallManager, is the foundation of Cisco's collaboration portfolio. CUCM and Cisco Unified CM Express (CME) offer a location-independent IP-PBX solution by integrating with apps like Cisco Unified CM IM and Presence Service with Jabber support, Cisco Unity Connection for voicemail management, Mobile Connect for Single Number Reach (SNR), and Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise for building a highly automated customer contact center. Progent's Cisco-certified CUCM and CallManager consultants can assist with any facet of Unified CM setup and troubleshooting in areas that include integrating Voice over IP phones and video phones, designing dial plans, configuring SIP trunking and PSTN calling, deploying ISR G2 routers with CUBE support, designing Cisco UCS server failover solutions for high availability, and integration with Exchange Server.

Cisco ASA and PIX Firewall Support
Progent's experienced Cisco network security consulting professionals offer expert PIX Firewall and ASA Firewall engineering services covering architecture, configuration, and support of Cisco firewall and Cisco security solutions. The PIX and ASA Series of Cisco firewalls delivers robust user and software policy enforcement, sophisticated attack protection, and secure connectivity services. Ranging from economical, plug-and-play desktop devices for small and home businesses to scalable gigabit appliances, Cisco PIX and ASA Firewalls offer advanced security, high throughput, and high reliability for network environments of all sizes. PIX and ASA Firewalls are based on a hardened, specially designed operating system, eliminating possible OS-specific security gaps.

Network Security Inventory and Audit Packages
Progent's GIAC and CISA-premier security engineers can provide a range of budget-friendly network security Inventory service bundles and security assessment service bundles designed to give businesses of any size a chance to get an independent opinion about the quality of their protection profile. The packages range from low-cost external security scan and internal security scan packages for small and midsize businesses up to a high-level security assessment package for institutions who have to meet security levels required by state agencies or by customers. For each security assessment bundle, engineers with high-level security credentials evaluate and summarize collected information and provide suggestions for effective improvements.

SIP Infrastructure Solutions: SIP Trunks and Cisco CUBE Configuration Consulting
Progent's Cisco CCIE-certified SIP trunk consultants and Cisco CUBE integration consultants can help your business to plan, deploy, maintain, debug and upgrade Cisco's SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) connectivity technology and Cisco's CUBE (Cisco Unified Border Element)-based IP PSTN trunks. Progent offers cost-effective online or on-premises expertise to help businesses to migrate smoothly to a modern unified communications ecosystem that delivers fast return on investment. Progent's certified Microsoft unified communications experts can assist you to establish interfaces between Cisco's CUBE SBC and Microsoft's VoIP and IP video platforms such as Skype for Business Server and Lync Server for connectivity to a SIP-based IP PSTN trunk.

Consulting and Support Consulting and Troubleshooting Expertise for Cisco Wireless Solutions
Progent can give you access to a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert or Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) to assist you to develop a comprehensive wireless network design and implementation strategy that incorporates a wide range of wireless devices and technologies and provides the identical protection, scalability, and manageability you demand from your wired network. Progent can assist you to implement seamless integration between Cisco wireless technology and wireless technology from third-party vendors to offer your business the functionality you need as well as the most protected, reliable, and cost-effective WLAN system possible. Progent's CISM, CISSP, and ISSAP security professionals can show you how to design security into your wireless network and into your company's processes.

Simplified Management Solutions for Cisco-powered Small Business Networks
Progent's Cisco-Certified network consultants can provide help with Cisco's network management utilities along with a range of specialized third-party products to create a complete management automation strategy to keep your environment operating reliably, fully utilize expensive resources, protect your data, revive quickly from device failure or malicious attacks, and allow you to add or reassign network components sensibly and affordably as your business evolves.

To find out additional information concerning Progent's consulting services for Cisco connectivity and communications technology, phone 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.