New Haven At Home Workforce Integration Consulting Experts

Enlarging your telecommuter workforce may have a significant effect on IT architecture, cybersecurity, and corporate workflows. Progent has two decades of background helping SMBs to design, configure, manage, tune, and debug IT networks that support a remote workforce. Progent can assist your New Haven company to pick the right technologies and follow leading practices in creating and maintaining a safe virtual ecosystem for telecommuters that facilitates teamwork and delivers maximum business value. Progent offers support services that go from as-needed expertise for helping you past challenging technical bottlenecks to full project management or co-management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.

Progent can assist New Haven, Connecticut companies to with any facet of building a high-performing remote work environment by delivering infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX expertise, video conferencing support, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud connectivity, Call Desk outsourcing, security monitoring, data protection solutions, and streamlined management.

Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Integrating the physical and software infrastructure required for an at-home work environment can be particularly complex if you have to manage a mix of worker-owned hardware like desktop computers and notebooks, Internet routers, and wireless APs from different vendors and with a variety of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's experience providing online support for both outdated and current IT products in remote office solutions enables you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and offers fast access to top-tire consultants for implement necessary updates. Support services offered by Progent to assist your company to implement a high-functioning work-at-home infrastructure include:

• VPN connectivity allows you to establish a safe tunnel for authorized remote employees to use IT assets located at your company datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can assist your company to configure and manage VPN access between your at-home workforce and your various network resources by providing online VPN integration support. For organizations using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA experts can help your at-home workers to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect client software for secure VPN connections for a wide range of endpoint devices including Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) products allow a telecommuter to view and use a data center computer's desktop. This gives IT managers significant control over the computing ecosystem of telecommuters and ensures remote users a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's virtual desktop services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI solutions.
• Routers connect at-home networks to the Internet and typically support VPN tunnels, local Wi-Fi connectivity, and firewalls. Progent offers top-tier remote consulting for integrating home routers from a range of vendors. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wireless networks, often shared by families and guests, are commonly utilized by telecommuters to connect to their router for work. This can create performance and cybersecurity problems. Progent can help you to resolve these problems by providing expertise that include Aironet integration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless deployment expertise, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless access point setup help.
• Internet access solutions impact the speed and availability of connections between at-home workers and the company data center. Line-of-business processes may require redundant Internet access in case the normal connection fails. Progent can provide guidance for identifying ISPs, picking sensible bandwidth and data volume offerings, and configuring redundant Internet access. See Internet access solutions.

VoIP Solutions for Telecommuters
Extending the corporate phone environment to accommodate telecommuters is critical to maintaining a productive at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-based IP voice platforms are used by small and mid-size businesses to server teleworkers. Many larger organizations rely on Cisco's current or older platforms for IP voice management. Progent can assist businesses of any size to plan or maintain a remote IP voice service that delivers the flexibility, convenience and security needed for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts can provide advanced support to assist organizations optimize their existing Cisco IP voice systems to support a growing at-home workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) extends enterprise telephony features to devices like IP phones, media processing products, VoIP gateways, and mixed media apps used across the network. Unified Communications Manager manages other mixed media services like messaging, video conferencing, and customer interaction networks. For details about Progent's CUCM support, see Cisco Unified CM expertise.
• Cisco CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM. Progent can help you to maintain your current CallManager deployment or migrate efficiently to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. To learn about Progent's expertise for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other older VoIP products, see CallManager expertise.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with public telephony networks and with users operating outside the corporate firewall like at-home workers. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway configuration expertise.
• Other VoIP Platforms supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can help you to enhance your WAN infrastructure to work with these VoIP solutions and deliver online deployment and debugging expertise.

Video Conferencing for Remote Workers
A wide selection of voice/video conferencing platforms from leading vendors enable virtual meetings, video conferencing, chat sessions, and content sharing for both local workers and at-home workers. Many organizations utilize a mix of products to accommodate their various partners and clients. Progent's communications experts can assist your organization to maintain your existing voice/video conferencing environment and optimize the experience of your at-home employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications product that supports real-time presence, IM, audio and video calling and conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these functions within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the skills of Microsoft-certified specialists who can help you to set up and manage Skype for Business clients to support 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 multiuser video phone platform for compatible iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime runs on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later versions of FaceTime allow up to 32 concurrent users for voice/video sessions. For details about Progent's consulting services for FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center provides remote conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing discrete content or screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint, session capture, plus revision and playback for future reference and training. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Webex and for additional video conferencing solutions from Cisco, visit Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a portal for conferencing, contacts, and information with features that include voice/video conferencing, persistent threaded chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Teams and for other Microsoft 365 products, visit Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Additional Voice/Video Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent's conferencing experts include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide integration and troubleshooting services for these conferencing platforms and assist you to optimize your network infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Platforms for At-Home Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office families, offering a powerful environment of productivity apps that deliver a consistent user interface for sharing data and ideas across multiple sites and on a wide range of endpoints. Progent has provided remote consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange since their first releases and can assist your company to deploy these critical collaboration platforms to optimize 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 works on top of Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration and communication. Developed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can support chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and application sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (previously branded Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of capabilities. For additional information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams, see planning and configuration consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint uses web sites to allow collaboration and information delivery by providing policy-based access to content, workflow, and utilities for searching through enterprise-wide information silos. SharePoint allows you to build protected web portals that allows at-home workforce to see and edit aggregated business intelligence by means of Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts (Widgets). For details about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, go to SharePoint configuration and application development expertise.

Exchange 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 expertise, go to integration consulting services for Microsoft Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud file hosting and synchronization service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home workers can store files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers can retrieve them safely through a browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive enables home employees to co-edit files. Edits made offline are automatically uploaded when you go back online. To learn about Progent's support services for OneDrive, go to Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.

Public Cloud Integration for Teleworkers
Progent offers fast and affordable remote assistance for enabling organizations to create, maintain and repair integrated hybrid network architectures that combine physical data centers, telecommuters, branch offices, plus public cloud services. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all modes of cloud service such as Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help at-home workers resolve issues with cloud access, authentication, and cybersecurity.

Microsoft Azure is a leading family of cloud software and services that enables you to utilize infrastructure, servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure features over one hundred cloud-based services including the ability to host Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can assist you to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity management with Azure Active Directory, and design data backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to create protected access to Azure for remote workers by setting up and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. To find out about Progent's expertise for Azure, see Microsoft Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of client productivity software and cloud services offered by subscription. Microsoft apps and cloud services are marketed in a variety of bundles intended for users ranging from students and households to large enterprises. Progent offers quick and easy online contact with experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible client devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can help you to evaluate the numerous subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 applications for your remote workers to achieve maximum business value. To find out about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 consulting expertise.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online is among the most widely used cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online provides the benefits of reduced costs for physical infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high availability, and additional advantages inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate smoothly with local Exchange environments, enabling you to build hybrid networks. Progent's certified Exchange consultants are available for occasional help to get you through tough technical roadblocks and can also provide comprehensive project management services to make sure your remote workers have easy and safe access to your Exchange Online deployment. For details Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, refer to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting consulting.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's leading source of cloud-based services. Progent can provide fast and economical online contact with cloud integration experts who can assist your organization to plan, deploy, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local data centers and with other popular cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to assist you to create a high-availability network model so your users have a consistent computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a remote branch, at home, or on the move. For details about Progent's expertise for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS consulting expertise.

Google Cloud is a leading set of cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist your organization to expand your current IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database consultants can show you how to make your key apps cloud ready so your remote workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent can help your business to deploy VMs on Google Cloud Compute Engine, plan an efficient storage system with Google Cloud Storage services, and simplify identity control for telecommuters with GCP Cloud Identity services. Progent's experts can also help your business to use GCP's unified management tools to control and track your GCP ecosystem. To learn, see Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration expertise.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Teleworkers
A sudden, company-wide switchover to a from-home business model, which could be the result of an epidemic or as a component of a business continuity preparedness plan, can overstretch even a high-performing in-house Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk services make it possible for organizations to outsource or augment their Help Desk with Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) services.

• Progent's Standard Help Desk Call Center support services utilize Progent's extensive team of online technical support specialists along with enterprise-class ticketing and follow-up technology to provide an affordable, modern Help Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer a comprehensive solution that handles all facets of online Level 1 PC support from initial help requests through trouble ticket generation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows teleworkers to monitor or update the status of their current tickets, enter details, and upload screenshots and relevant files. Technical support services are provided at a substantial price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical service rates, and Progent offers optional fast hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 IT experts to resolve complex problems. For more information, visit Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small companies.
• Progent's Support Desk Supplemental Service enables you to expand your existing Help Desk team by sharing delivery of Call Desk support transparently between your in-house IT support organization and Progent's nationwide pool of desktop support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's shared Call Center service uses a collective support solution based on the number one professional services automation (PSA) platform for managing help requests and trouble tickets, assigning responsibility, monitoring progress, and generating reports. For information about how Progent's Call Desk Supplementation Services can help your company to deliver world-class technical support to your at-home workforce, go to Progent's Call Desk augmentation Services.

Security and Compliance for Telecommuters
Work-from-Home staff members commonly use their personal computing devices and usually operate in a poorly secured physical environment. This situation increases their susceptibility to cyber threats and calls for careful deployment of corporate firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, intensive end-user education, and the creation of security policies based on best practices. Progent's seasoned team of cybersecurity solutions consultants can help your business to design, configure and maintain an effective security solution that protects critical IT resources in environments that include remote workers.

Firewalls enable you to build a network that can be securely accessed by on-premises users and by teleworkers, mobile workers, suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders. Next-generation firewall devices permit you to configure and control appropriate permissions to different groups of users and to scale your IT network and adjust your security profile as your business evolves and as cyber threats become more sophisticated. Progent works with both new and legacy firewall appliances from all major vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall configuration services, refer to firewall integration and support services.

Online Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to watch over the various computers used by remote workers and either reject or identify and respond to modern cyber attacks like ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight software agent is put on every protected endpoint, watching all activity and using advanced machine learning from SentinelOne to identify new threats at inception. When a cyberattack is discovered, ProSight Active Security Monitoring instantly isolates the infected endpoint device from the network to contain the malware. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoint devices stay secure even if they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, see remote endpoint monitoring for teleworkers.

Progent's Duo authentication Services utilize Cisco's Duo technology to protect against compromised passwords by using two-factor authentication. Duo supports single-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using Duo 2FA, when you log into a secured online account and enter your password you are requested to confirm your identity on a unit that only you have and that is accessed using a different network channel. A broad selection of out-of-band devices can be utilized as this added means of ID validation such as a smartphone or watch, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You can register multiple validation devices. For more information about ProSight Duo identity validation services, visit Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for remote workers.

Security Audits can evaluate the exposure of your information system to all types of external and internal security threats for an environment that incorporates teleworkers. Progent can run remote, automated security analysis scanning for rapidly and economically detecting a wide variety of security holes that can be found over the Internet. Progent's security assessment experts, which can be managed by data security experts with advanced certifications such as CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help your business to evaluate your operations and policies and assess your network infrastructure to enable you to design the highest level of protection for your at-home workers.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports autonomous threat assessment of your work-from-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks to help you find, rank, remediate, and verify security vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can exploit them. Progent can help you to use NodeZero to carry out comprehensive penetration tests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to determine your current security posture. Progent's NodeZero experts can also help you to strengthen your network security and can assist you to plan and deploy a unified cybersecurity ecosystem that simplifies management and provides optimum cyber defense for on-prem, cloud-based, at-home, and perimeter IT assets. To find out additional details about Progent's vulnerability assessment services powered by on NodeZero's pentest products, refer to Consulting Services for NodeZero's Penetration Test Products.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To view or download a white paper about critical areas to concentrate on for securing a network that supports telecommuters, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for Remote Workers
The field of Data Protection covers backing up and restoring critical information so as to avoid data loss and minimize restoration time in the event of storage failures due to equipment breakdowns, programming hiccups, human error, malware, or other causes. Dependable data protection strategies can be particularly difficult to design and manage in hybrid networks that incorporate in-house data centers, public clouds, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Recovery strategies for teleworkers must cover multiple kinds of personally owned endpoints. Progent offers quick online help from consultants familiar with a broad range of platforms for backing up Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktops as well as laptops, tablets and smartphones. Popular backup/recovery products maintained by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To back up resources distributed throughout a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud-based storage and includes granular recovery and centralized management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans typically anticipate scenarios that require a temporary changeover to an at-home workforce. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity planning specialists can help your company to create, document and validate a DR/BC plan that includes the process of moving to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for At-Home Workers
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management products under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which encompasses Intune for cloud-based management of mobile and remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager offers a centralized solution for protecting critical information by managing on-premises, mobile, and at-home endpoints.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting remote computers and applications. Remote endpoint devices can be personally owned or business owned. Network admins managing the endpoint computers of teleworkers can use Intune to deploy and validate apps on devices, push updates and certificates, set up policies for permission to access data and networks, manage passwords, establish VPN connections, control how telecommuters share data, establish threat defense, verify compliance, and delete corporate data from missing, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Intune runs with Apple iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. To learn about Intune and to find out how Progent can assist your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the endpoint computers of your at-home workforce, refer to Intune teleworker device management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform that helps network managers to keep offsite endpoint devices current and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint management combined with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery platform for identity control, application management, and configuration management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE runs with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises product via a perpetual license. Key capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air deployment of new notebooks, quick onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of devices, unifies management reporting and analytics, an email encryption gateway, and seamless integration with Microsoft apps and cloud-based services. To learn about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management consultants.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Expertise
To contact Progent about building and managing an efficient telecommuter environment for your New Haven, Connecticut organization, phone 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.