San Antonio Work from Home Employees Configuration Consulting

Expanding your telecommuter workforce can have a major impact on network architecture, security/compliance, and company processes. Progent has 20 years of background assisting businesses of all sizes to plan, configure, manage, tune, and debug IT networks that support at-home workers. Progent can help your San Antonio organization to select the appropriate technologies and follow best practices in creating and operating a secure virtual office solution for telecommuters that facilitates teamwork and delivers top value. Progent offers services that go from on demand expertise for helping you over challenging IT roadblocks to comprehensive project management to help you carry out mission-critical initiatives.

Progent can assist San Antonio, Texas organizations to succeed with any facet of building a high-functioning remote work ecosystem by delivering network infrastructure configuration services, IP voice troubleshooting, voice/video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud integration, Help Desk services, endpoint security, backup/restore solutions, and centralized management.

Infrastructure for Telecommuters
Configuring the physical and software infrastructure required to support an at-home workforce can be especially complicated if you must accommodate a mix of worker-owned equipment like PCs and laptops, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from different manufacturers and with a mix of OS software and firmware levels. Progent's experience delivering remote support for both outdated as well as current IT products in virtual office solutions enables you to make efficient use of your existing network infrastructure and offers ready access to expertise for making essential updates. Support services offered by Progent to assist you to create a high-functioning telecommuting infrastructure include:

• Virtual Private Network (VPN) connectivity allows you to establish a secure tunnel for authenticated remote employees to access IT assets situated at your corporate datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can assist your company to deploy and manage VPN connections between your teleworkers and your various network resources by providing remote VPN integration support. For businesses using Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA consultants can assist your remote workers to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect client software for safe VPN tunneling for a wide selection of devices such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, Apple iOS, Linux, and Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products enable a teleworker to see and use a remote PC's desktop. This technology provides network managers more control over the digital ecosystem of telecommuters and ensures them a familiar experience. Progent's virtual desktop services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
• Routers connect home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN tunnels, home wireless networks, and firewall services. Progent can provide expert online consulting for deploying routers from a variety of vendors. See router integration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wi-Fi networks, often shared by an entire household and guests, are commonly used by at-home employees to connect to their Internet router for work. This can create throughput and security issues. Progent can assist you to resolve these problems by delivering expertise that include Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless installation expertise, and Ubiquiti wireless AP integration help.
• Internet connectivity methods affect the speed and availability of connections between telecommuters and the company network. Line-of-business applications may require backup Internet connections in case the primary connection fails. Progent offers expertise for picking ISPs, selecting sensible service packages, and configuring fault-tolerant Internet access. See Internet access integration services.

IP Voice Integration for Remote Workers
Expanding the business phone environment to accommodate remote users is critical to maintaining a productive work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-centric VoIP platforms are popular with small and mid-size businesses to support telecommuters. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's current or legacy platforms for IP voice solutions. Progent can help organizations of any size to design or maintain a remote IP voice service that delivers the flexibility, convenience and protection needed for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants offer advanced support to assist businesses tune 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, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media apps used throughout the network. Unified Communications Manager manages additional mixed media services like messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For details about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM expertise, visit Cisco Unified Communications Manager consulting services.
• Cisco CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent's consultants can assist you to support your current CallManager environment or upgrade efficiently to Cisco's modern IP telephony solutions. To find out about Progent's expertise for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other older IP voice products, see CallManager consulting services.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with public telephony networks and with clients operating beyond the corporate firewall such as telecommuters. Progent offers expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products as well as for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco SIP gateway configuration consulting.
• Other VoIP Platforms supported by Progent include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to expand your wide area network infrastructure to support these solutions and provide as-needed integration and troubleshooting expertise.

Video Conferencing for At-Home Workers
A broad selection of video conferencing products from major vendors enable virtual meetings, video conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both local users and telecommuters. Many companies utilize multiple conferencing products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent's communications experts can help you to maintain your existing conferencing environment and optimize the experience of your remote employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular unified communications platform that enables presence, IM, voice and video calling and conferencing plus the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the skills of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help you to set up and manage Skype for Business client software to support your at-home workforce. For details about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business consulting services.
• FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone app for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later versions of FaceTime support as many as 32 simultaneous users for video calls. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Apple FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center provides remote conferencing for most desktop or mobile devices. Offered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing granular content or screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based recording, plus editing and playback for future reference. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Cisco Webex and for other video conferencing solutions from Cisco, visit Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a hub for conferencing, contacts, and information with features that include IP voice and video calling, persistent chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support expertise for Microsoft Teams and for other Microsoft 365 apps, see Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Other Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver integration and troubleshooting services for these conferencing platforms and help your business to tune your network architecture to host them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office families, providing a powerful environment of productivity apps that create a cohesive user experience for sharing data and ideas across multiple sites and on a wide selection of endpoint devices. Progent has provided online consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their original publication and can help your company to deploy these flagship collaboration platforms to optimize the effectiveness of your remote 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 with Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to provide real-time collaboration and communication. Designed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can support chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and app sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (previously called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its complete range of capabilities. For additional information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams, see planning and deployment expertise for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint utilizes web sites to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing by providing policy-based access to data, business processes, and utilities for searching through company-wide information silos. SharePoint permits you to build secure web portals that permits at-home workers to see and update consolidated business intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts. To find out about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, go to SharePoint integration and 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. To learn about Progent's Exchange consulting services, refer to deployment consulting for Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud storage service, similar to GoogleDrive. At-home users can save files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers can share them safely via a browser. Provided with Microsoft 365, OneDrive allows home workers to co-author files. Edits made offline are synced when you go back online. To find out about Progent's expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, go to Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.

Public Cloud Integration for Telecommuters
Progent can provide affordable remote support for helping businesses to create, maintain and troubleshoot cohesive network models that combine internal data centers, at-home workers, branch offices, plus public cloud resources. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all types of cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help remote workers fix issues with public cloud access, identity, and security.

Microsoft Azure is a popular family of public cloud software and services that allows you to use IT infrastructure, servers, and key apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure includes more than 100 services services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-powered VMs, scalable cloud storage, messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can help your organization to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure storage on Azure Storage services, unify 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 establish protected access to Azure services for at-home workers by configuring and debugging firewalls and VPN tunnels. For details about Progent's support services for Azure, go to Microsoft Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365, formerly called Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of business productivity software and cloud-based services offered by subscription. Microsoft apps and cloud services are marketed in a variety of bundles intended for users ranging from students and small offices to major enterprises. Progent can provide fast and affordable remote access to experts knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible devices running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent can help your business to assess the various subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and configure 365 applications for your teleworkers in a way that delivers top business value. To learn about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 consulting services.

Exchange Online is one of the most widely used applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Exchange Online provides the advantages of lower spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and additional benefits inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has engineered Exchange Online to run transparently with on-premises deployments of Exchange, allowing you to build hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's certified Exchange experts are available for occasional assistance to guide you through tough IT bottlenecks and can also provide comprehensive project management outsourcing to ensure your teleworkers have convenient and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online environment. For details Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, see Exchange Online configuration and support expertise.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud computing market and is the world's leading source of cloud services. Progent can provide rapid and economical online contact with cloud connectivity experts who can help your business to design, implement, maintain, and debug hybrid IT networks that incorporate Amazon AWS cloud services with on-premises data centers and with other popular cloud platforms like Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist you to create a high-uptime network model to make sure your users have a productive computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a branch office, at home, or on the road. To find out about Progent's support services for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a popular collection of cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help you to extend your existing IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA experts can help you make your key apps cloud ready so your remote workers can take full advantage of Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can assist your organization to set up VMs on GCP Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage solution with Google Cloud Storage services, and streamline identity control for teleworkers with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent's experts can also assist your business to utilize GCP's management tools to control and track your GCP environment. For details, see Google Cloud Platform integration expertise.

Help Desk Services for Remote Workers
A sudden, organization-wide transition to a from-home business model, which might be driven by an epidemic or as an element of a disaster recovery plan, can overwhelm even the most efficient internal Support Desk. Progent's Call Center services allow businesses to outsource or expand their Help Desk by using Progent's online Technical Response Center team.

• Progent's Standard Help Desk Call Center services leverage Progent's extensive network of remote IT support experts combined with enterprise-class ticketing and tracking software to provide an economical, modern Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that handles all facets of online Level 1 desktop support from help requests through ticket creation, desktop sharing, problem resolution, and incident reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal allows teleworkers to track or revise their active trouble tickets, enter information, and append screen captures or relevant files. Support services are provided at a substantial price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 desktop support rates, and Progent makes available the option of fast escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support specialists to deal with advanced problems. To find out more, refer to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size companies.
• Progent's Call Center Supplemental Service enables your company to supplement your current Call Desk organization by splitting delivery of Call Center support services seamlessly between your in-house IT support staff and Progent's nationwide team of PC support technicians and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Help Desk service is based on a collective support model utilizing the leading professional services automation tool for handling help requests and ticketing, establishing responsibility, monitoring progress, and producing reports. To find out how Progent's Help Desk Supplementation Services can enable your business to provide best-in-class desktop support to your teleworkers, refer to Progent's Call Center supplementation Services.

Security for At-Home Workers
Work-from-Home (WFH) employees commonly use their personal devices and usually work in a poorly secured physical environment. This situation multiplies their susceptibility to cyber attacks and calls for careful deployment of corporate firewalls, AV tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote endpoint monitoring, extensive user education, and the creation of security policies based on best practices. Progent's veteran group of cybersecurity support consultants can assist your business to plan, configure and manage an effective security solution that protects critical IT resources in networks that include at-home workers.

Firewalls allow you to create a network environment that can be safely accessed by on-premises users as well as by an at-home workforce, mobile employees, vendors, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances allow you to assign and control different permissions to various classes of users and to scale your IT network and modify your security profile as your company evolves and as cyber threats grow more sophisticated. Progent works with both new and older firewall appliances from all leading vendors including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall support services, refer to firewall configuration and support services.

Online Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the various devices used by at-home workers and either reject or identify and respond to modern cyber attacks such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight software agent is installed on every secured endpoint, watching all activity and using advanced behavioral threat analysis from SentinelOne to identify new threats at inception. When a cyberattack is spotted, ProSight ASM instantly disconnects the impacted device from the corporate network to quarantine the malware. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is autonomous, endpoint devices stay protected even if they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, visit remote endpoint security monitoring for remote workers.

Progent's Duo MFA Services incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to defend against password theft through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo supports single-tap identity confirmation with Apple iOS, Android, and other personal devices. With 2FA, when you sign into a protected online account and enter your password you are requested to verify who you are via a device that only you have and that is accessed using a different network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be used as this second form of authentication including an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You can designate multiple validation devices. For more information about Duo two-factor identity validation services, refer to Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for telecommuters.

Security Audits can assess the exposure of your information system to all classes of external and local security threats for a network that includes telecommuters. Progent can run remote, automated security inventory software for quickly and affordably uncovering a wide variety of security holes that can be found over the Internet. Progent's security audit experts, which can be managed by security experts with top certifications including CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help your company to evaluate your processes and policies and review your WAN architecture to enable you to implement top-level protection for your telecommuters.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated threat assessment of your at-home environment as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can expose, rank, fix, and confirm security vulnerabilities before threat actors can exploit them. Progent can help you to use NodeZero to perform comprehensive pentests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to determine your current security posture. Progent can also assist you to harden your existing network security and can assist you to plan and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and provides optimum cyber defense for on-prem, cloud-based, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To find out more details about Progent's vulnerability analysis services powered by on NodeZero's pentest products, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's Pentest Platform.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To read or download a white paper describing key things to focus on for securing a network that supports telecommuters, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for At-Home Workers
The field of Data Protection covers backing up and recovering vital information in order to prevent data loss and reduce recovery time and effort in case of storage problems due to hardware issues, programming glitches, human error, malware, or any other reason. Dependable data protection solutions can be especially difficult to design and manage in hybrid environments that incorporate in-house data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

• Backup/Restore solutions for an at-home workforce must address multiple types of user-owned endpoint devices. Progent offers quick online access to experts knowledgeable about a broad range of products for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktops as well as laptops, iPads and handhelds. Leading backup/recovery solutions maintained by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect data spread across a wide area network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud storage and features granular restore and centralized management.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) strategies commonly envision circumstances that call for a quick changeover to an at-home workforce. Progent's expert disaster recovery preparedness experts and business continuity specialists can help your company to create, document and test a DR/BC plan that addresses the process of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for At-Home Workers
Microsoft has renamed and rebundled its endpoint management products under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud management of mobile and remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager features a unified platform for protecting corporate information by controlling local, mobile, and home-based endpoints.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and securing off-premises computers and software. Managed endpoint devices can be personally owned or company owned. IT administrators managing the enrolled endpoint devices of teleworkers can use Intune to deploy and authenticate apps on managed devices, push patches and certificates, set up policies for permission to access information and networks, set passwords, create VPN connections, control how home-based workers share data, set up threat defense, verify security compliance, and wipe corporate data from missing, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Microsoft Intune works with iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X computers. To learn about Intune and how Progent can assist you to use this platform to administer the endpoint computers of your at-home workforce, see Intune telecommuter device management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized Mobile Device Management (MDM) product that helps network managers to keep remote endpoint devices up to date and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch for unified endpoint management plus VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for access control, application management, and setup management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE operates with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-site deployment via a one-time purchase. Top capabilities of VMware Workspace ONE include fast over-the-air deployment of new notebooks, quick onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of endpoints, aggregated management reporting and performance analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud products. For information about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE remote device management expertise.

Contact Progent for Telecommuter Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about creating and managing an efficient work-from-home environment for your San Antonio, Texas company, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.