Omaha Telecommuters Connectivity Consulting Partner

Enlarging your at-home workforce can have a significant effect on IT infrastructure, security, and company workflows. Progent has two decades of background helping SMBs to design, configure, manage, tune, and troubleshoot IT environments that incorporate a remote workforce. Progent can help your Omaha organization to select the right technologies and follow best practices in building and operating a secure virtual office ecosystem for telecommuters that promotes teamwork and delivers top value. Progent can provide services ranging from on demand guidance for getting you over challenging technical bottlenecks to comprehensive project management or co-management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can assist Omaha, Nebraska companies to with any facet of creating a high-functioning work-at-home environment by delivering network infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX expertise, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud connectivity, Call Desk outsourcing, data security, backup/restore solutions, and centralized management.

Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Integrating the network infrastructure needed for a remote work environment can be particularly complicated if you must manage a mix of personal equipment such as desktop computers and notebooks, routers, and wireless appliances from different vendors and with a mix of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's experience delivering online help for both legacy as well as current technologies in virtual office venues allows you to make efficient use of your available network infrastructure and provides you with fast access to top-tire consultants for implement essential updates. Support services available from Progent to assist your company to create a high-functioning telecommuting infrastructure include:

• Virtual Private Network technology makes it possible to create a safe tunnel for authenticated remote workers to access IT assets situated at your company data center or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can assist your company to configure and maintain VPN connections between your at-home workforce and your various network resources by providing remote VPN integration consulting. For businesses with Cisco's ASA firewalls, Progent's Cisco ASA Firewall consultants can help your telecommuters to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect client software to provide secure VPN tunneling for a broad range of devices including Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products allow a telecommuter to view and use a remote computer's desktop. This technology gives IT managers substantial control over the computing ecosystem of telecommuters and ensures them a consistent and more productive experience. Progent's virtual desktop consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI expertise.
• Routers connect at-home computer networks to the Internet and typically support VPN connections, home wireless connectivity, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier remote consulting for deploying home routers from a range of manufacturers. See router integration services from Cisco-certified consultants.
• Home Wi-Fi networks, often supporting families and visitors, are commonly used by telecommuters to access their Internet router for work. This can cause performance and cybersecurity issues. Progent can help businesses to mitigate these problems by delivering services like Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco Meraki WiFi installation consulting, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless AP setup help.
• Internet access solutions affect the performance and reliability of connections between telecommuters and the company network. Business-critical applications may demand backup Internet access in case the primary connection breaks. Progent can provide guidance for selecting service providers, picking appropriate service packages, and setting up high-availability Internet connections. See Internet access integration services.

VoIP Integration for Remote Workers
Expanding the company PBX system to accommodate telecommuters is vital to supporting a productive at-home workforce. A broad range of cloud-based VoIP platforms are popular with small and mid-size businesses to support telecommuters. Many larger organizations depend on Cisco's current or legacy products for IP voice solutions. Progent can help organizations of all sizes to plan or maintain a telecommuter IP voice environment that delivers the versatility, convenience and security required for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants offer high-level support to help businesses optimize their current Cisco VoIP environments to support an expanding remote workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) delivers enterprise IP telephony capabilities to devices like VoIP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media software deployed throughout the network. Unified Communications Manager supports additional mixed media services like messaging, video conferencing, and team collaboration networks. For details about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM expertise, refer to Cisco Unified Communications Manager consulting services.
• CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been replaced by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent can assist you to support your existing CallManager environment or migrate efficiently to Cisco's current IP telephony solutions. For details about Progent's support services for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other early VoIP products, refer to Cisco CallManager consulting.
• Cisco IP Gateways provide integration with PSTN networks and with users working outside the corporate firewall such as telecommuters. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's legacy IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series as well as for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration consulting.
• Other VoIP Products supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can assist you to update your wide area network architecture to work with these solutions and provide on-demand configuration and troubleshooting services.

Voice/Video Conferencing for an At-Home Workforce
A broad selection of voice/video conferencing platforms from major technology companies support online meetings, video conferencing, chat, and content sharing for both onsite workers and at-home workers. Many companies use a mix of products to accommodate their various partners and customers. Progent can assist you to manage your current voice/video conferencing ecosystem and enhance the engagement of your at-home employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications product that supports real-time presence, instant messaging, audio and video conferencing plus the transparent integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent can provide the skills of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help your company to deploy and manage Skype for Business clients to accommodate your at-home workforce. To learn more about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business consulting services.
• FaceTime is Apple's group video phone app for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and Mac devices. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later versions of FaceTime support as many as 32 concurrent users for voice/video sessions. For details about Progent's support services for FaceTime, visit Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing specific content or screens, presentations that incorporate rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint, session recording, plus editing and playback for training. To learn more about Progent's support services for Cisco Webex as well as for other 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 hub for conferencing, contacts, and information with features that include voice/video calling, persistent threaded chat, plus data sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Teams and for other Microsoft 365 products, visit Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Additional Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide configuration and troubleshooting services for these conferencing platforms and assist you to tune your network architecture to host them.

Microsoft Collaboration Software for Teleworkers
Microsoft's collaboration products are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office families, offering a powerful environment of productivity apps that deliver a cohesive user interface for exchanging information throughout multiple sites and on a wide range of endpoints. Progent has delivered remote consulting services for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange Server since their first publication and can assist your company to deploy these critical collaboration products to maximize 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 works with Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can support chat, video meetings with screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and app sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Entra (formerly called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its complete range of capabilities. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, see solution design and configuration expertise for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint utilizes web entities to promote collaboration and knowledge delivery by offering policy-driven delivery of data, business processes, and tools for looking through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint allows you to create secure portals that enables remote workers to see and edit aggregated corporate intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts. To find out about Progent's SharePoint consulting expertise, refer 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. For information about Progent's Exchange consulting services, go to integration consulting for Microsoft Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud file hosting and synchronization service, similar to GoogleDrive. Remote users can save files to OneDrive, and co-workers can access them safely via a web browser. Provided with Microsoft 365, OneDrive enables at-home workers to jointly author files. Revisions made offline are synced when you go back online. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft OneDrive, visit Microsoft Onedrive integration experts.

Cloud Integration Services for Teleworkers
Progent offers advanced online support for enabling businesses to create, manage and troubleshoot cohesive network models that combine physical data centers, at-home workers, branch offices, plus public cloud services. Progent offers expertise for all types of cloud service including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service. Progent can help remote workers resolve issues with public cloud access, authentication, and cybersecurity.

Microsoft Azure is a popular platform for public cloud services that enables you to utilize infrastructure, servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure features more than 100 services services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, on-demand cloud storage, messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can assist you to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity management with Azure AD, and plan backup and restore solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to create secure connections to Azure services for remote workers by configuring and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Azure, visit Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing suite of client productivity software and cloud services offered on a subscription basis. Microsoft applications and cloud services are provided in a selection of bundles intended for users ranging from students and small offices to large enterprises. Progent offers fast and easy remote access to consultants familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible clients based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can help you to evaluate the numerous subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your remote workers in a way that delivers maximum business value. To find out about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, see Microsoft 365 integration support.

Exchange Online is among the most popular applications in the Microsoft 365 product line. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online provides the benefits of lower spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, dynamic scaling, high availability, and additional benefits associated with public clouds. Microsoft has designed Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate smoothly with on-premises deployments of Exchange, enabling customers to build hybrid information systems. Progent's certified Exchange experts can provide occasional assistance to guide you past tough IT roadblocks and can also provide end-to-end project management outsourcing to make sure your remote workers have convenient and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. To find out Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, go to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online configuration and support expertise.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's top provider of cloud services. Progent offers rapid and economical online access to cloud integration experts who can assist your business to plan, deploy, manage, and troubleshoot 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 consultants to help your company to create a high-uptime network model so your employees have a consistent computing environment whether they are working from your main office, a remote branch, at home, or on the road. To learn about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, visit Amazon AWS consulting support.

Google Cloud (GCP) is a leading set of cloud computing services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can assist your organization to expand your current IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's DBA consultants can help you make your key apps cloud ready so your at-home workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can help your business to deploy virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage system with Google Cloud Storage, and streamline identity management for remote workers with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent's experts can also help your organization to use GCP's management tools to administer and monitor your Google Cloud ecosystem. For information, refer to Google Cloud Platform integration services.

Help Desk Call Center Services for Remote Workers
A rapid, company-wide switchover to a teleworker workforce, which might be the result of an epidemic or as a component of a disaster recovery plan, can overwhelm even the most efficient internal Support Desk. Progent's Help Desk services allow businesses of any size to outsource or supplement their Support Desk with Progent's remote Technical Response Center (TRC) services.

• Progent's Standard Help Desk Call Center support services leverage Progent's nationwide network of online IT support experts combined with enterprise-class ticketing and tracking software to provide an economical, state-of-the-art Help Desk Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that addresses all aspects of online Level 1 PC technical support from initial service requests to ticket creation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and incident reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal enables teleworkers to track or revise the status of their current trouble tickets, enter details, and append screenshots and attachments. Support services are delivered at a significant price reduction off Progent's normal Level 1 technical service rates, and Progent offers optional rapid hand-off to Level 2 and Level 3 support specialists to resolve advanced issues. To learn more, see Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small companies.
• Progent's Call Center Augmentation Service enables your business to expand your existing Call Desk organization by splitting delivery of Support Desk support seamlessly between your in-house support staff and Progent's nationwide roster of desktop support technicians and subject matter specialists. Progent's co-managed Call Center service uses a co-sourcing support model based on the number one professional services automation (PSA) platform for handling service requests and ticketing, establishing ownership, tracking progress, and generating management reports. For information about how Progent's Support Desk Supplementation Services can help your company to deliver best-in-class IT support to your at-home employees, refer to Progent's Call Center supplementation Services.

Security and Compliance for Teleworkers
At-home employees commonly utilize their own computers and often work in an unsecured physical space. This multiplies their vulnerability to cyber attacks and requires judicious configuration of corporate firewalls, AV tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, intensive user education, and the development of policies based on best practices. Progent's seasoned group of data security solutions experts can help your business to design, deploy and maintain a compliant security solution that protects critical IT assets in networks that incorporate at-home workers.

Firewalls allow you to create a network that can be securely utilized by local users as well as by an at-home workforce, mobile users, vendors, clients, and the public. Modern firewall appliances permit you to configure and control different permissions to various groups of users and to scale your IT network and modify your security profile as your business evolves and as network attacks become more sophisticated. Progent supports both new and legacy security devices from all leading manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Juniper, and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall configuration expertise, visit firewall support expertise.

Online Endpoint Monitoring makes it possible to watch over the various computers utilized by at-home workers and either block or identify and respond to the latest threats like ransomware. With Progent's 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 detect zero-day threats before they can spread. When a cyberattack is spotted, ProSight Active Security Monitoring instantly disconnects the infected endpoint device from the corporate network to contain the threat. Since the ProSight ASM software agent is autonomous, endpoints stay protected even when they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, visit remote endpoint monitoring for telecommuters.

Progent's Duo MFA Service Plans incorporate Cisco's Duo cloud technology to protect against password theft by using two-factor authentication. Duo supports one-tap identity confirmation on Apple iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, whenever you log into a protected 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 wide range of devices can be used as this second means of authentication including an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You can register multiple verification devices. For more information about Duo two-factor identity validation services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for an at-home workforce.

Security Audits can assess the exposure of your network to all types of outside and local security attacks for a network that incorporates remote workers. Progent can run online, automated cybersecurity inventory software for quickly and affordably detecting a broad range of security holes that can be found via the Internet. Progent's security audit consulting services, which can be provided by network security professionals with top certifications such as CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help you to evaluate your workflows and governance policies and assess your IT infrastructure to allow you to implement top-level protection for your telecommuters.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a cutting-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that supports automated threat assessment of your at-home connectivity solution and your internal and perimeter networks so you can identify, rank, remediate, and verify security vulnerabilities before threat actors can exploit them. Progent can help you to deploy NodeZero to carry out comprehensive pentests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure so you can determine your present security profile. Progent can also assist you to harden your network security and can assist you to design and implement a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that streamlines management and delivers maximum cyber defense for on-prem, cloud-based, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To learn more information about Progent's vulnerability assessment solutions based on on NodeZero's penetration test platform, refer to Consulting Support for NodeZero's Penetration Test Platform.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network
To view or download a white paper describing key things to focus on for securing an IT environment that includes work-from-home staff, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for Remote Workers
Data Protection involves backing up and restoring vital data in order to prevent data loss and reduce recovery time in the event of storage system failures resulting from hardware breakdowns, software glitches, human mistakes, cyber attack, or other causes. Dependable data protection solutions can be especially difficult to architect and maintain in hybrid environments that combine local data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Recovery solutions for telecommuters must address multiple types of personally owned endpoints. Progent can provide quick online access to consultants knowledgeable about a broad range of platforms for protection Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iPads and handhelds. Leading backup/recovery solutions maintained by Progent's backup/recovery experts include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To protect data distributed throughout a wide area network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud-based storage and features granular restore and centralized management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies typically anticipate circumstances that require a quick switch to an at-home workforce. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning consultants and business continuity consultants can help you to create, document and test a DR/BC strategy that addresses the logistics of switching to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Teleworkers
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud-based management of mobile and remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises computers. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a unified solution for protecting critical information by managing on-premises, mobile, and home-based endpoint devices.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also includes Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and protecting off-premises devices and software. Managed endpoint devices can be personally owned or business owned. IT administrators managing the endpoint computers of telecommuters can use Intune to deploy and validate applications on managed devices, push patches and certificates, set up policies for permission to access information and networks, set passwords, establish VPN connections, determine how home-based workers share information, establish threat defense, ensure compliance, and wipe corporate data from missing, stolen or decommissioned endpoint devices. Microsoft Intune runs with iOS/iPadOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. To find out about Intune and to find out how Progent can help you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the endpoint computers of your telecommuters, go to Intune remote device management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified MDM platform that helps network administrators to keep off-premises endpoint devices up to date and secure. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for unified endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for identity control, application management, and setup management of endpoint devices. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints powered by Windows 10, macOS, Apple iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-site product through a perpetual license. Top features of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid remote provisioning of out-of-the-box notebooks, quick onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of endpoints, aggregated management reporting and analytics, email encryption, and integration with Microsoft apps and cloud services. For details about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management consultants.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To contact Progent about building and managing a productive telecommuter solution for your Omaha, Nebraska company, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.