Addison Work at Home Employees Solutions Consultants

Enlarging your remote workforce may have a significant impact on IT infrastructure, security, and company processes. Progent has 20 years of background helping SMBs to design, deploy, manage, optimize, and debug IT networks that incorporate work-from-home employees. Progent can assist your Addison organization to select the right technologies and adhere to leading practices in building and operating a secure virtual office solution for teleworkers that facilitates collaboration and delivers top value. Progent can provide support services ranging from on demand expertise for helping you over occasional IT bottlenecks to full project management to help you carry out business-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can help Addison, Texas organizations to with any aspect of building a high-functioning work-at-home environment by delivering infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX expertise, video conferencing support, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud integration, helpdesk outsourcing, endpoint security, data protection solutions, and streamlined management.

Network Infrastructure for Teleworkers
Integrating the network infrastructure required for a remote work environment can be especially complex if you must manage a mix of worker-owned equipment like desktop computers and laptops, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi appliances from different vendors and with a mix of operating systems and firmware levels. Progent's experience providing remote help for both legacy and current technologies in remote office solutions enables you to make cost-effective use of your available network infrastructure and offers ready access to top-tire consultants for making necessary upgrades. Support services offered by Progent to assist your company to implement a productive work-at-home ecosystem include:

• VPN connectivity allows you to establish a secure connection for authenticated at-home employees to use IT resources located at your company datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent's consultants can help you to deploy and maintain VPN access between your teleworkers and your key network resources by providing online VPN configuration consulting. For businesses with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco ASA experts can help your telecommuters to set up Cisco's AnyConnect client software for safe VPN connections for a broad selection of devices including Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) platforms allow an at-home worker to see and use a remote PC's desktop. This technology provides network managers substantial control over the digital environment of at-home employees and ensures them a familiar work experience. Progent's VDI services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
• Routers connect at-home computer networks to the Internet and typically support VPN connections, local Wi-Fi connectivity, and firewall services. Progent offers expert remote support for setting up home routers from a variety of manufacturers. See router configuration support from Cisco-certified experts.
• Home Wi-Fi networks, typically supporting the whole family and guests, are frequently used by at-home employees to connect to their router for work. This can cause performance and security problems. Progent can assist you to resolve these issues by providing expertise that include Cisco Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco-certified Meraki wireless installation consulting, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi access point integration assistance.
• Internet access methods impact the performance and availability of connections between telecommuters and the company network. Line-of-business applications might require redundant Internet connections in case the normal connection fails. Progent can provide guidance for picking ISPs, picking sensible service bundles, and setting up redundant Internet access. Refer to Internet access solutions.

VoIP Integration for At-Home Workers
Expanding the company phone environment to include teleworkers is critical to supporting a productive work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-based VoIP products are popular with SMBs to server teleworkers. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's modern or legacy platforms for VoIP management. Progent can help organizations of all sizes to design or tune a remote VoIP service that provides the flexibility, convenience and security needed for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE Voice consultants can provide high-level support to assist organizations tune their current Cisco VoIP systems to handle a growing at-home workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM or CUCM) delivers high-end telephony capabilities to devices such as IP phones, media processing products, VoIP gateways, and multimedia applications used across the network. Unified Communications Manager supports additional mixed media services like messaging, voice/video conferencing, and team collaboration networks. For details about Progent's Unified Communications Manager expertise, visit Cisco Unified CM consulting services.
• CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing agent and has been superseded by CUCM. Progent's consultants can help you to support your current CallManager deployment or migrate smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony solutions. For details about Progent's expertise for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other early VoIP platforms, visit CallManager consulting.
• Cisco IP Gateways provide connectivity with public telephony networks and with clients working beyond the corporate perimeter like at-home workers. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series as well as for modern Cisco SIP gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway integration expertise.
• Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can help you to update your wide area network architecture to work with these VoIP solutions and provide online deployment and debugging expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for Remote Workers
A wide range of voice/video conferencing platforms from major technology companies enable online discussions, video conferencing, chat, and screen sharing for both onsite workers and teleworkers. Many companies use multiple products to accommodate their different partners and clients. Progent can assist you to manage your current voice/video conferencing ecosystem and optimize the productivity of your at-home employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications platform that enables real-time presence, instant messaging, audio and video calling and conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 applications including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent offers the skills of Microsoft-certified specialists who can help you to deploy and maintain Skype for Business client software to accommodate your at-home employees. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business integration services.
• FaceTime is Apple's group video phone platform for iOS and Mac devices. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later editions of FaceTime support as many as 32 concurrent users for video sessions. For details about Progent's support expertise for Apple FaceTime, refer to Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports online conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Delivered through Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing granular content or screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based recording, plus revision and playback for training. For details about Progent's support services for Cisco Webex as well as for additional IP video products 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 video conferencing, persistent threaded chat, plus file sharing. To learn more about Progent's support expertise for Microsoft Teams and for other Microsoft 365 products, see Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
• Other Voice/Video Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide configuration and debugging services for these products and assist you to optimize your network infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for At-Home Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are closely integrated with Microsoft's popular Office suites, providing a powerful environment of applications that create a cohesive user experience for exchanging data and ideas across a corporate network and on a broad range of endpoint devices. Progent has delivered online consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their first releases and can help your company to deploy these critical collaboration products 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. Developed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can enable chat, audio/video meetings with screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, as well as file and application sharing. Teams is closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (formerly called Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of capabilities. To learn more about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, visit solution design and configuration consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint utilizes web sites to allow collaboration and knowledge delivery by offering policy-driven delivery of data, business processes, and utilities for searching through company-wide business data. SharePoint permits you to build protected web portals that enables remote workforce to view and edit aggregated corporate intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts. To find out about Progent's SharePoint consulting services, visit SharePoint integration 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. To learn about Progent's Exchange consulting services, see integration expertise for Exchange.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud file hosting and synchronization service, similar to GoogleDrive. Remote users can store files to the OneDrive service, and colleagues anywhere can retrieve them securely through a browser. Included with Microsoft 365, OneDrive allows remote workers to co-edit files. Revisions created offline are automatically synced when you go back online. For details about Progent's support services for OneDrive, go to Microsoft Onedrive configuration consulting.

Cloud Integration Services for Teleworkers
Progent offers advanced online assistance for helping organizations to build, manage and optimize integrated network models that include internal data centers, teleworkers, branches, and cloud services. Progent can provide top-tier consultant for all modes of public cloud service such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help telecommuters resolve issues with public cloud connectivity, authentication, and security.

Microsoft Azure is a popular platform for cloud software and services that enables you to utilize infrastructure, virtual servers, and key apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure features more than one hundred services services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-powered VMs, on-demand cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can help your organization to set up virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity control 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 secure access to Azure services for at-home workers by configuring and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN tunnels. To find out about Progent's expertise for Microsoft Azure, visit Azure expertise.

Microsoft 365, previously branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of client productivity applications and cloud-based services available on a subscription basis. Office apps and services are provided in a selection of plans designed for customers ranging from students and households to large corporations. Progent can provide fast and affordable online access to consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible clients running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can assist your business to evaluate the numerous subscription plans offered with Microsoft 365 and configure 365 apps for your remote workers in a way that delivers maximum business value. To learn about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, go to Microsoft 365 integration support.

Exchange Online is one of the most widely used applications in the Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online provides the advantages of lower costs for data center infrastructure, simplified management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and additional advantages inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has designed Exchange Online to run smoothly with local Exchange environments, enabling you to build hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's certified Exchange experts can provide occasional help to get you through challenging technical bottlenecks and also offer end-to-end project management outsourcing to ensure your at-home workers have convenient and safe access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online environment. To find out Progent's consulting services for Exchange Online, visit Exchange Online configuration and troubleshooting expertise.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud computing market and is the industry's biggest source of cloud services. Progent can provide quick and economical online contact with cloud integration experts who can assist your organization to plan, implement, maintain, and debug hybrid information networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud services with on-premises resources and with other public clouds such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to assist you to create a high-uptime network architecture to make sure your users have a consistent computing experience regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a branch office, from home, or on the road. To learn about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, refer to Amazon AWS integration expertise.

Google Cloud is a leading suite of public cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's certified Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can assist your organization to expand your existing IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA consultants can help you make your mission-critical apps cloud friendly so your telecommuters can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent can help your business to deploy virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage solution with GCP Storage, and streamline identity management for teleworkers with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent's experts can also assist your business to utilize GCP's management technology to control and track your GCP environment. To find out, see Google Cloud Platform consulting expertise.

Help Desk Support for At-Home Workers
A rapid, enterprise-wide changeover to a telecommuter business model, which might be activated by an epidemic or as an element of a disaster recovery/business continuity preparedness plan, can overwhelm even a high-performing in-house Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services allow businesses of any size to outsource or expand their Call Desk with Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) services.

• Progent's Standard Support Desk services utilize Progent's nationwide team of online technical support specialists along with world-class trouble ticketing and follow-up technology to offer an economical, modern Support Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer an end-to-end solution that addresses all facets of remote Level 1 PC support from initial service requests through trouble ticket creation, desktop sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A browser-based User's Service Portal enables telecommuters to monitor or update the status of their current trouble tickets, add information, and append screen captures and attachments. Support services are provided at a significant price reduction off Progent's ordinary Level 1 technical support rates, and Progent offers optional rapid escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to deal with advanced problems. To learn more, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services outsourcing for small and mid-size businesses.
• Progent's Support Desk Supplemental Service allows your business to expand your existing Support Desk team by sharing responsibilities for Call Center support services transparently between your regular IT support personnel and Progent's extensive team of desktop support engineers and subject matter experts. Progent's shared Call Desk service uses a co-sourcing support model based on the number one PSA platform for managing help requests and trouble tickets, establishing responsibility, monitoring progress, and producing reports. For information about how Progent's Call Desk Supplementation Services can help your business to provide world-class technical support to your at-home employees, refer to Progent's Help Desk Call Center augmentation Services.

Security and Compliance for Teleworkers
Work-from-Home (WFH) workers commonly utilize their personal computing devices and often work in a poorly secured physical space. This increases their vulnerability to malware attacks and requires careful deployment of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote monitoring, extensive user training, and the creation of policies based on best practices. Progent's seasoned roster of data security support experts can help you to plan, implement and maintain an effective cybersecurity solution that guards critical IT resources in networks that incorporate an at-home workforce.

Firewalls enable you to create a network environment that can be safely utilized by on-premises users as well as by at-home workers, mobile users, vendors, customers, and other stakeholders. Modern firewall devices allow you to configure and control appropriate access rights to various classes of users and to scale your IT network and adjust your cybersecurity posture as your business evolves and as cyber threats become more sophisticated. Progent works with both current and legacy firewall devices from all leading manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, SonicWall and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall support services, go to firewall configuration and support expertise.

Remote Endpoint Security Monitoring makes it possible to track the disparate computers utilized by teleworkers and either block or spot and respond to the latest threats like ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight software agent is put on every secured endpoint, watching all activity and utilizing advanced machine learning and full execution context from SentinelOne to detect zero-day threats on arrival. When a cyberattack is spotted, ProSight ASM instantly disconnects the infected endpoint device from the network to contain the threat. Because the ProSight ASM software agent is autonomous, endpoints remain protected even when they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, refer to remote endpoint security monitoring for at-home workers.

Progent's Duo MFA Services utilize Cisco's Duo cloud technology to defend against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables one-tap identity verification with Apple iOS, Google Android, and other personal devices. With Duo 2FA, when you log into a protected online account and give your password you are asked to confirm who you are via a device that only you possess and that is accessed using a different network channel. A wide range of out-of-band devices can be utilized as this added form of authentication such as an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You may register multiple validation devices. To learn more about Duo two-factor identity validation services, go to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for an at-home workforce.

Security Audits can assess the exposure of your information system to all types of external and local security attacks for an environment that incorporates at-home workers. Progent can run remote, automated cybersecurity analysis software for quickly and economically detecting a wide variety of security holes that can be surfaced via the Internet. Progent's security assessment experts, which can be managed by network security professionals with top credentials such as CISM, CISSP, and GIAC, can help your company to audit your processes and policies and assess your network infrastructure to allow you to design top-level protection for your an at-home workforce.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated threat assessment of your at-home connectivity solution and your internal and perimeter networks so you can find, rank, remediate, and verify cybersecurity weaknesses before threat actors can take advantage of them. Progent can help you to deploy NodeZero to perform comprehensive penetration tests of your network perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure in order to determine your present security posture. Progent can also help you to strengthen your existing network security and can assist you to design and deploy a cohesive cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and provides optimum protection for on-premises, cloud-based, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To find out additional information about Progent's vulnerability assessment services powered by on NodeZero's penetration test products, refer to Consulting Support for NodeZero's PEN Test Platform.

Download White Paper: Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To read or download a white paper about critical areas to focus on for protecting a network that includes work-from-home staff, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection Solutions for At-Home Workers
The field of Data Protection involves saving and restoring critical information so as to avoid data loss and reduce recovery time in case of storage system problems resulting from hardware breakdowns, programming hiccups, human error, cyber attack, or any other reason. Dependable data protection solutions can be particularly difficult to design and manage in hybrid environments that combine private data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Restore strategies for at-home workers must address multiple kinds of personally owned endpoints. Progent can provide fast remote help from consultants knowledgeable about a broad range of platforms for protection Windows, Apple Mac and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and handhelds. Popular backup/restore products maintained by Progent's backup/recovery experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Mozy, and Time Machine. To protect resources spread across a wide area network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a backup/recovery subscription service that utilizes cloud-based storage and features granular restore and centralized management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans often anticipate scenarios that call for a quick switch to an at-home workforce. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity consultants can assist your business to create, document and validate a DR/BC plan that addresses the logistics of switching to telecommuting.

Unified Management for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft has rebranded and rebundled its endpoint management products under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud-based management of mobile and remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing onsite endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager features a centralized solution for protecting critical data by managing local, mobile, and home-based endpoints.

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 applications. Managed endpoint computers can be user owned or business owned. Network admins managing the endpoint devices of teleworkers can use Intune to deploy and validate applications on managed devices, push updates and certificates, configure rules for accessing information and resources, manage passwords, establish VPN connections, control how home-based workers share data, set up threat defense, verify compliance, and delete corporate information from lost, stolen or decommissioned devices. Microsoft Intune works with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS devices. To learn about Intune and how Progent can assist you to use this platform to manage the endpoint devices of your telecommuters, see Intune telecommuter endpoint management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified Mobile Device Management platform that helps network managers to keep remote endpoint devices up to date and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch for unified endpoint management along with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for identity control, application management, and setup management of endpoints. Workspace ONE runs with endpoints based on Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises deployment through a perpetual license. Top features of VMware Workspace ONE include fast over-the-air deployment of out-of-the-box laptops, quick onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of devices, unifies reporting and performance analytics, an email encryption gateway, and integration with Microsoft apps and cloud services. To learn about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE mobile device management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about building and managing a productive work-from-home solution for your Addison, Texas business, call 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.