Toronto Work at Home Employees Solutions Consulting and Support

Enlarging your telecommuter workforce can have a significant impact on IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and corporate culture. Progent has two decades of background helping small and mid-size businesses to plan, configure, manage, tune, and troubleshoot IT environments that support at-home workers. Progent can assist your Toronto company to select the appropriate technologies and adhere to best practices in creating and maintaining a safe virtual office ecosystem for teleworkers that facilitates teamwork and delivers top value. Progent can provide services that go from on demand guidance for getting you past occasional technical bottlenecks to comprehensive project management to help you successfully complete mission-critical tasks.

Progent can assist Toronto, Ontario companies to with any aspect of building a high-performing work-from-home environment by providing infrastructure configuration services, VoIP PBX expertise, video conferencing support, collaboration platform selection and deployment, public cloud connectivity, helpdesk augmentation, security and compliance, data protection solutions, and centralized management.

Network Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Integrating the network infrastructure needed for a remote work environment can be particularly complicated if you must manage a combination of personal equipment such as desktop computers and laptops, Internet routers, and Wi-Fi APs from different manufacturers and with a variety of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's background delivering online support for both outdated as well as modern IT products in remote office venues allows you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and offers ready access to top-tire consultants for making essential updates. Support services offered by Progent to assist your company to implement a productive telecommuting ecosystem include:

• Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology makes it possible to establish a secure tunnel for authorized remote workers to use IT assets situated at your corporate datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent can assist you to configure and maintain VPN connections between your at-home workforce and your key network resources by providing remote VPN integration consulting. For businesses with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA Firewall consultants can assist your at-home workers to utilize Cisco's AnyConnect software for secure VPN connections for a wide selection of endpoint devices including Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) products enable a teleworker to view and use a remote computer's desktop. This technology gives network managers substantial control over the digital ecosystem of telecommuters and offers remote users a familiar experience. Progent's virtual desktop services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops VDI solutions.
• Routers attach home computer networks to the Internet and typically support VPN tunnels, home Wi-Fi networks, and firewall services. Progent offers top-tier online consulting for setting up home routers from a range of vendors. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified experts.
• Home Wi-Fi networks, often supporting an entire household and guests, are frequently utilized by at-home employees to access their Internet router for work. This can cause performance as well as cybersecurity issues. Progent can help you to mitigate these problems by delivering expertise that include Cisco Aironet configuration expertise, Cisco Meraki wireless deployment consulting, and Ubiquiti wireless AP integration help.
• Internet connectivity solutions affect the speed and reliability of connections between at-home workers and the company network. Business-critical applications might demand redundant Internet connections in the event the normal connection breaks. Progent can provide expertise for picking ISPs, picking sensible bandwidth and data volume bundles, and integrating fault-tolerant Internet connections. Refer to Internet access solutions.

VoIP Solutions for an At-Home Workforce
Expanding the business PBX system to accommodate teleworkers is critical to supporting a productive work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-based IP voice products are popular with small and mid-size businesses to server telecommuters. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's modern or older products for IP voice management. Progent can assist businesses of any size to design or maintain a remote VoIP service that provides the versatility, convenience and security required for teleworkers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants can provide high-level support to help organizations tune their current Cisco IP voice systems to handle an expanding at-home workforce.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) delivers high-end telephony capabilities to devices such as IP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia apps deployed across the network. CUCM supports other combined media services like unified messaging, voice/video conferencing, and customer interaction networks. For details about Progent's CUCM support, see Cisco Unified CM consulting services.
• Cisco CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM or CUCM. Progent can assist your company to support your existing CallManager environment or upgrade smoothly to Cisco's modern IP telephony products. For details about Progent's support services for CallManager and Cisco's other older VoIP products, visit CallManager consulting.
• Cisco IP Gateways enable integration with PSTN networks and with users working beyond the corporate perimeter such as telecommuters. Progent can provide consulting expertise for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways such as the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series as well as for current Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration consulting.
• Additional VoIP Platforms supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can assist you to expand your wide area network architecture to work with these solutions and provide as-needed configuration and debugging services.

Video Conferencing for an At-Home Workforce
A broad range of voice/video conferencing products from major vendors support virtual discussions, video conferencing, chat sessions, and content sharing for both local users and teleworkers. Many companies utilize a mix of products to meet the needs of their different partners and clients. Progent can assist your organization to manage your existing voice/video conferencing environment and optimize the engagement of your at-home employees.

• Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading unified communications platform that enables real-time presence, IM, voice and video calling and conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can help your company to deploy and maintain Skype for Business clients to accommodate your remote workforce. To learn more about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business integration services.
• FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone app for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS devices. FaceTime works over Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later versions of FaceTime support up to 32 concurrent users for voice/video sessions. For details about Progent's support expertise for Apple FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
• Webex Meeting Center supports remote conferencing for most computing devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex services include sharing granular content or screens, presentations that embed rich media such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, network-based capture, plus editing and playback for future reference. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Cisco Webex as well as for other video conferencing solutions from Cisco, refer to Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
• Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a portal for conversations, contacts, and content with features that include voice/video calling, persistent chat, plus file sharing. For details about Progent's support expertise for Microsoft Teams as well as for other Microsoft 365 products, refer to 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 deliver integration and debugging services for these conferencing platforms and help your business to tune your WAN infrastructure to run them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Software for Remote Workers
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office families, offering a powerful environment of productivity apps that create a consistent user experience for exchanging information throughout multiple sites and on a broad range of endpoints. Progent has provided remote consulting support for Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange since their initial releases and can assist businesses to deploy these flagship collaboration products 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 integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration and communication. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can enable chat, video meetings with screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and application sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and depends 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 and Teams Premium.

SharePoint uses web sites to promote collaboration and information delivery by providing policy-based access to content, business processes, and tools for looking through company-wide information silos. SharePoint enables you to create protected portals that allows at-home workers to view and update aggregated business intelligence via Wikis, Blogs, social web sites, and Web Parts. To learn 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 expertise, go to integration consulting for Exchange Server.

OneDrive is Microsoft�s collaborative cloud storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. At-home workers can store files to the OneDrive service, and colleagues can share them safely via a web browser. Provided with Office 365, OneDrive allows home workers to co-author files. Revisions made offline are synced when you reconnect to the Internet. For details about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft OneDrive, go to Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.

Cloud Integration Services for Telecommuters
Progent can provide fast and affordable remote assistance for helping businesses to create, maintain and repair integrated network architectures that combine internal data centers, teleworkers, branches, and cloud resources. 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. Progent can help remote workers fix problems with public cloud access, identity, and security.

Azure is a leading platform for cloud services that allows you to utilize IT infrastructure, servers, and critical apps running on Microsoft's extensive cloud. Azure offers more than 100 services services including hosting for Windows and Linux-powered virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and data protection. Progent can assist you to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate cloud-based storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity control with Azure AD, and plan backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also help you create protected connections to Azure services for teleworkers by configuring and debugging firewalls and VPN tunnels. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Azure, visit Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of business productivity applications and cloud services available by subscription. Office applications and cloud services are provided in a selection of plans intended for customers ranging from students and small offices to major enterprises. Progent can provide quick and easy online contact with consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible clients running Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can help your business to assess the numerous subscription bundles available for Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your at-home workers in a way that delivers maximum business value. To learn about Progent's support services for Microsoft 365, refer to Microsoft 365 consulting services.

Exchange Online is one of the most popular cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online provides the advantages of lower spending for data center infrastructure, easier management, on-demand scaling, high availability, and additional advantages inherent with public clouds. Microsoft has designed Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate transparently with local Exchange environments, enabling customers to build hybrid cloud/onsite information systems. Progent's certified Exchange experts are available for as-needed assistance to get you past tough IT roadblocks and can also provide end-to-end project management outsourcing to ensure your at-home workers have easy and safe access to your Exchange Online deployment. To learn Progent's support services for Exchange Online, refer to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and support consulting.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a trailblazer in the public cloud arena and is the industry's leading provider of cloud services. Progent can provide quick and affordable online contact with cloud connectivity consultants who can help your business to plan, deploy, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local resources and with other popular cloud platforms such as Azure. Progent also offers access to Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help your company to build a high-uptime network model to make sure your users have a consistent computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, from home, or on the move. To find out about Progent's consulting expertise for Amazon AWS, go to Amazon AWS consulting services.

Google Cloud Platform is a leading collection of cloud computing services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help your business to expand your current IT assets with the Google Cloud, and Progent's database consultants can help you make your critical applications cloud ready so your remote workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent's consultants can help your organization to set up virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, design a cost-effective storage system with Google Cloud Storage, and streamline access management for teleworkers with Google Cloud Identity services. Progent's consultants can also help your organization to use GCP's unified management tools to control and track your GCP ecosystem. To learn, see Google Cloud Platform consulting expertise.

Help Desk Services for Telecommuters
A rapid, organization-wide changeover to a telecommuter business model, which could be activated by a pandemic or as part of a business continuity process, can overwhelm even a high-performing internal Support Desk. Progent's Call Center services allow organizations to outsource or supplement their Help Desk Call Center by using Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) services.

• Progent's Standard Help Desk Call Center support services utilize Progent's nationwide network of online technical support specialists combined with world-class ticketing and follow-up software to provide an affordable, state-of-the-art Help Desk. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services provide an end-to-end solution that addresses all aspects of online Level 1 desktop support from service requests through ticket generation, desktop sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables telecommuters to monitor or edit their current tickets, add details, and upload screenshots and relevant files. Technical support services are provided at a significant discount off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop support charges, and Progent offers optional rapid escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 IT specialists to resolve advanced issues. For more information, refer to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small businesses.
• Progent's Support Desk Augmentation Service enables your business to supplement your current Support Desk staff by sharing responsibilities for Support Desk support seamlessly between your in-house support personnel and Progent's nationwide roster of PC support engineers and subject matter specialists. Progent's shared Call Center service is based on a co-sourcing support solution utilizing the number one PSA platform for managing service requests and trouble tickets, establishing responsibility, monitoring progress, and generating management reports. For information about how Progent's Call Desk Supplementation Services can enable your company to provide world-class desktop support to your at-home employees, see Progent's Call Desk supplementation Services.

Security and Compliance for Telecommuters
Work-from-Home workers commonly use their personal devices and often work in a poorly secured physical space. This situation increases their vulnerability to malware attacks and calls for careful deployment of firewalls, AV tools, MFA-based identity verification, remote endpoint monitoring, extensive user education, and the development of policies built on leading practices. Progent's veteran group of data security solutions experts can assist your business to design, implement and manage an effective cybersecurity solution that protects critical IT assets in environments that include remote workers.

Firewalls allow you to build a network that can be safely utilized by on-premises users and by an at-home workforce, mobile workers, suppliers, clients, and other stakeholders. Next-generation firewall appliances allow you to assign and manage different permissions to different groups of users and to expand your IT network and adjust your cybersecurity posture as your business evolves and as network attacks grow more complex. Progent works with both new and older security appliances from all major manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, and Fortinet. For details about Progent's firewall configuration expertise, go to firewall support services.

Online Endpoint Monitoring makes it possible to track the disparate devices used by teleworkers and either block or identify and respond to the latest threats like ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a lightweight agent is installed on each secured endpoint device, watching all activity and utilizing advanced behavioral threat analysis from SentinelOne to identify zero-day threats on arrival. When an attack is discovered, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the targeted endpoint from the network to contain the malware. Since the ProSight ASM agent is autonomous, endpoints remain secure even if they are disconnected from the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. For details about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, go to remote endpoint monitoring for teleworkers.

Progent's Duo MFA Managed Services incorporate Cisco's Duo technology to defend against password theft through the use of two-factor authentication. Duo supports single-tap identity verification with iOS, Android, and other personal devices. With Duo 2FA, when you sign into a secured application and enter your password you are requested to verify who you are on a unit that only you possess and that uses a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A wide selection of devices can be utilized as this added form of ID validation such as a smartphone or watch, a hardware/software token, a landline telephone, etc. You may designate several verification devices. To find out more about Duo identity validation services, visit Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for teleworkers.

Security Audits can evaluate the exposure of your network to all classes of external and internal security attacks for an environment that includes telecommuters. Progent can run online, automated cybersecurity analysis software for quickly and economically detecting a wide variety of security holes that can be found via the Internet. Progent's security audit experts, which can be managed by network security experts with advanced credentials including CISA, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help you to audit your processes and policies and assess your WAN infrastructure to allow you to design the highest level of security for your an at-home workforce.

Horizon3.ai's NodeZero Pentest Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver automated testing of your work-from-home connectivity solution as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can find, prioritize, remediate, and confirm cybersecurity weaknesses before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent can assist you to use NodeZero to perform comprehensive pentests of your network perimeter and your internal network so you can determine your present security profile. Progent can also help you to strengthen your network security and can help you to design and implement a unified cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and delivers optimum cyber defense for on-premises, multi-cloud, remote, and perimeter IT resources. To find out additional information about Progent's vulnerability assessment services based on on NodeZero's penetration test products, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's Penetration Test Platform.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home Environment
To read or download a white paper about critical things to focus on for securing an IT environment that incorporates telecommuters, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for Telecommuters
Data Protection involves saving and recovering critical information so as to prevent data loss and minimize recovery time in case of storage problems due to hardware breakdowns, software hiccups, operator error, malware, or any other reason. Dependable data protection strategies can be especially challenging to design and manage in hybrid networks that combine local data centers, cloud resources, and an at-home workforce.

• Backup/Restore solutions for at-home workers must address diverse types of user-owned endpoint devices. Progent can provide quick online help from consultants knowledgeable about a wide array of platforms for backing up Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktop computers as well as laptops, iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. Popular backup/recovery solutions maintained by Progent's data protection consultants include Barracuda Backup, Microsoft Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, Acronis Backup and Recovery, Mozy, and Time Machine. To back up resources distributed across a wide area network, Progent can provide ProSight Data Protection Services, a backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud storage and includes fine-grained recovery and centralized management capabilities.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity strategies commonly anticipate scenarios that require a rapid switch to telecommuting. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity consultants can assist your business to produce, document and validate a DR/BC strategy that addresses the process of moving to telecommuting.

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

Intune
Intune is a component of Microsoft's Endpoint Management family that also features Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and securing remote computers and applications. Remote endpoint devices can be personally owned or business owned. IT administrators managing the enrolled endpoint devices of teleworkers can use Intune to provision and validate apps on managed devices, push updates and certificates, set up rules for accessing information and resources, set passwords, establish VPN tunnels, control how home-based workers share information, set up threat defense, ensure security compliance, and erase sensitive data from lost, stolen or deactivated endpoint devices. Intune runs with iOS/iPadOS, Google Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X endpoints. To learn about Intune and to find out how Progent can help you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the devices of your telecommuters, visit Intune mobile endpoint management experts.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized Mobile Device Management product that allows network managers to keep offsite endpoints current and secure. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch technology for centralized endpoint administration plus VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery platform for authorization control, application management, and setup management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE operates with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distributions of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud service or as an on-premises deployment via a one-time purchase. Top capabilities of Workspace ONE include fast remote deployment of new laptops, quick onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all categories of devices, unifies reporting and analytics, email encryption, and tight integration with Microsoft applications and cloud products. To learn about Progent's support services for VMware Workspace ONE, refer to VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about building and maintaining a productive work-from-home solution for your Toronto, Ontario company, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.