Latest Cisco Webex Devices And Updates Revealed At Cisco Live 2022
From Webex Calling updates to new devices and integrations, here are the updates to the Cisco Webex platform that were unleashed at Cisco Live 2022.
Cisco Systems’ Webex platform quickly emerged as one of the leading videoconferencing and collaboration offerings for businesses all over the globe when the COVID-19 pandemic changed life for millions of workers. Despite being a leader, the company has continued to build out and improve the Webex platform with more than 1,000 new features, capabilities and device options to match employees’ needs, regardless of whether they are returning to the office, working from home or something in between.
According to a recent Cisco study, video users of Webex collaboration devices reported 30 percent fewer frustrations and video fatigue than solely relying on a laptop for their meetings. To that end, Cisco introduced a handful of new Webex devices and features last month. The company has proved time and time again that it‘s not resting on its collaboration laurels, and just one month later Cisco has two new devices it’s bringing to market.
Hybrid work is clearly here to stay, and employees are relying on many applications to get their work done. That’s why Cisco is adding more integration to its Webex suite, this time between Webex Webinars and Salesforce and Oracle Eloqua. For administrators, Cisco is adding more visibility and help with problem-solving in the form of Control Hub as a Coach and integrations with ThousandEyes.
From Webex Calling updates, to new devices and integration, here are the updates to the Cisco Webex platform that were introduced at Cisco Live 2022.
These Are The Key Webex Devices And Updates
Webex Calling Updates
Webex Calling, Cisco‘s cloud-based phone system inside the Webex collaboration suite, has been boosted with a few new capabilities aimed at improving reliability and the user experience. Webex Calling now includes site survivability so businesses can make and receive Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) calls during a network outage. This functionality can be deployed and managed through the Webex Control Hub. New audio intelligence enhancements extend Webex’s AI-powered background noise removal technology to PSTN calls with external callers. Webex Calling users can eliminate an external caller’s background noise with one click in the Webex App or on supported devices.
Webex Calling’s audio intelligence enhancements will go live this summer and the local survivability feature will be available for preview this fall for Webex Suite customers. Webex Calling is now available in over 110 countries around the world. Cisco Calling Plans have expanded to the Asia-Pacific region with service in Australia and New Zealand.
Cisco in March revealed that Webex Calling hit a record 6 million users.
Webex Room Bar
To help change company culture when conducting meetings inside the office, Cisco introduced a new room device for huddle spaces and small to midsize meeting rooms.
The new Webex Room Bar uses AI capabilities to ensure everyone in the room is framed and all participants have an equal presence on the call, and that automatic background noise removal minimizes distractions. The latest Room Bar’s spatial audio provides a strong audio experience whether participants are in the room or not.
The Room Bar can connect with third-party video providers in addition to Webex, including Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. The device is available now.
Cisco Video Phone
Cisco unveiled its latest video desk phone: the Cisco Video Phone 8875. The new phone lets users conduct phone calls and video meetings at a time when “hot desking” is becoming the new normal for employees choosing to return to the office a few days a week, Cisco said.
The Cisco Video Phone 8875 offers sharable functionality and personalization for hot desking. Users can access their profile and settings with a QR code and begin video meetings at any desk. Cisco’s audio intelligence powered by AI automatically reduces background noise. The phone offers a 7-inch touch screen and 1,080p display resolution and a camera cover that provides privacy during meetings.
A single management tool lets IT manage the Cisco Video Phone 8875 for on-boarding, analytics, rebooting and problem reporting. The Cisco Video Phone 8875 will be available to order starting in August, according to the company.
Webex Control Hub Enhancements
Control Hub, the central hub for all Webex services, is getting a boost to help administrators and partners identify issues faster and encourage collaboration that fits with the company‘s communication strategy.
Cisco has integrated ThousandEyes, its network monitoring business that it acquired in 2020, into Control Hub. This integration lets administrators diagnose and resolve quality issues with a user’s video meetings, calls and events by drilling into any Webex session to understand the network path from wherever the user is working, including all routes that data travels between users and between the user and Webex cloud. Once the problematic link is identified, Control Hub provides diagnostic information for understanding the issue and the cause.
Cisco also introduced Control Hub as a Coach features, which lets IT track key metrics that they can act on, including security posture, compliance readiness and asset management. Administrators can see employee usage of video calls, meetings and other applications to help these end users more effectively use Webex, according to Cisco.
The company also this month launched its ethical wall capabilities that lets businesses create communication barriers between restricted groups of people via Control Hub. The feature helps organizations in regulated industries comply with regulatory mandates around internal communications between certain restricted groups and people.
Webex Webinar Integrations
For marketing professionals, Cisco revealed new Webex integration with Oracle Eloqua and Salesforce. The latest integration lets marketers integrate their webinars with their marketing automation and CRM platforms to give them a more holistic view of their prospects so they can respond to leads faster, Cisco said.
In pairing Webex Webinars with Eloqua, professionals can register users to Webex directly from Eloqua forms or landing pages, sync Eloqua contacts directly with Webex Webinar attendees, segment contacts based on Webex Webinar engagement data, and integrate existing lead scoring with Webex Webinar engagement data.
The combination of Salesforce CRM and Webex Webinars gives marketing and sales teams a shared view of each customer activity and can manage data between Webinars and Salesforce lead and customer objects. Users can respond to leads faster, share lead and activity data with sales and keep their database clean, according to Cisco.