Take the Mundane Out of Your Meetings: Cisco Enhances Webex to Include More of What You Do Every Day to Get Great Work Done
April 18 2018 - 8:00AM
“Let’s talk about it—I’ll set up a Webex!” Ever heard (or said)
that sentence? If you are like most workers, the answer is yes; the
name “Webex” is synonymous with the word “meet”. It is the gold
standard when it comes to real-time meetings and getting things
done. More than six billion meeting minutes happen in Cisco®
Webex® every month.
But the way people meet is changing. And Webex is ready. To make
it easier for teams to meet and get great work done, today we
announce that we are converging the Cisco Spark™ and Webex
platforms. The result is a new Webex Meetings application for your
meetings and a new seamless team collaboration application called
Webex Teams (formerly Cisco Spark). We are putting all our
award-winning video devices onto this newly converged platform. And
we’re adding a new hardware device that turns any work space with a
TV into a Webex room. We didn’t stop there. We’re making everything
easier to buy. And we’re continuing to apply machine learning and
artificial intelligence that will dramatically improve meetings as
we know them today.
Here’s more information about each part of our news: We
launch an all-new version of Webex meetings. The first
thing you will notice about the new Webex Meetings is that it is
“video first,” meaning you’ll be strongly encouraged to turn on
your camera. That’s because seeing and being seen are fundamental
to good teamwork. Gone are the days when you’d stare at the screen
only to see the presentation. You’ll now see all your teammates, in
crisp, clean layouts whether you are using your laptop, your Cisco
video room device or your mobile device. Because we deliver Webex
through the cloud, the one hundred million people worldwide who use
Webex do not need to take any action. They will simply get the
update in the coming months.
We launch a brand new version of Cisco Spark and at the
same time give it a new name Today’s business challenges
are getting more and more complex, creating an urgency to help
teams connect and get their best work done. We want to make it
simple for our Webex users to take the next step to team
collaboration. Our goal has always been to make Cisco Spark the
simplest, most secure team collaboration tool on the planet. Today,
we launch a new version of Cisco Spark, and give it a new name:
Webex Teams. Now, when companies are ready to make their move to
team collaboration they can do so with the brand that they already
know and love—Webex. All they need to do is add the Teams extension
to start using team-based persistent collaboration. With this new
version, we have completely integrated the technology across the
applications—so you can expect the same rich Webex meeting
functionality in Teams meetings, and a common experience no matter
which you choose. Webex Teams gives you a much richer set of
tools—including whiteboarding, persistent messaging, simple guest
access, content sharing and integrated tools—to support teams both
during and after the meeting. The new name also extends to our
award-winning devices. For instance, the Cisco Spark Board becomes
the Webex Board. That’s because Webex meetings are even better when
you join from one of Cisco’s video devices. We announce a
new device that turns any space with a TV into a Webex
room. While visiting customers we noticed that many huddle
spaces—most, even—have a little-used TV hanging on the wall. What
if we could enlist these TVs to make team huddles better? we asked.
Out of that question came Webex Share™, a low-cost, super-simple
way for teams to share content on the big screen in the
space. Simply plug the palm-sized adapter into the back of
the TV. Pair with the system, and start sharing your document or
screen. When you’re done, keep the work going in your Webex
Teams space. Plus, with Webex Share, teams will be able to easily
reserve rooms, know when a room is already booked, and much more.
Webex Share will be available for Webex Meetings and Teams towards
the end of 2018. We share an all-new roadmap for how Webex
will work with tools from Google, Microsoft, and other
companies. We believe in choice. We want our customers to
be free to choose whichever tool is right for them. Want to use
Webex for meetings but Microsoft for team collaboration? No
problem. With the new Webex you can do just that. We’ll work with
Google, Slack and others, too. It’s important our customers have
choices, and therefore it is important to us to make it easier for
them. We make buying great tools for your team
easy. Buying should be simple and with the Cisco
Collaboration Flex Plan, it is. As of today, companies can simply
pay a subscription fee for each active user. And with Webex
Meetings, now up to 1,000 people can join and we have added more
storage, advanced security and analytics capabilities.
We put artificial intelligence (AI) to work to end lousy
meetings. In November, we announced our plans to use AI to
make meetings better. Today we build upon that in two ways:
Webex Assistant™ (formerly Cisco Spark Assistant) will be available
on more devices and with more functionality. We continue the
journey to inject AI into every meeting, every call, every
conversation and every interaction that you have. Based on
technology from our MindMeld acquisition, Webex Assistant will
start showing up over the next couple of months in all our
cloud-connected Webex Room Kit and Room Series devices. Noise
suppression saves the call. The loud typist. The barking dog. The
side conversation. These are just a few of the annoyances that
disrupt many meetings. But not anymore: all Cisco cloud-connected
and on-premise video devices can now suppress disruptive noises.
This means the next time someone starts loudly shuffling papers on
a call, the system will automatically turn the volume down enough
so that the sound no longer interrupts the conversation. And when
the paper shuffler chimes in with a comment, the system will “know”
that and automatically stop suppressing the sound. To the user,
it’s magic: no need to do a thing. “Everything we do is designed
with people in mind—to help them work, collaborate, and create
together. That’s why we have invested so much in Webex,” said Rowan
Trollope, SVP and GM, Applications Group, Cisco. “Our vision is to
bring this amazing experience to a billion users and conference
rooms all around the world.”
Additional Resources
- Watch the Collaboration Summit keynote live today at 9 am
Pacific.
- Read Jonathan Rosenberg’s blog on our platform convergence
news.
- Read Snorre Kjesbu’s blog on Webex Share.
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Availability Disclaimer: Many of the products and features
described herein remain in varying stages of development and will
be offered on a when-and-if-available basis. These products and
features are subject to change at the sole discretion of Cisco, and
Cisco will have no liability for delay in the delivery or failure
to deliver any of the products or features set forth in this
document.
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