Cisco kicked off its annual WebexOne conference today, announcing plenty of updates to its popular Cisco Webex workplace collaboration app. The two-day event brings thought leaders, customers, and partners together to tackle issues like how to enable the future of work while ensuring it remains as productive as it would in a traditional office setting.
Much of the conversation surrounded the fact that work has changed forever; and that we can expect a combination of remote and on-premises work. Jeetu Patel, SVP and GM, Security & Applications, Cisco, said at this year’s event:
“Cisco’s purpose is to power an inclusive future, and collaboration technology plays a critical role in leveling the playing field so everyone can take part in the global economy regardless of geography, language, and personality type”
New to the Webex App
Let’s dive into the more than 50 innovations announced at the start of the conference today. Now available via the Webex app, noise cancellation, and speech enhancement. Starting today, no more disruptive typing or background noise interrupting your meetings. The Webex platform now automatically detects and suppresses common noise types.
Transcriptions and closed captioning are also fresh to the platform and make it easier for participants to focus on meetings while taking fewer notes. According to Cisco, the transcripts are searchable. They also highlight action items, and the Webex Assistant can create said action items using verbal commands.
Enhanced video layouts have made their way into the Webex app and will let users change their video layout using simpler controls. There is also the Webex Huddle, which enables users to call specific team members into an ad-hoc meeting with one click.
Coming Soon to Webex
In-meeting gestures will soon grace the Webex platform. How does it work? If you’re in a meeting, you can perform gestures like giving a thumbs up. Using artificial intelligence, the software translates your motion into a thumbs up for all to see. In what Cisco has called an industry-first, immersive sharing will be available in 2021. The feature will let users soon share their presentation, video, or application as a dynamic background with video overlayed, creating what Cisco calls a more ‘immersive experience.’ Also coming in 2021, real-time translation. According to a statement by Cisco: ”
“As of February, you will be able to take part in your native language and get localized, real-time transcription of the active speaker, available in 10+ languages”
This will include transcriptions in English, Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, Dutch, and Japanese, with more languages to be added. Webex meeting attendees can soon save and share meeting attachments and recordings saved within the Webex app task-bar. New meeting templates are on the way, too, and users can put time limits on meetings using the quick syncs feature.
Webex Meetings are Getting Bigger
Another upgrade for the popular workplace collaboration app, available in the new year, bigger meetings. Using a new feature called Webex Events native live streaming, coming later this month, you can also host up to 100,000 active meeting participants.
New in Messaging
“No more looking for key projects and people,” Cisco wrote in a statement. With its new AI enhancement, Webex can learn which projects, spaces, and people are most important to you and place them at the top of your priority list. This capability will become available in 2021.
If you’re tired of missing messages and meetings, these next two features are for you. Starting in 2021, users can highlight relevant messages and tasks with new Webex message pinning and mark as ‘unread.’ In February, Webex will start sharing recordings with the individuals and group spaces users specify.
Coming Soon to Webex Calling
Users can soon escalate a phone call to a Webex meeting, and they can access new ways to buy Webex. Starting mid-December, customers can leverage new calling plans with PSTN delivered by Cisco. First available in the US and Canada, Cisco has plans to expand globally throughout 2021.
Last year, Cisco introduced People Insights profiles. Today, the company announced plans to expand the feature, making it into a new suite of features. “Powered by the Webex Graph, these new features deliver personalized insights and actionable recommendations to individuals and teams,” Cisco said in a statement.
They can highlight trends the extend far beyond that of Outlook, especially for individuals, including when you usually start and stop your day. The suite can also let you know how much time you spend on video calls and a lot more. It could be beneficial for teams who want to visualize team interaction patterns, etc.
The all-new Webex Contact Center
Hoping to reduce the time and effort agents spend hunting down answers to important customer queries, Cisco introduced new AI-powered voice and chatbots that do that. Agents have access to customer sentiment via the Webex Experience Management platform that is now integrated with Webex Contact Center.
The new Webex App Hub has a host of new integrations, including ones with Box, Dropbox, MIRO, Mural, Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Workplace from Facebook – with more to come.
Cisco introduced three new meeting devices, too. The Webex Desk Camera leverages AI like facial recognition and occupancy metrics. It lets users mute and un-mute their microphones without ever touching their computer. Webex Desk Hub lets users reserve a desk via their laptop, badge, or mobile device. The process uses the devices to authenticate you are who you say you are.
Finally, Webex Desk leverages environmental data, occupancy information, and dek usage to help IT pros manage workspaces. This feature is available in preview.
