Updates and enhancements for collaboration tools are pouring out thick and fast lately. As companies continue to rely on their collaboration platforms as the heart of team performance, vendors are keen to prove they have the best solution.
Cisco recently announced it’s latest changes to the Webex platform for November on the Webex blog. The updates include everything from dark theme to automatic in-meeting mute warnings. Here’s what you need to know about the latest platform transformations.
Updates to Webex Meetings and Collaboration
In Webex Meetings, you can now remove background noise from conversations. Filter out the background before or during a call by clicking Remove background noise in your settings. You can also enjoy an experience intended to reduce eyestrain with the new dark theme option. Click on the View menu to switch between light or dark mode.
Automatic in-meeting mute warnings will inform you when you’ve forgotten to turn off mute when you begin speaking. Events and Meetings from Webex can throw up a notification if you’re trying to speak when still on mute.
From a collaboration perspective, Webex is adding new intelligence to team experiences. Bots can automate your workflow and offer proactive notifications. For instance, the Microsoft Outlook bot will tell you if you get an email when you’re working on Webex. There’s also a “Confluence cloud” bot which will tell you about updates to blogs and pages in Confluence when you’re on Webex.
The Birthday bot from Webex is a fun new feature which will help business leaders and colleagues to keep track of birthdays in their teams. The new bot will be available soon within the Webex App hub.
Webex Calling and Devices
Webex has also implemented its feature to remove background noise to the Webex calling experience. You’ll be able to select this setting option when you’re in a call through the settings tab. The unified Webex app can remove everything from vacuum sounds to leaf blowers and other unwanted noise while giving your voice a boost. The feature should be available this November.
Another feature for Webex calling this month is Call Queue availability. The agents who are members of a queue can set their availability to determine when they receive calls to make routing more effective. The feature makes it easier to work from home without a desk phone. Users can choose their availability in the Webex mobile or desktop client.
If you need to keep track of contacts with Webex Calling, there’s also a new feature to enhance the way you manage contacts. Right click on any entry in your call history and you’ll be able to add that person to your contact list, call the person back, send an email, send a message, or launch a meeting.
Webex is also adding new features to the mix to enable app and device experiences to support more hybrid work solutions. You can remove background noise on the Webex RoomOS devices, and access new mute controls. The updated mute controls join an expanded roster view option to create more consistent experiences across device and app experiences. Co-hosts and hosts will now have more control over their Webex audio directly from a Webex device.
New features include the option to unmute and mute everyone, enable mute on entry, and control whether participants are able to “unmute.”
Integrations, Industry Solutions and Control
Another update to look forward to in Webex right now, is the arrival of new Webex on Demand features. This allows frontline workers to collaborate with subject matter experts hands-free. A new integration with RealWear HMT-1 will bring new features to frontline workers this November. Staff will have access to group call features to initiate or show active calls or search for calls.
Advanced camera controls will allow uses to adjust exposure and contrast, while taking HD photos. Shared content controls will allow employees to zoom in content, and they’ll be able to login to the service via a companion app. New language support is available now too.
Webex Legislate is a new purpose-built solution for the public sector introduced this month too. The solution helps legislatures to conduct hearings and vote virtually, just like they would in person. The solution is fully secured, and it enables high reliability and availability for institutions world-wide. You can even customize your experience to meet your legislation needs.
From a control perspective, Webex Control Hub for admins will place monitoring, management, analytics, troubleshoot, hybrid, and edge services in a single environment for your needs. New updates to Azure conditional access for SharePoint and OneDrive from Microsoft will allow users to sign into these tools within Webex Teams through Azure Conditional Access.
Enhanced Security and Policy Features
Finally, Webex introduced a solution of updates to security and policy options for Webex. Expanded VDII support for collaboration is now available. Media across calling, team meetings, and content sharing platforms will support 720p video and reduce content hair-pining. Expanded experiences will now also be available, like video breakout rooms, virtual backgrounds, and Webex assistant on VDI clients, for richer collaboration in virtual environments.
New space classification features will allow admins to define Webex space labels based on governance policies within the business. All users can classify the Webex team collaboration spaces they design by Secret, Highly Confidential, Confidential, or Public. This encourages better compliance and user awareness for data classification policies when sensitive content is at risk. You can also restrict external access to spaces based on data classification policies.
Expanded private connectivity options for hybrid deployments of Webex now include PacketFabric. This option promises reliability and added security for organisations that prefer to stay away from OTT connectivity at the edge. With hundreds of worldwide locations, the option for Webex Connect allows companies to interconnect Webex via an owned physical network port and manage virtual connections with a flexible subscription model.
Last but not least, the Webex control hub will provide enhanced access to data through APIs for integration. You can enjoy automatic data access for quality information, aggregated trending data, and more advanced reports. Admins can now pull data in Control Hub through APIs to integrate with dashboards for improved analysis.
