Cisco’s flagship Webex event, WebexOne, took place in Anaheim, California, last week, welcoming an in-person audience for the first time.
The Anaheim Marriott welcomed more than 1,200 attendees, with a further 15,000 attending virtually.
Spread across two days, WebexOne featured three keynote sessions and 40 breakout sessions, and was experienced in more than 30 languages.
We’ve rounded up the biggest news from across WebexOne here.
Generative AI Underpins Cisco’s Strategy
Generative AI was the key undercurrent of the whole of WebexOne, driving the vast majority of the announcements.
On the collaboration side, Webex revealed its new AI Assistant, along with an AI-powered codec and Real-Time Media Models.
The Webex AI Assistant offers a wide range of features that help individuals focus on their most important tasks and reduce IT-related expenses.
By asking general questions like “Tell me about the meeting,” the Webex AI Assistant allows users to provide more detailed prompts such as “Update me on the 15 minutes I missed in the meeting” and receive real-time responses. The Webex AI Assistant is integrated natively with Cisco Collaboration devices and covers the entire Webex product line.
Webex Messaging and Slido now have new features that allow recommended changes to message tone, format, and phrasing. The Assistant can also provide suggestions for responses to messages for contact center agents who interact with customers on digital channels. These text suggestions are based on context history and surrounding intelligence.
New AI-Powered Meeting Room Kit
At WebexOne, Cisco unveiled the Room Kit EQX, promising easy deployment, improved video and sound, and better operability with Microsoft Teams during meetings.
EQX is an integrated appliance featuring camera systems, audio systems, and mounting options. It supports Cisco’s EQ Codec, which is powered by NVIDIA’s AI chipset.
Dual external displays are up to 75”, with the option of adding a third screen.
Cisco will offer its customers a range of flexible mounting options, including wall-mounting or free-standing. This feature can help eliminate the need for additional building permits and patchwork speaker solutions, further reducing both the time and cost required for deploying flagship spaces.
On a smaller scale, Cisco also expanded its partnership with Bang & Olufsen to launch a new pair of enterprise-optimised earbuds.
The Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 earbuds feature enterprise-grade security and manageability, delivering premium sound quality for professionals on the go.
The earbuds can be managed in Cisco’s Control Hub platform, giving IT admins and teams greater control over their suite of collaboration devices.
The Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 will be available for order from November at the promotional price of $395 offered by Cisco.
New Contact Centre Solutions
Cisco unveiled two new CCaaS packages at WebexOne: Webex Customer Experience Basic and Webex Customer Experience Essentials. Both options build on top of Webex Calling, bringing contact center features into the fold.
The Webex Customer Experience Basic tier is designed for small businesses that don’t require a complete CCaaS platform but still need some contact center functionality. Basic allows them to enhance their existing UCaaS platform with these features to deliver “call center-like functionality.”
Webex Customer Experience Essentials targets businesses that already have formal contact centers but need to extend some of this functionality beyond agents to a broader set of employees. The aim here is to improve collaboration between agents and their peers.
Webex Customer Experience Essentials will cost $30 per user per month.
Improved Integration with the Apple Ecosystem
Cisco announced that Webex meetings will soon be supported on Apple TV 4K and Apple Watch, increasing its integration with Apple products.
Apple announced in June that its Apple TV 4K could be used as a conference device with iPhones as cameras. The service launched last month.
The Webex app will soon be available in the Apple TV App Store. It will have a QR code system that makes the login experience seamless.
Continuity Camera in tvOS 17 supports wireless connection between iPhones and iPads and Apple TV 4K, making use of the devices’ internal cameras and microphones.
The Webex App is also coming to Apple Watches via the App Store. With this app, users can conveniently view a list of upcoming meetings and join them with just one touch in audio-only mode.
This means that users can listen and participate in a meeting using just their Apple Watch and AirPods.
New Mobility Solution with AT&T
Finally, Cisco revealed that its eagerly awaited mobility solution, developed in partnership with AT&T, is now available to order.
Webex Go with AT&T gives users one number that functions across all their devices and enables calling over AT&T’s 5G network.
All enterprise-grade calling capabilities of Webex Calling can now be accessed through the native dialer of AT&T devices.
Additionally, users can use their AT&T wireless number as their Webex identity for all Webex communications. This unifies features and functionalities, including presence, voicemail, and SMS (which integrates with Webex Chat), while also removing the need for a dual-SIM device.
