Cisco BroadWorks Review: A Robust Choice for Carriers

An impressive open architecture makes BroadWorks highly interoperable

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Cisco Broadworks Review
Unified CommunicationsUnified Communications Reviews

Published: February 26, 2020

Anwesha Roy

Technology Reporter

When Cisco expressed its intent to acquire BroadSoft in 2017, it had big plans in mind. The deal came through in 2018 at a staggering $1.9 billion, adding significantly to Cisco’s unified communications capabilities. By then BroadSoft was already a giant in its field, publicly-traded and with thousands of employees around the world. This is probably why BroadSoft’s solutions continue to be a major part of Cisco’s offerings suite, with even some of the original branding intact.

Zeroing in on BroadWorks, it is a platform that was introduced by BroadSoft and is still extremely popular. Cisco BroadWorks (as it is now called) is a carrier-grade software platform that can be implemented by service providers on Cisco’s partner network. BroadWorks allows service providers an opportunity to shed legacy dependencies and migrate to a next-gen, cloud-based communications landscape.

Five years back, BroadWorks was already under implementation by 600+ service providers – this indicates the depth of its feature set and the reliability of its services. Let’s review these elements more closely.

Inside Cisco BroadWorks

Interestingly, BroadWorks is completely architecture-agnostic, which means that it can be deployed on top of any type of network architecture. It’s intended only for ‘service providers (and not direct business users). Here are its features:

  • Standards-based platform – Cisco BroadWorks is built on multiple standards, including Softswitch, Class 5, and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), among others. This paves the way for greater interoperability so that service providers can deliver the most expansive ecosystem possible to their customers. Increased redundancy and scalability are some of the other benefits of its standards-based nature
  • Open architecture – Carrying on from the last feature, Cisco BroadWorks leverages a system of open standards such as session initiation protocol (SIP). This lets the platform work in conjunction with a variety of network, access, and back-office equipment, without causing fragmentation
  • Flexibility – Cisco BroadWorks offers service providers the flexibility to choose either a single instance of the platform, or a judicious mix of hosted PBX, mobile PBX, IP Centrex, and business trunking applications
  • User-facing interface – Cisco BroadWorks is compatible with a number of web-based and client applications. These allow you to configure its features more deeply and improve end-user productivity
  • Service administration – Administration of Cisco BroadWorks functions through a web-based application, distributed into six distinct levels. This streamlines access to reseller support for third-party providers
  • A comprehensive solutions suite – Cisco BroadWorks brings all of the UC essentials you could imagine under one roof, ranging from call control, unified messaging, and private voice, to global voice services and call logging. Cisco BroadWorks can be leveraged to deploy UC-One, which is the white label collaboration app Cisco acquired as part of its BroadSoft deal
  • NEBS-compliance – Cisco BroadWorks’ hardware components are compliant with Network Equipment-Building System (NEBS) protocols. This makes it resilient to equipment hazards, network degradation, and environmental stress. The hardware systems derive from Sun/Solaris and IBM/Linux offerings, so you know that you are in good hands. Some of the key elements underlying Cisco BroadWorks include the application, networks, and call centre reporting service

Why Cisco BroadWorks Makes a Difference

Cisco has consistently worked to improve the BroadWorks platform, equipping service providers with a scalable, reliable, and mobile-ready cloud hosting platform for business communications.

Last year, Cisco introduced Release 23 for the platform introducing several enhancements to its mobile network capabilities – we were particularly impressed by the updates to the personal assistant, alternate outbound number configuration, and persona-based translations.

Cisco BroadWorks also has several nifty features under the hood. One that caught our attention was the ability to automatically call back users with a “busy” availability status, as soon as they become active. There’s also a basic call tracing functionality where you can request a recent call to be automatically traced.

But its biggest USP is probably its open architecture, allowing service providers to add new features, upgrades, and integrations with ease. As a result, applications hosted via BroadWorks are sure to be highly customised and business-specific.

What We Think

Cisco’s BroadSoft acquisition is a gift that keeps on giving. Last year, Cisco reported that BroadWorks has more than 20 million users across all types of networks fixed, mobile, and converged). Its regular update schedule, open architecture, and centralisation capabilities make it an excellent choice for service providers.

And if you’re already in the Cisco ecosystem, deploying BroadWorks is the next logical step towards streamlining cloud-based telephony and collaboration.

 

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