Cisco has recently revealed more about its collaboration efforts with US government agencies setting up devices for hybrid work.
The collaboration follows the back of research carried out by the tech multinational Hybrid Work in Government, which discovered that 66 per cent of government employees felt that workstyle flexibility and working at home greatly impacted their job satisfaction.
Cisco’s survey included 300 technology decision-makers and influencers in government participating in a blind online survey. It also uncovered that remote work was to be cut in half when offices were reopened—workers it found preferred three remote days a week, on average.
To this end, the tech firm has endeavoured to offer hybrid work solutions with what they say is a holistic approach for the GSA. The agency is the largest property manager in the US, charged with housing nearly every Federal agency in the US, currently with 8,600 buildings under management.
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Workplace Innovation Lab Opens for Environment Testing
On January 25, the GSA officially opened their new Workplace Innovation Lab (WIL) at their headquarters building in Washington, DC. The WIL is designed so agencies can try different work environments to see what’s best for their teams.
Marcus Moffett, Vice President of U.S. Public Sector Engineering, Cisco, enthused: “This Federal co-working facility offers agency leaders the opportunity to test, experience, and evaluate office layouts and furnishings from five leading furniture vendors. Guests can evaluate a complete, fully configured, and technology-enabled office area that can be reserved for hours or even days at a time.”
Snorre Kjesbu, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Webex Devices at Cisco, tried out the facility and said: “Visitors of the WIL can take a meeting on Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Zoom or Webex, all from the same device. Federal employees are more engaged with inclusive software innovations like Frames, which puts people front and centre in the virtual space.
“And innovations like Optimize for My Voice, which listens for the user’s voice only,” he added. “That way, background noise and conversations aren’t heard in a virtual meeting even when taken from an open huddle space.”
Government Hybrid Work Issues
The issue for government customers is that hybrid work is specifically complex, especially in areas such as security and manageability. Kjesbu confirmed Cisco’s technical support; and said: “We’re reimagining new ways that federal organisations can build team culture, support flexible workstyles, and redesign workplaces for a hybrid world. And, we’re innovating these solutions to be secure, manageable, and sustainable by design.”
Another challenge for government agencies is migration to the cloud. Cisco’s response to this is to provide flexible FedRAMP-compliant solutions. The FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) takes a standardised approach to security assessment, approval, and monitoring of cloud products and services across the government.
Kjesbu confirms Cisco’s involvement at the lab. He stated: “GSA’s Workspace Innovation Lab leverages Webex for Government solutions to enable an innovative and secure collaborative environment.”
Cisco Devices at the WIL for Meeting Inclusion
Speaking about collaboration and engagement, Moffett concluded: “One key element we’ve come to understand from our experience in hybrid work is that everyone – especially remote workers – need to feel fully included in a meeting. We’ve installed various Cisco collaboration devices throughout the WIL to achieve that.
“By offering 4K video and high-performance audio, every meeting can be as close to face-face as possible. Plus, with “face-framing” technology, every in-office participant appears to the remote viewers as in their window, making it easy to see who is talking.”
Regarding sustainability, net-zero targets and ESG initiatives are currently big priorities for government agencies.
According to Kjesbu, Cisco’s devices are created with sustainability in mind throughout the product cycle. For example, he cited the Cisco Room Bar, which has recyclable packaging and fewer internal components than its predecessor, the Room Kit Mini. Additionally, Cisco devices intelligently reduce energy consumption with intelligent room control, PoE (Power over Ethernet) connectivity, and display integration.
