Cisco Partner Summit is all about executive networking, channel strategy discussions, technology updates, and business development. But it’s also an opportunity for partners to have some fun and maybe win some cool prizes while they’re at it.

This year, we’re bringing back our Favorite Quote Contest. We also have a new contest that uses the popular Vine video app, and calls for you to be as creative as possible in the span of just a few seconds. Keep reading to find out how to participate in this year’s contests and the exciting prizes we have lined up for the winners.  Read More »

Tags: Cisco, ciscops13, contest, partner, partner summit, twitter, Video Contest, vine

By Jae So, Guest Columnist

Did you know that around the world, 2.5 billion people lack access to sanitation? This causes billions of dollars of economic losses every year, and claims the lives of 4,000 children each day. Yet of these 2.5 billion people, who make up one-third of the world’s population, 1 billion have access to mobile phones, creating an important opportunity to mobilize innovation for the sanitation sector.

A year ago, the World Bank asked: How can we work with partners to use these 1 billion connections to promote healthier behaviors and improve access to sanitation services, such as containment of waste water? The result is the Sanitation Hackathon, a yearlong strategic process that is a project of the World Bank’s water practice and ICT sector, working together with governments and citizens around the world with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Read More »

Tags: contest, ICT, mobile phone, sanitation, Sanitation Hackathon, VNI-SA, World Bank, world water day

Today, many people and organizations use video to create real impact for social causes.

Meanwhile, the prevalence of video in our everyday lives is growing by the minute. A February 2013 report by Cisco indicates that video accounted for more than half of all mobile traffic for the first time in 2012. It is expected to account for two-thirds by 2017.

We are holding the potential to change the world in the palms of our hands.

To recognize those who are taking advantage of the power video has to multiply impact on people, communities, and the planet, Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is supporting the 2013 DoGooder Video Awards.

Read More »

Tags: awards, contest, dogooder, impact, social change, video, youtube

A few weeks ago we launched new Cisco Unified Access solutions at Cisco Live. These included the new Catalyst 3850 switch and the new Cisco 5760 Wireless LAN Controller, both built on the new Unified Access Data Plane ASIC.  These will be key for Cisco partners and their customers as they implement BYOD policies and add more wireless access in branch offices, stores, and other remote locations. It’s a great opportunity for you to help your customers deploy these technologies with a converged approach.

To capitalize on this opportunity, of course, you’ll need to learn something about Cisco Unified Access and I’ve got some ideas for you on that.  Read More »

Tags: Borderless Networks, Catalyst 3850, catalyst switch, Cisco, Cisco 5760 Wireless LAN Controller, contest, Ike Theodore Willis, iPad, partner, unified access

As the market leader in Unified Communications, Cisco has a broad customer base, with organizations from the Fortune 500 to small local businesses using our UC portfolio of infrastructure and endpoints. Since we have over 120,000 customers and over 50 Million users across the globe, we wanted to find out more about who these users were and how they use Cisco IP phones on a daily basis. Last week, we launched a Facebook contest asking our Cisco Collaboration fans to submit photos of all the interesting locations where they use their Cisco IP phone, and to tell us how they use them and what benefits they were seeing from their phone.

I’m excited to report that the responses have been fantastic! Cisco users have been enthusiastic with their stories, sharing how Cisco IP Phones complement their workspace, and offer their organization a highly reliable and proven technology that is still very much at the center of facilitating enterprise communication and collaboration. The always-on familiarity of the dial tone, the secure access to directory features and the high quality of the voice and increasingly video interactions are all contributing to these devices being used on a daily basis. Users span all industries and include teleworkers, nurses in a hospital, call center agents and retail store managers, and office workers from different industries, each of whom rely on a high performing, stable solution for their critical communication needs.

What’s your Cisco desk phone story? Become a Cisco Collaboration fan on Facebook and share your story! Read More »

Tags: Cisco, collaboration, communications, contest, ip phone