So you’ve heard the term WebEx but you have no idea what a WebEx is? You’ve come to the right place.

WebEx lets you have online meetings with anyone who has an Internet connection -- including mobile users. You will be connected via audio and you can share content from your computer which lets you see the same things at the same time -- like PowerPoint files, Word documents or even browse the web together. Within the meeting, you can “Pass the Ball” so any attendee can control the meeting and share.

WebEx can help any small business, teleworker or home user conduct their business meetings more professionally and efficiently.

Here are more details about the features you get with WebEx: Read More »

Tags: Event Center, Home Office, iPad, iphone, meeting center, mobile, online meetings, Record, small business, smartphone, Training Center, video conference, WebEX, WebEx 8

Mobile devices have changed the way we manage our lives—in fact, just the other day I used apps on my smartphone to pull up recipes and locate a nearby grocery store. (Now only if there were an app that could enable a smartphone to cook dinner.)

Did you know that there’s an app that can help you manage your Unified Computing System (UCS), too? UCSand, which is available for Android phones and can be found in the Android Market, enables you to monitor and control your UCS. Sounds pretty cool, don’t you think?

It definitely can be a useful tool, according to Colby Cousens, Systems Administrator for the City of Melrose, Massachusetts.

The city has a secure, multi-tenant FlexPod architecture in their data center. This solution provides the City of Melrose with the ability to offer secure network, storage, and compute resources to their partner communities.

“One of my own shortcomings regarding UCS is that I don’t get into the manager as often as I should to check events and warnings on the system,” Colby said. “The UCSand app highlights the value of Cisco’s XML-API in allowing a program to pull targeted data out of the UCS Manager without requiring an individual to navigate through extra configurations or information at the time.”

Read More »

Tags: Android, App, blade, Cisco, customer, examworks, FlexPod, melrose, partner, server, smartphone, UCS, UCSand

It is true I have become so dependent on having wireless access everywhere, that when I don’t have it I feel completely disconnected and no longer know how to socialize with my friends. Last Sunday I went to my beloved Fenway Park, one of the oldest baseball parks in America, and its age is showing.

Let me explain. For Father’s day I took my two-year-old son to Fenway Park for the first time, a pinnacle in any Boston Father’s life. To my surprise the opening ceremony included the new “Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins” driving around the park in the locally famous “Duck boats”. A Duck Boat is an amphibious vehicle used to tour Boston on the road and in the Charles River. But over the last 11 years their secondary purpose has been to support the parades of Boston and New England’s championship teams.

Now one thing you need to know is I am NOT a Hockey fan, but I have several friends who live and die by the Boston Bruins. Many of them went to the celebration parade the day before and couldn’t get closer than 20 yards from the Stanley cup. And here I was about 15 feet from it. Here is my view.

So there I am with my phone snapping pictures away and generating some really thought provoking e-mails about how my friends are missing out on an opportunity of a lifetime and I WAS THERE!!!

I sat in the stands, expecting the jealous responses I was bound to get (some not fit for publication!), but one thing stood in my way. Poor cellular network coverage and no Wi-Fi! Boston is notorious for having patchy cell coverage, and when an open wireless network wasn’t available my plans were foiled. I appreciate that the Red Sox management wants to maintain the old-time feel of baseball, but it’s times like these I realize just how dependent we all are on being connected. While sharing a moment with my friends may not be the most important use of the network, the ability to share them is powerful. If for nothing else than to support a dedicated fan, maybe Fenway should look into our Connected Stadium solution!

Tags: baseball, mobile devices, smartphone, wi-fi, wifi, wireless

Users are increasingly carrying their iPads, iPhones and Android smartphones into the workplace. These mobile devices and tablets introduce new security threats and IT management challenges.

Join us for the third in our series of webinars to learn about new Cisco innovations that will help you identify the devices, apply policies and enable user management across wired and wireless networks. Featuring special guest speaker Dan Larkin, Director of Strategic Operations for the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) who will share the new threat vectors introduced due the influx of mobile devices. Take control of your network now.

Live webcast Wednesday, May 4th from 10:00 -- 11am PDT (12:00 -- 1:00pm EDT)
Register now!

Tags: Android, Cisco, iPad, iphone, management, mobile devices, network, security, smartphone, wi-fi, wifi, wireless

Working with our customers, we see media companies in all stages of the social entertainment development process. Many have taken the first step and have begun integrating social features into branded web sites, leveraging Cisco Eos to build out the social experience. However, it is when media companies stop here that they immediately leave fans longing for more.

You may be thinking, “But my competitors haven’t gone any further than this, so we must be in line with what users want, right?” To address this, I ask you this question, “How do you personally interact with content?”

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have a smartphone that gives you the ability to use targeted interactive apps or surf the internet. You may have taken it a step further and bought an iPad to get this same mobile experience on a larger screen. If you fit into either of these scenarios, ask yourself why your consumers aren’t also looking to take advantage of these platforms to engage with your content. As with any product or service, individual users have individual preferences. To fully reach your target audience, you need to provide access to content from all of the devices they use. If you don’t, you run the risk of leaving a large percentage unsatisfied, or turning them off from repeat visits.

If last month’s SXSW Interactive Conference brought anything to the forefront, it is that people are increasingly interested in using mobile web and mobile apps to view content anywhere, anytime. If you are in charge of developing social entertainment experiences across your content portfolios, it is time to start reaching beyond the desktop computer to mobile devices. If you fail to extend your social entertainment experiences to all screens, you are missing the ability to capitalize on a very important, very large audience growth opportunity. Read More »

Tags: API, cisco eos, html5, mobile, osmf, smartphone, social, social entertainment