Calling in Webex Teams: A Proven Calling Platform That Brings Cloud Innovation to the Mid-Market and Large Enterprise
Today Cisco announced a new enterprise-class, native cloud solution – Webex Calling. It’s powered by bringing together the best of the proven Cisco BroadCloud platform as well as Cisco Webex. Therefore, this brings Cisco’s total business cloud calling users to over 29 million worldwide. By combining a full enterprise PBX feature set with the rich team collaboration capabilities of Webex Teams, Webex Calling delivers the complete, integrated collaboration experience business users need. It will be sold under the Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan by Cisco VAR channel partners. Availability begins in the U.S. on March 31, 2019 and will expand to more than 35 countries across North America, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, and Japan by the end of the year.
Benefits of Webex Calling
We are already seeing a great fit in the market from our early partner engagements.
“The release of Webex Calling is timed perfectly with a phone refresh Presidio is doing for an important retail customer. The customer recognized immediately that they could configure, deploy, and manage over 2,500 handsets across 500 locations in nearly a plug-and-play fashion utilizing a lean IT team while saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in telecom costs,” said Vinu Thomas, CTO of Presidio. “The flexibility of adding and removing phones, the access to the full suite of Webex’s collaboration offerings, and the ease of automatic updates and patching are just a few of the reasons Webex Calling is a tremendous opportunity for Cisco partners and their customers.”
Superior PBX Alternative
Mid-market and enterprise business leaders have been reluctant to move to the cloud, due to concerns about scalability, feature functionality, reliability, and security. That’s why we only see a current cloud calling market penetration estimate of 8% for businesses with 100+ users, while the cloud penetration for the under 100 user segment is more than 25%, based on market analyst estimates.
In addition, Webex Calling eliminates these former barriers and gives business leaders the freedom to replace their aging PBX infrastructure with a superior cloud PBX alternative. With cloud delivery from a series of geo-redundant data centers in seven countries, operated by experienced Tier 4 operators, Cisco is able to deliver a multi-tenant cloud service that is more reliable, scalable, and secure than any on-premises option. And with a cloud service that counts release cycles in weeks, rather than years, Webex Calling is always up to date, delivering a more intelligent user experience.
Complete Webex Calling Solution
Now Cisco can take users from their smartphone in their car, to the devices they use in their office, home, or meeting room with easy device handovers and rich business calling features at every step. With Webex Teams included, we’re making it simple to keep organizations connected and productive from wherever work gets done.
Here’s what you get with Webex Calling:
- A proven, enterprise-class cloud PBX
- Bundled with Webex Teams, for advanced collaboration
- Optional Cisco multiplatform (MPP) IP phones, headsets, and video devices
- Option to add Webex Meetings
- Simplified packaged pricing
- Investment protection through Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan purchasing
- Sales and service support from a qualified Cisco VAR channel partner
- Global availability expanding throughout 2019 to 35+ countries and 7 languages
Smooth Transition to the Cloud
In most cases, larger businesses need more time to transition over to the cloud. In some industries, like financial services, they may not ever move completely to the cloud. That makes the time and process in this transition zone a key gating factor for these business leaders.
One of the most important advantages we see with Webex Calling is the flexibility it offers for customers looking to transition to the cloud in phases, rather than all at once. Cisco customers now have the freedom to move any site, or group of users to the cloud, while maintaining a common network dial plan and directory access for users across all cloud and on-premises PBX sites.
Powerful Channels
Webex Calling will be sold primarily by Cisco value-added reseller partners (VARs) that are trusted by enterprises worldwide. So now mid-market and enterprise customers can get the performance, reliability, and security of a Cisco cloud calling solution from the Cisco channel partner they prefer, or are currently doing business with.
Webex VAR Partners
Early excitement and momentum with our VAR partners is building. Here’s what Joe Berger, Practice Director, Collaboration and End User Computing for World Wide Technology had to say. “As the UCaaS market continues to mature, we’re excited to have Webex Calling in our portfolio. The Cisco BroadCloud powered solution now gives us more options for those customers who are looking to move their collaboration workloads to the cloud . . . backed by the enterprise requirements that many businesses already expect from Cisco. When combined with Webex Meetings and Webex Teams, this truly becomes a next generation collaboration platform.”
We now have 19 U.S.-based partners already signed up to introduce Webex Calling to their business customers. Talk to one of these Cisco partners about Webex Calling:
- CDW
- CompuNet
- ConvergeOne, Inc.
- Core BTS
- Data Strategy, a Trace3 company
- Dimension Data
- ePlus
- Insight
- Iron Bow Technologies
- Logicalis
- LookingPoint
- PCM, Inc.
- Pivot Technology Solutions
- Presidio
- Sentinel Technologies
- ShoreGroup Solutions
- Sirius Computer Solutions
- SHI
- World Wide Technology
Watch for the latest on Webex Calling and other Cisco cloud calling and collaboration news here, over the coming months.
For a complete recap of the Cisco Cognitive Collaboration announcement, read the following articles:
Announcing the New Cognitive and Collaborative Contact Center
66% Say They’d Switch Vendors in Order to Get an Intelligent Online Meeting Solution
What is Cognitive Collaboration?
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