On December 8-9th, we hosted WebexOne, Cisco’s premier digital collaboration event where our partners and customers came together to explore the power and impact of collaboration. At Cisco, we are proud of the work the Webex team has done this past year to ensure nearly 600 million users (MAU as of Oct 2020) were able to stay connected and productive; in addition to that, we connected over 1.2 billion phone calls every month for our customers globally. So it is even more amazing that at WebexOne we announced over 50+ product and feature innovations that will change the game for the global workforce.
During WebexOne, I talked to both Cisco leaders (Javed Khan and Oliver Tuszik) as well as industry leaders (Joe Berger/WWT and Drew Peterson/Veracity Network) to get their insights on how the future of collaboration has evolved and what to expect in the next year. To share some highlights with you, here are my top 10 innovations for Partners and customers:
1. All New Webex App
A single app for all your collaboration needs for calling, messaging, meetings and more. The Webex app now has even more intelligent, engaging, and inclusive features that creates exceptional experiences and makes working together distinctly better. The single app also enables us to leverage the same capabilities across functions such as noise suppression and background blur/replacements which is currently available during meetings and will soon be available for calls as well. Partners should emphasize these new features to exceed customer expectations. Features such as transcriptions, immersive sharing, gestures, and real-time translations create a 10x increase in experience and enable cross/upsell opportunities.
2. All New Webex Contact Center
A completely reimagined enterprise grade cloud contact center that is fully customizable and AI-powered to manage and optimize the end-to-end customer experience. Partners now have the ability to build vertical specific custom solutions by leveraging the platform’s open APIs.
3. Webex App Hub
An application ecosystem that includes prebuilt integrations that are easy for users and IT admins to add Webex into existing applications and simplify workflows. Additional deep integrations are coming soon with Box, SFDC, Drop Box, Workplace from Facebook, Service Now and Miro. With Webex App Hub, Partners can leverage out of the box integrations as well as create and deliver value-added services to meet industry specific needs.
4. Webex Graph
An advanced analytics capability that delivers highly personalized insights and actionable recommendations to help drive well-being, keep employees connected and foster inclusive collaboration. Partners can leverage this innovation to help customers promote and protect their employees’ health and remote work experience, and create a cohesive and collaborative environment for employees no matter where and how they prefer to work.
5. Cisco Calling Plan
New Cisco Webex integrated Calling Plan service is now available from Cisco channel partners – includes calling plans, messaging, meetings, devices and PSTN services from one trusted provider. Partners can now shorten time-to market without having to develop PSTN offers and manage multiple providers.
6. Webex Control Hub
A single pane of glass that provides new capabilities in troubleshooting and management to deliver optimal user experiences and performance. Partners should use Control Hub as a competitive differentiator to enhance the administrator experience of current customers, and to attract new IT users with its powerful feature set.
7. Webex Desk Camera
A compact device that provides cost effective video for every desktop enabling remote workers to make the perfect impression with stunning 4K video, and IT Admins to provide quality experiences at scale with powerful management and analytics from Webex Control Hub. Partners can leverage the Webex Desk Camera – which works seamlessly with all the goodness of Webex – to enable remote workers and satisfy IT needs with a simple to deploy, manage and use video solution, at a low cost to customers.
8. Webex Desk
An all-in-one home office collaboration hub, the Webex Desk is an advanced desk device that provides flawless video conferencing and co-creation abilities. Partners can promote and sell dedicated video devices to enable the best experiences for a distributed workforce as businesses transition to a hybrid work environment. The Desk device works with Webex or any other meeting services.
9. Webex Desk Hub
The Webex Desk Hub is an innovative device that seamlessly connects to your personal work profile, allowing you to make any available desk as functional and familiar as your own. Partners can enable touchless office environments with a more hygienic return to work by deploying the Webex Desk Hub. This offering provides customers with a secure, IT managed solution that optimizes office space and cost per employee.
10. Webex Online
Webex.com – an easy to try, buy and manage digital capability for small and large businesses – provides customers with the end-to-end experience for the new Webex app. Partners will soon be able to leverage elements of the digital journey of Webex.com and customize to suit their own end-to-end journeys.
11. Bonus Innovation
The biggest announcement we made was not a feature or a product, but rather a commitment to creating “10x better than in-person interactions“. The Collaboration market has evolved from a feature-focused world to one where the end-to-end experience is the deciding factor in buying decisions. We firmly believe the experiences we create with Webex will not only differentiate us in the market, but truly power an inclusive future for all of us.
I would like to hear your favorite picks from my top 10 list, please comment below.
Visit WebexOne.com to discover announcements, replay the event
and explore more on-demand content.
Additional Resources
- Blog: Welcome to the All New Webex by Javed Khan
- Blog: What’s so NEW about the All New Webex? by Abhay Kulkarni
- Blog: Enabling Smart Hybrid Work Experiences – For Everyone, Anywhere by Snorre Kjesbu
- Blog: The Future of Customer Experience Begins Now by Omar Tawakol
- Blog: Calling Reimagined and Easier Than Ever with Webex by Lorrissa Horton
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