Powering an Inclusive Future of Work: Cisco Unveils Webex Innovations that Enable Hybrid Work and Events, Ensuring Equal Opportunity and Voice

Rhea-AI Summary

Cisco (CSCO) has launched an all-new Webex Suite aimed at enhancing hybrid work collaboration. The suite integrates over 800 features and devices introduced since September 2020, offering a comprehensive solution that combines meetings, calling, messaging, polling, and events at 40% lower cost than a-la-carte options. The integration of Slido and upcoming Socio tools aims to enhance audience engagement for hybrid events. CEO Chuck Robbins emphasized the importance of this offering as organizations adapt to ongoing changes in work culture.

Positive

• Webex Suite offers more than 800 new features and devices, enhancing user experience.
• The integrated suite supports hybrid work at 40% lower cost than purchasing services a-la-carte.
• Audience engagement tools like Slido are integrated to improve event interaction.

Negative

• None.

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

News Summary:

• Webex velocity of innovation continues, introducing more than 800 new features and devices since September.
• All-new Webex Suite, including a new look and feel, supports hybrid work collaboration at 40 percent lower cost than a-la-carte.
• The integration of Slido's audience engagement capabilities and soon Socio's hybrid event management tools provide the most comprehensive events platform for any physical, virtual or hybrid event.

As the world transitions to hybrid, organizations require solutions that are flexible, supportive and inclusive. Today, Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) unveiled an all-new Webex Suite with innovations to serve as the foundation for inclusive hybrid work and events, delivering unmatched levels of flexibility and personalization for everyone.

With 98 percent of future meetings expected to include at least one remote participant, this mixed mode of working (blending remote and in-person interactions) is fueling long-lasting implications on work culture, event engagement and technology. This requires investing more broadly – beyond the traditional conference room – to fundamentally reimagine the new requirements of hybrid events and a hybrid workforce. The way organizations worked pre-pandemic and during the pandemic will be starkly different in this next wave of work – where good enough is simply not enough.

"Cisco's collaboration business is incredibly essential to our customers," said Chuck Robbins, CEO, Cisco. "With all the integrations the team has added – 800 new features and devices since September – we truly have the most comprehensive meetings, calling, messaging, and event management solution on the market powering the future of hybrid work."

"To be successful in the era of hybrid work, organizations need to make sure their solutions are flexible, inclusive, supportive, secure, and easily managed on the backend by IT," said Jeetu Patel, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco Security and Collaboration. "The all-new Webex Suite ensures everyone in a hybrid workforce has equal opportunity and voice."

New Webex advancements include:

• Increased Value: The all-new Webex Suite is the industry's first suite for hybrid work to combine meetings, calling, messaging, polling and events in one offering for up to 40 percent less than a-la-carte. The new Webex identity and logo unveiled today were reinvented to reflect the powerful purpose and value Webex brings to the market, its customers and people's lives.
• End-to-End Events: A complete events execution and management platform necessary in the next era of hybrid events. Full capabilities of the industry's first end-to-end event experience at scale will become available upon completion of Cisco's Socio acquisition.  
• Audience Interaction Tools: Polling, quizzes, Q&A and more powered by Slido, is the industry's first audience engagement solution to be integrated across all collaboration experiences. Polling is available now in Meetings and will be coming soon to Events.
• Audio Intelligence: Building upon Webex's market-leading noise removal and speech enhancement capabilities, users will have the new ability of speech optimization for remote and shared workspaces through My Voice Only to eliminate background noise, including speech from people in the background, and solely focus on the main speaker's speech. My Voice Only will be available worldwide in August 2021.
• Camera Intelligence: People Focus, announced earlier this year, is coming to Webex in 2021. People Focus uses machine learning and AI technology to individually re-frame meeting participants who are spread across a meeting room allowing remote participants to feel more connected and everyone in the meeting to benefit from seeing body language, facial expressions and more. 
• Next-level Devices: The Webex Desk provides a powerful all-in-one collaboration device designed for the desk at work or home. Immersive collaboration experiences will also be available with modern touch interactions via RoomOS that connects workflows with less context switching, as well as Webex Assistant Skills platform that opens up a universe of voice-powered extensions to seamlessly and easily integrate more controls, content and applications for Webex Devices. 
• Secure Experiences: Real-time data loss prevention for Webex, which automatically blocks and removes confidential information, will be available in Messaging. With this real-time data loss prevention, users are prohibited from posting classified content rather than redacting or deleting content after it is posted. Additionally, European Webex customers will be able to host and process their content within the EU. Webex users will also benefit from our strengthened end-to-end encryption options, including augmenting our end-to-end encryption with end-to-end verified identity. In other words, customers will not have to choose between usability and security, they get both.

Additional Resources

• Comes on the heels of Cisco announcing its partnership with Thrive Global to promote well-being, resiliency, and empathy at work.
• Cisco recently announced its intent to acquire Socio Labs, which is expected to close in Q4 2021.
• Ushering in the era of hybrid work by Cisco's Jeetu Patel
• Launching new innovations for the era of hybrid work by Cisco's Javed Khan
• A new brand for a new era of inclusive hybrid work by Cisco's Aruna Ravichandran
• How Webex is creating bigger and better experiences for a new hybrid world by Cisco's Abhay Kulkarni
• Introducing the Webex Suite: The first, best-of-breed suite for hybrid work by Cisco's Chris Barwick
• What's New in Webex: June 2021 by Webex Team 

Pricing and Availability

• Webex Suite is available today and will be priced at 40 percent lower than a-la-carte.
• Webex Desk will be available to order later this month at the Cisco suggested resale price of $1249 for customers and a standard price of $2495.

About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in technology that powers the Internet. Cisco inspires new possibilities by reimagining your applications, securing your data, transforming your infrastructure, and empowering your teams for a global and inclusive future. Discover more on The Network and follow us on Twitter at @Cisco.

About Cisco Webex
Webex is a leading provider of cloud-based collaboration solutions which includes video meetings, calling, messaging, events, customer experience solutions like contact center and purpose-built collaboration devices. At Webex, we start with people and their experiences first. This focus on delivering inclusive collaboration experiences fuels our innovation, which leverages AI and Machine Learning, to remove the barriers of geography, language, personality, and familiarity with technology. Our solutions are underpinned with security and privacy by design. We work with the world's leading business and productivity apps – delivered through a single application and interface. Learn more at webex.com.

 

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SOURCE Cisco Systems, Inc.

FAQ

What new features were introduced in Cisco's Webex Suite?

Cisco's Webex Suite now includes over 800 new features aimed at enhancing hybrid work, such as integrated meetings, calling, messaging, polling, and event management.

How much does the Webex Suite cost compared to traditional options?

The Webex Suite is priced 40% lower than traditional a-la-carte options for hybrid work solutions.

What companies are integrated into the Webex Suite for events?

The Webex Suite integrates Slido for audience engagement and will soon include Socio for hybrid event management.

When will Webex's new 'My Voice Only' feature be available?

'My Voice Only' will be available worldwide in August 2021, allowing users to enhance speech optimization by eliminating background noise.

What is the significance of Cisco's Webex Suite launch for hybrid work?

The launch of the Webex Suite reflects Cisco's commitment to providing flexible and inclusive solutions that meet the evolving needs of hybrid work environments.