We’re excited to announce the winners of the second annual Webex Champion Awards which recognize individuals and companies that are reimagining with Webex!
Selecting winners across 13 categories was no easy feat, as each of this year’s finalists have demonstrated outstanding commitment to collaboration and customer experience transformation. In fact, we received so many incredible submissions that we selected two winners for some of our award categories.
This year’s winners embody what it means to reimagine work, workspaces, and customer experience. We are truly blown away by how these companies and individuals leverage Webex solutions to drive positive change for their organizations.
We were thrilled to honor our 15 winners at a live awards ceremony at WebexOne 2023 in Anaheim, California. It was truly inspiring to see a room full of finalists and winners celebrating success across each award category.
Congratulations to the 2023 Webex Champion Awards winners! We hope you’re proud of this well-deserved achievement.
See the full list of winners below and find out how they are leveraging Webex to drive collaboration and customer experience transformation.
Webex Champion Awards 2023: Winners
Collaboration Champion | Under Armour
This award recognizes a company leveraging the Webex Suite, which includes Meetings, Calling, Messaging, Webinars and Events, in exceptional ways.
As Under Armour eagerly anticipates the grand opening of its new Global Headquarters Campus in Baltimore in Fall of 2024, the Global Technology team is proudly building its collaboration experiences onto its long-standing ‘Under Armour Huddle’-branded portfolio of Cisco endpoints and Webex Control Hub capabilities. Adding to Under Armour’s current global portfolio of 350 Cisco Devices, it is adding an additional 100 Cisco endpoints in its conference rooms, executive offices, executive boardroom, open collaboration spaces, track and field venue, and experiential studios used to host ‘virtual’ go-to-market sell-in sessions with its channel partners.
Under Armour’s Digital Teammate Experience team owns the delivery of the entire Webex experience and depends on Webex Control Hub to allow the team to manage Webex Meetings, Webex Calling, and Cisco endpoints from a centralized dashboard. The Digital Teammate Experience team easily monitors service quality and can drill down to specific levels to evaluate a wide array of quality metrics. This team also leverages Control Hub to manage upgrades and administer regional device specializations.
Under Armour’s Webex story is a masterclass example of leveraging the Webex Suite to drive enhanced hybrid collaboration and employee experience.
Event Innovator | Ivy Tech community college
This award recognizes out-of-the-box thinking and creative use of Webex Events (formerly Socio), Webex Webinars, or Slido to execute an event of any size and type.
Ivy Tech Community College is the largest singly accredited Community College in the United States and has 43 locations in Indiana: 19 full-service campuses plus 24 satellite locations.
Ivy Tech Community College first leveraged the Webex Events (formerly Socio) branded mobile event app for an in-person event in 2019, which allowed the Ivy Tech Community College team to reflect its brand through the app’s colors and icons. After the college’s first in-person event using the app, the pandemic struck. The college’s Student Success event, which usually involves 600 attendees and over 50 sponsors and concurrent sessions, was rapidly approaching. By leveraging Webex Events (formerly Socio), the college seamlessly engaged its 600 attendees and allowed more faculty and staff to attend who would not have had the chance to participate in-person.
As a mission, Ivy Tech Community College wants to go where its students are. Year after year, Ivy Tech demonstrates its commitment to meeting its students and prospective students where they are by delivering flexible event experiences with the Webex Events (formerly Socio) mobile event app.
Workspace Wizard | Kirkland & Ellis and T-Mobile
This award recognizes a company that has reimagined their hybrid workspaces using Cisco collaboration devices.
Kirkland & Ellis
Kirkland & Ellis is an international law firm that serves a broad range of clients that work in private equity. As Kirkland & Ellis builds out its new facility in Chicago – and refreshes its global offices – the team recognizes that the hybrid meeting experience is critical for all conference rooms going forward. One specific challenge Kirkland & Ellis faced before deploying Cisco Devices involved addressing the remote participant experience when joining a meeting that takes place in a large Kirkland & Ellis conference room. Prior to deploying Cisco Devices, remote users only saw a wide-angle view of the large room and were disconnected from the local participants and meeting experience. With Cisco Devices and software, Kirkland & Ellis has created a personalized experience for remote participants. Leveraging the Cisco Room Kit EQ, Quad Cameras, and Cisco’s software, remote participants now see a full view of every speaker in the conference room – regardless of which side of the table they sit.
Interoperability is equally important to the Kirkland & Ellis team. Kirkland & Ellis team members are invited to meetings hosted on a variety of conferencing platforms. The team needed a streamlined process to allow users to join any meeting type with the simple touch of a button. Kirkland & Ellis chose to standardize Cisco Room Bars and Room Bar Pros across its conference rooms, providing a consistent user experience regardless of the type of meeting platform.
Finally, post-pandemic, Kirkland has recognized the importance of extending the meeting and video experience to desktop and remote users. Kirkland has deployed Cisco Desk Pros and Desk Minis to specific remote users to enhance the meeting experience, while offering the same streamlined and consistent interface a user experiences when in the office. Kirkland & Ellis’ story is a strong example of how to leverage Cisco Devices to enhance hybrid collaboration.
T-Mobile
The T-Mobile team was given a mission to standardize its room deployment of 2,900 rooms with Cisco Devices and technology. After T-Mobile successfully deployed Cisco Devices to its conference rooms, T-Mobile reduced its support tickets involving meeting challenges by 70%.
With Webex Control Hub, T-Mobile can identify workspaces that have increased noise levels. T-Mobile responded to this data by installing sound dampening materials to make its meetings rooms more audio friendly. T-Mobile also used Control Hub metrics to discover which devices were not being utilized to the full potential and either trained the staff on how to use the device better or moved the unit to a place it would be more useful.
From enhancing its meeting room experience to leveraging data to continuously improve employee experience and device management – T-Mobile’s story is an example of what it means to leverage Cisco Devices to improve the conference room experience.
Management & Security Hero | M&T Bank
This award recognizes a company that has optimized hybrid work management and security.
With a community bank approach, M&T Bank helps its customers reach their personal and business goals with banking, mortgage, loan, and investment services. Amidst the global upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, M&T Bank found itself at a crossroads. With a legacy deeply rooted in traditional banking practices and an office-centric work culture, the onset of the pandemic presented a significant challenge logistically and technically. However, the bank’s leadership saw an opportunity for transformation and embarked on an inspiring journey toward embracing a hybrid work model for its 21,000 employees. Recognizing the need for agility, the bank swiftly implemented robust technology infrastructure, including Cisco and Webex solutions, to enable seamless remote work.
Through this transformative journey, the bank not only weathered the pandemic but emerged more secure, adaptable, and ready to lead in the evolving world of finance. The bank implemented several key measures. First, they enabled Single Sign-On (SSO) to enhance authentication and access control, ensuring only authorized users can join Webex Meetings. Additionally, M&T Bank took steps to secure personal meeting rooms by implementing stringent access meeting controls and limiting access privileges. To further fortify its security posture, M&T Bank technology teams also restricted PSTN call-back countries, reducing potential toll fraud vulnerabilities. These measures collectively contribute to a safer and more secure collaboration environment, safeguarding sensitive information and ensuring that meetings remain protected from potential threats.
Lastly, M&T fully equipped employees with the Webex Suite to empower the hybrid workforce, facilitate seamless communication, launch virtual meetings, and share ideas in real-time across diverse locations and devices. M&T Bank’s resilience, innovation, and partnership with Cisco demonstrates that even the most venerable institutions can embrace change and thrive in challenging times.
Customer Experience Extraordinaire | First Horizon Bank
This award recognizes a company that has leveraged Webex Contact Center solutions to reimagine the customer journey and create customer delight.
First Horizon Bank, with locations across 12 states, 750 agents, and 20,000 endpoints, needed a cloud contact center solution that could evolve alongside its customers. After an acquisition of 30 branches in 2020 and an upcoming merger with IberiaBank, First Horizon Bank needed to make a change as soon as possible. First Horizon chose Webex Contact Center to power its contact center transformation.
With Webex, First Horizon Bank has increased its self-service rate to an average of 87%, meaning customers can easily navigate the system without needing guidance from one of the bank’s 750 agents. The bank’s increased self-service rate has given its agents more time to assist customers with issues that can only be solved with assistance from a live agent.
First Horizon Bank’s story serves as a roadmap for other organizations looking to improve customer experience and internal collaboration.
Customer Communications Trailblazer | Walgreens
This award recognizes a company that is reimagining the customer journey experience with the Webex Connect communications platform.
As part of its broader customer experience efforts, Walgreens, part of the Walgreen/Boots Alliance, has multiple initiatives running on the Webex CPaaS platform. Walgreens has roughly 9,000 locations in the US and Puerto Rico. The company’s first messaging program in 2009 notified customers when their prescriptions were ready to pick up.
Expanding its existing program to provide a wide array of prescription-related messages using Rich Communication Services (RCS) chats improved Rx refill rates and opt-in rates resulted in improved customer health benefits and retention.
Walgreens’ decision to upgrade from SMS text messaging communication has allowed the company to deliver more engaging and interactive customer interactions through features such as chips, rich cards, and much more. They also have SMS programs for photo alerts, online pickup notifications, marketing, immunization appointment reminders, and two-factor authentication (2FA).
The company’s latest loyalty program launch, myWalgreens, provides an easier way to save, shop, and stay well by sending out notifications with offers and deals on a recurring basis.
Walgreens’ use of Webex’s end-to-end CPaaS offering is a strong example of how to leverage communication technology to modernize the customer journey.
Bold Explorer – Government & Public Sector | Georgia Department of Labor
This award recognizes a company that showcases creativity and out-of-the-box thinking in its use of Webex products in the government and public sector.
The Georgia Department of Labor was receiving 10,000 calls a day to its contact center but could only support answering approximately 2% of them. The organization needed to scale its contact center to support 600 agents and had to move quickly to address the immediate challenge that they were facing. The organization also had 60 phone numbers that citizens were required to call to receive different services.
The Georgia Department of Labor chose Webex Contact Center, including Google CCAI integrations, Webex Calling, and Webex Meetings, to address these challenges. Following this deployment, the Georgia Department of Labor’s calls route into Webex Contact Center which seamlessly first routes them to the Google CCAI Virtual Agent. The Virtual Agent, equipped to assist users in five different languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and French), assists the caller where possible and otherwise captures the caller’s intent, returning this intent to Webex Contact Center. Webex Contact Center uses the captured intent to route the call to the appropriate agent queue and ultimately delivers the call to the Georgia Department of Labor’s human agents.
The Georgia Department of Labor has seen significant improvements since the implementation of this solution. Now, a Virtual Agent answers 100% of incoming calls and routes calls to the correct group with over 90% accuracy. Additionally, the organization’s Virtual Agent has been able to manage and deflect 30% of these calls. All unemployment services are now routed through a single phone number and there is ongoing work to consolidate the remainder of their numbers. Agents can now log in from anywhere allowing customers to leverage employee resources throughout the state.
The Georgia Department of Labor’s story demonstrates how Webex solutions can help improve, streamline, and elevate customer experience.
Bold Explorer – Healthcare | Burrell Behavioral Health
This award recognizes a company that showcases creativity and out-of-the-box thinking in their use of Webex products in healthcare.
Burrell Behavioral Health is an organization that provides mental health and wellness services for thousands of patients. When Burrell Behavioral Health first approached Webex, it was leveraging 10 different phone carriers, 42 locations, 1-800 phone numbers, and old on-premises contact center and calling solutions.
As Burrell Behavioral Health started to adopt Webex Contact Center for its contact centers, and Webex Calling for its underlying telephony, they reported having fewer collaboration challenges. Webex also assisted Burrell Behavioral Health with porting its numbers to Webex’s carrier, providing one centralized place to manage and simplify Burrell Behavioral Health’s calling setup.
The organization has completely embraced Webex and continues to add other locations. Burrell Behavioral Health’s story showcases how Webex Contact Center and Webex Calling can be leveraged to improve patient experience and internal collaboration.
Bold Explorer – Finance | AXIS Capital
This award recognizes a company that showcases creativity and out-of-the-box thinking in their use of Webex products in finance.
AXIS Capital is a specialty insurer and reinsurer helping customers pursue their ambitions through tailored products and services, knowledge, and expertise on a global scale. In 2018, AXIS had an opportunity to consolidate its London offices into one sought-after location in the insurance industry – 50 yards from the Lloyds of London insurance market. The first three levels of the building would only have about 450 seats available and could not accommodate AXIS Capital’s 600 employees. To overcome this challenge, AXIS Capital embarked on a journey to create a hybrid and highly agile environment that supported in-office and work-from-home users by reimagining the office and implementing first-come, first-serve, unassigned seating in various “neighborhoods” around the office.
AXIS Capital deployed a new standard laptop to all employees, replaced desk phones with softphones, and implemented the Webex App to create an inclusive platform, so all employees can collaborate effectively. AXIS Capital also created collaboration spaces with Cisco Devices, allowing the AXIS Capital team to leverage Webex’s whiteboarding solution to seamlessly collaborate and brainstorm during meetings.
This new way of working in London was so successful, AXIS Capital decided to implement the same office setup in its global offices. By February 2020, almost all AXIS Capital offices were agile and collaborative spaces.
AXIS Capital’s use of the end-to-end Webex collaboration suite demonstrates the company’s commitment to delivering enhanced hybrid collaboration experiences.
Community Collaborator | Tenaga Nasional Berhad
This award recognizes a company that is making a corporate social responsibility or sustainability impact in their community by reimagining the application of their Webex solutions.
Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) is the largest electricity utility organization in Malaysia and ranks among the leading utility organizations in Asia. Listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia with about RM60 billion in market capitalization, it serves an estimated 9 million customers in Peninsular Malaysia and is ranked as the world’s third strongest utility brand.
TNB has been using Webex for almost four years now. During this period, it has hosted around 1.03 million meetings, with 70.83 million meeting minutes and approximately 9.03 million attendees. Notably, there have been 9,000 active hosts, underscoring the long-lasting and significant role that Webex has played. TNB employees have intensively leveraged Webex Messaging for collaboration.
Webex is an important tool for helping TNB with its Energy Transition strategy and its goals related to the environment, social responsibility, and good governance (ESG). Since TNB started leveraging Webex, it has managed to significantly reduce its carbon emissions.
Webex has not only transformed the way TNB employees work but has also directly reduced certain costs by facilitating online meetings. Some of the cost savings include decreased travel expenses, mileage, meals, and even subsistence allowance. Overall, TNB has achieved savings of RM428.25 million (~ USD $91.6 M) with the total attendance (9.3 million) from January 2020 to July 2023.
Tengaga Nasional Berhad’s story is a remarkable example of how Webex technology can help organizations make a corporate social responsibility or sustainability impact.
Webex Luminary | Michelle Bourgeois – St. Vrain Valley School District and Stanley Toh – Broadcom
This award recognizes individuals in companies who are advocating for Webex and are visionaries in their organization, driving change by rallying others to embrace Webex.
Michelle Bourgeois
Michelle Bourgeois, Chief Technology Officer at St. Vrain Valley School District, is a winner of the Webex Luminary award because of her passion for ensuring technology is maximized to better the student experience at St. Vrain Valley School District. This passion drives her creative thinking around how best to deploy Webex.
For the district’s 2023 graduation, Michelle piloted the use of Webex as a call-in for family members in the audience who needed Spanish interpretation during the ceremony. Her commitment to using the technology to best support her district and community continues to evolve into new opportunities for her partnership with Cisco.
With Webex, Michelle has supported St. Vrain Valley School District in expanding its ability to offer unique, innovative courses to students across the district and beyond.
Stanley Toh
Stanley Toh, Director of Enterprise End User Experience and Services at Broadcom, is a winner of the Webex Luminary award due to his outstanding contribution to promoting and implementing Webex within Broadcom. With Stanley’s strong partnership and advocacy, Broadcom has successfully embraced Webex as its primary collaboration platform.
In the past, Broadcom faced the challenge of having multiple collaboration and contact center tools and a complex on-premises calling system. However, Stanley recognized the need for a simplified and unified collaboration and customer experience solution. As a result, Broadcom made the decision to transition to Webex Meetings, Webex Calling, Webex Contact Center, and Cisco Devices.
With Stanley’s guidance, Broadcom smoothly migrated 25,000 users to Webex Calling within four weeks, ensuring scalability, enhanced user experience, end-to-end encryption security, and simplified support and maintenance. Broadcom also integrated its Google chat system into Webex Contact Center to provide a customized experience for customers and employees.
Stanely’s dedication and partnership with Cisco have been pivotal in Broadcom’s successful adoption of Webex.
Congratulations to the 2023 Webex Champion Awards Winners
Thank you to everyone who made a submission to this year’s Webex Champion Awards! We hope you will consider submitting again next year. A big congratulations to this year’s finalists and winners. We can’t wait to celebrate a new group of champions next year at WebexOne 2024!
More from WebexOne 2023:
- Elevate Hybrid work with Webex on Apple TV & Apple Watch
- Expanding the Cisco Headset portfolio with true wireless earbuds
- Be in the Room, From Anywhere in the World
- Webex What’s New Page
- Helping European customers meet digital sovereignty requirements with trusted local partners
- Webex and Samsung foldables and tablets
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