New features and capabilities to enable a more inclusive way of working
Welcome to what’s new in Webex! This article highlights new Webex features and capabilities that we have recently introduced.
This month we’re introducing new devices and capabilities in Webex designed to help with things like virtual meeting fatigue, better engaging remote participants and tools to enable powerful, professional experiences wherever you work. Read more below for information about these capabilities and more.
INTEGRATIONS AND INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS
CONTROL HUB, SECURITY AND EDGE SERVICES
MEETINGS
Gestures
Sharing your feedback and hand raising are even easier using hand gestures. With the gesture feature, Webex intelligence translates simple hand motion to your camera (thumbs up, down, clap, hand-raise) to represent your feedback as an icon on screen – no keyboard required. Now, you can easily scan the whole virtual meeting room to gain insights and even the most introverted among us can provide feedback in a meeting.
Breakout Sessions: Let anyone join this session
Now meeting hosts can allow users to join any breakout sessions. No pre-assignment or manual intervention needed – users can join the breakout even if assigned to a different breakout. This gives smaller groups even more flexibility to collaborate and share ideas over audio and video for workshops, classrooms, brainstorming and more. Supported across desktop and mobile platforms.
In-meeting real-time health checker now for mobile
Now mobile users on Android or iOS will see an in-meeting media quality indicator informing participant of their current meeting conditions. Support on mobile platforms provides consistent experiences for health-checks already available on the desktop app.
MESSAGING
We’ve created more personalization options, and continue to add more intelligence to enhance team collaboration.
Edit messages with attachments
Now you can edit your messages even if they originally included attachments, such as whiteboards, files, or GIFs. Fix a typo or update the message text with the latest development. (Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android)
CALLING
Webex continues to expand features to deliver business class calling from the cloud.
Below, we’ve indicated which calling service each new feature applies to. If you’re not sure what calling service you have, see Webex | Find Out What Calling Service You Have.
Webex App with Unified Communications Manager
Park and retrieve your phone calls
Park a call on extension and let another employee to retrieve the call from other phones. Supported on the Webex app for Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android.
Monitor an agent’s call for quality assurance
In a call center, supervisors need to be able to guarantee the quality of customer service that call center agents provide. With silent monitoring, the supervisor can hear both call participants, but neither of the call participants can hear the supervisor. Cisco Contact Center Enterprise Finesse desktop control uses the Webex app as your softphone to support silent monitoring. (Windows desktop)
Ensure incoming calls are visible
Administrators and users can control when to bring call windows to the front of your screen automatically. Make incoming calls readily available for use cases such as contact center agents, or shared line users. Control call window and call toast brought to front of Webex app for Windows and Mac users.
DEVICES
Webex continues to add features to enable common app and device experiences to support more hybrid work scenarios.
Webex Desk Camera
An intelligent, powerful and affordable new camera built to enhance the remote meeting experience and enable small, safe in-person meetings in the office. The Webex Desk Camera delivers up to 4K ultra HD video with vibrant color and incredible low light performance. Plus, it’s simple to manage remotely with Webex Control Hub. See it in action:
Raise Hand on Device (Room OS)
Grab the attention of your meeting host, even if you are not currently in view, by simply clicking a button (on your Webex device touch screen interface or Touch 10 control panel). Your Webex Room System, running the latest version of Webex Room OS lets everyone in your Webex meeting know that you are waiting to speak.
Cloud connected devices far end camera control (Room OS)
Far end camera control allows you to disable auto framing and get the best fit image for the application at hand. For example, remote monitoring of patients, manufacturing facilities, remote view of a group brainstorming session. You can now do this with Webex cloud-connected devices in Webex meetings and 1:1 calls.
INTEGRATIONS AND INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS
Schedule Meetings through 3rd party Calendar with Slack Integration
We’re introducing more ways to get the best meeting experiences in the apps you use today. When scheduling a meeting from the Slack app, users will have to ability to select ‘Webex Meeting’ from a pull-down menu, adding add a Personal Room link to the invite.
Integrations for Developers
SDK & Widgets: Mobile SDK for background noise reduction, high frame rate content share
Any mobile app, in which Webex is embedded, can benefit from background noise reduction and high frame rate content sharing. For example, eliminate dog barking or background noise distractions from client meetings supported in a separate mobile app.
Meeting API: Webhooks meeting participants admin
Both endpoints now accept a host Email parameter. This parameter is only used if the user or application calling the API has the admin-level scopes. If set, the admin may specify the email of a user in a site they manage and the API will return responses for preferences or participants on behalf of that user.
Messaging Events API: file download/preview
Whenever a file with sensitive information is uploaded into a space, the Compliance Officer and CASB vendor can not only track who uploaded the file, but also who saw the preview of the cover page and who downloaded the file.
CONTACT CENTER
Webex Contact Center
New data centers in Latin America and Asia Pacific
To enable even greater global access to our cloud-based customer engagement solutions, Webex is expanding its Webex Contact Center availability in Latin America and Asia Pacific. New data centers in Brazil and Singapore are now available for the Webex Contact Center 1.0 platform, adding to additional recent regional data center expansions in Canada and Germany.
Integrated Webex Experience Management capabilities expanded to include post-call surveys via IVR
Post-call feedback surveys can now be delivered via IVR, in addition to existing SMS and email delivery options, gather immediate feedback from customers after contact center interactions to capture top-of-mind sentiment to improve customer engagement experiences.
CONTROL HUB, SECURITY AND EDGE SERVICES
If you are an admin, Webex Control Hub places management, monitoring, troubleshooting, analytics, edge and hybrid services across all your collaboration resources in one pane of glass.
Scheduler for Report Generator
Webex is simplifying and automating tasks to make your life easier. The new Scheduler functionality removes the need to manually run reports for different date ranges. Now you can schedule reports to run automatically daily, weekly or monthly.
Call media optimization for UCM Calling
When more employees work from home via Mobile Remote Access, Bandwidth on Expressway will be in high demand. With the Media Optimization feature (ICE for UCM Calling), the media of SIP calls between two Webex app users will be sent point to point instead of traverse Expressway. This helps business to reduce bandwidth consumption at the corporate edge and end-users benefit from reduce call latency.
Override default phone settings for Webex Calling
Control Hub settings for Webex Calling services now includes device override options for default phone settings allow admins to configure basic phone settings at the Customer, Location and Device level via control hub. This includes background images, long and short interdigit timers, station display name, line key labels, line key LED patterns.
Monthly Builds for SW Upgrades for Edge connected devices
Upgrade the software on your Webex Edge -connected Webex Rooms systems, directly from the cloud, with visibility and control from Webex Control Hub.
Historical Workspace Analytics
Historical Workspace Analytics is available today for all global customers and can be configured in Control Hub Settings. Trends for occupancy as well as environmental conditions such as noise, temperature and humidity provide an added level of analytics for shared meetings spaces.
For more information on all of these features and upcoming updates to Webex, please visit the What’s New Articles for Webex Services
Resources
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2021: Business Transformation and More Inclusive Collaboration Ahead
Designing the future of work | Gesture Recognition
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