Cisco is a global leader in technology that powers the internet and the AI era, specializing in the critical infrastructure that defines modern networking, security, collaboration, and observability. With a dedicated workforce of over 82,000 employees worldwide, Cisco serves more than one million customers across 150 countries, including 99% of the Fortune 500 and over 82,000 government organizations.
Within this massive global ecosystem, Cisco IT serves as the essential steward of the company’s contact center services, managing a communication infrastructure that is staggering in both scale and complexity. Shubo Jiang, Cisco IT Contact Center Architect, explains, “Cisco IT is the Contact Center Business Unit’s trusted partner, managing the platform used by many business functions inside Cisco, including internal technical support, HR, and external sales and marketing.”
This team oversees 38 distinct contact centers handling more than 8 million calls annually, ensuring that every business function—from technical support and HR to sales and marketing—can communicate seamlessly across 13 native languages. By successfully migrating this massive operation to the cloud, Cisco IT has proven that Webex Contact Center is a robust enterprise solution capable of driving global efficiency for the world’s largest corporations.
The Challenge: Overcoming Legacy Enterprise Hurdles
Before transitioning to the cloud, Cisco IT operated on Cisco’s Unified Contact Center Enterprise platform—a traditional contact center infrastructure. While this system supported approximately 8 million annual interactions, it presented some administrative and operational challenges. Administrators often needed to use VPNs and remote desktops to access management tools, and technical teams dedicated considerable effort to maintaining on-premises hardware.
Additionally, the previous environment managed voice and digital interactions through separate systems, which sometimes made it more complex to deliver a seamless omnichannel experience. Mary Mazon, Director – Service Delivery Management, highlights the complexity of their global requirements, “While some centers still follow a “follow-the-sun” model, others are moving toward a “global agent available” routing model where an agent might handle voice, case, and chat interactions within a single business day.”
To modernize, Cisco IT needed to migrate their contact centers to the cloud and in a way that would cause as little disruption to the business as possible. Jiang explains, “We could deliver a better and more consistent Webex experience for internal users and to improve the overall customer experience by leveraging the cloud’s flexibility and continuous innovation.”
The Solution: An Integrated, Enterprise-Grade Cloud Ecosystem
To meet the demands of the business, Cisco IT deployed a comprehensive suite of solutions. The robust technology stack currently in use includes Webex Contact Center, Webex WFO, Salesforce Integration etc. This integrated ecosystem allows the team to automate complex workflows and provide agents with a 360-degree view of the customer without leaving their primary workspace.
The migration process to Webex Contact Center itself was designed to be as rigorous as the technology. Mazon explains, “The journey begins with a client migration readiness assessment followed by a detailed application design phase with intent to modernize the contact center using Webex Contact Center and cloud contact center strategies.”
This strategic approach allowed Cisco IT to review, plan, and update current on-prem applications, optimizing with Webex capabilities and cloud routing before scheduling maintenance windows for the final transition. By maintaining a hybrid environment during this period, Cisco IT ensured operational continuity, allowing for a phased approach where agents only migrate to Webex Calling after a successful contact center application migration.
The Results: Proving Enterprise Value through Scale and Efficiency
Webex Contact Center has transformed the administrator experience by replacing a hardware-dependent model with a streamlined, cloud-native platform. Administrators can now manage the system entirely online, eliminating the need for VPNs or Remote Desktop connections and improving agility and efficiency. AI-powered tools optimize workflows and enhance customer experience management.
This shift enables teams to focus on service optimization rather than backend maintenance, reducing administrative overhead and accelerating feature deployment. Advanced monitoring and notification tools provide Cisco IT with proactive visibility into potential issues, strengthening supportability. As the platform evolves, Cisco remains committed to the high standards expected of a global leader. Mazon states, “Our future focus is on supportability and tools that will allow Cisco IT to see possible issues early on through proactive notification and visibility into the platform.” By acting as its own “Customer Zero,” Cisco IT demonstrates that Webex Contact Center delivers the reliability, security, and innovation required to lead in the AI era.
For the agents, the benefits are equally clear. Jiang points out that SSO provides a seamless login experience, while the Compliance Message feature provides easy management of complex global regulations like Global Data Privacy Regulations (GDPR), providing the security and peace of mind that enterprise-level corporations require. Productivity has been further enhanced by real-time transcription, which Jiang says “saves time by eliminating the need for customers to repeat their information.”
The Future: Scaling AI for Global Impact
Cisco IT is now focused on the next frontier of AI adoption by piloting Webex AI Agent. Jiang shares, “We are expecting this can enhance customer experience by reducing wait time for human agents since AI Agents are on all the time.” The team is also looking forward to upcoming AI-powered quality management features that will enable supervisors to gain insights into customer interactions much more easily.
Discover what Webex Contact Center can do for your organization. Connect with a Webex team member today to learn more.
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