Cisco and VQ further strengthen ecosystem partnership

Cisco has a long-standing partnership with VQ Communications spanning several years. The VQ Conference Manager (VQCM) product is a solution that has enabled many customers to successfully deploy and manage the Cisco Meeting Server platform (CMS) at scale. The last 15 months have changed how we work. Hybrid working has become the new norm with being in the office increasingly less relevant. Video based meetings are now a mainstream business tool and an expected way of working.

What is special about VQ Conference Manager 3.8?

VQ Conference Manager 3.8 adds functionality to support the new hybrid work, multi-platform world we now live in. At its core there are four new features

• Easily share Role specific Meeting and Space details and join calls easily via click-to-call links
• Support for Local Users in environments without Active Directory
• Further refinements to live Meeting Management dashboards (participant bandwidth, re-label and Automatic Gain Control (AGC)
• Further refinements to Recurring Meeting Scheduling

Importantly, 3.8 paves the way for 2 follow-on updates, 3.8.1 and 3.8+. VQCM 3.8.1 introduces Pane-Placement and VQCM 3.8+ adds One-Button-To-Push (OBTP).

VQ Conference Manger 3.8 makes it easier to get CMS based services up and running quicker and enables higher levels of adoption through increased ease of use. Ultimately, VQ Conference Manager allows you to get more from your CMS investment and do so in less time.

What’s coming up in the roadmap?

As we continue through remainder of 2021 and into 2022, VQ are focussed on themes of work that align to Cisco’s CMS strategy.  Including…

• US Federal approved versions of VQCM
• Consolidation of Cisco TMS Directory Services and Device Management functionality into VQCM
• Device Management Automation; automate processes that are currently manual, time consuming and expensive
• Enable customers to integrate CMS based video services with core business services and tooling via VQ APIs
• Next generation Dashboard refresh for VQCM’s integrated Analytics
• VQCM as a Kubernetes Native solution allowing on-premises to Cloud migration as customers require it

VQ and Cisco customer success story

A recent example of a VQ customer success is within a US Government agency who have a large number of CMS call bridges.

The customer has a dependency on TMS which requires a migration path, alongside having an insatiable appetite for reporting on service performance. In addition, they have the requirement to supply incident reports on any meetings suffering issues with Packet Loss. The customer has some very manual processes that are ripe for being automated.

The customer loves the fact that VQCM can consolidate the tooling required to deliver their services onto a single solution. The reporting and analytics dashboards have been a massive hit. Automation will enable them to replace expensive and laborious manual processes.

VQ’s CEO Mike Horsley says, “The relationship with Cisco goes from strength to strength. The results speak for themselves and are a really good example of teams working together to achieve incredible results. We look forward to pushing what’s possible onwards and upwards.”

Cisco’s Global Collaboration Ecosystem Director Justin Ramirez says, “Since VQ joined our Partner program back in 2020, it has been proven that VQ Conference Manager has been fundamental in enabling Cisco Meeting Server sales. The enhancements of the product in version 3.8 are only going to strengthen this offering and importantly allow users to deliver the loved Webex style experience on Cisco’s on-premises solution”

If you would like a demo of VQ Conference Manager or to talk to the sales team, please drop us a message in the ‘Ask VQ’ Webex space, or to learn more about Webex and VQ visit apphub.webex.com or contact your Cisco representative for more information on how to take advantage of this partnership

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