The all new Webex spells the end to fragmented working practices

The power of technology is such that it can enable its users in many different ways. Communicating with distributed workforces (very much a primary requirement in 2020), collaborating effectively with colleagues, getting people and their ideas together: all these are mainstays of any organization’s work and ones on which we all rely.

When technology first began to appear in our workplaces decades ago, the ideology behind the applications had its origins in developing software for early UNIX mainframes: do one thing, and do it well. We still use many applications and services to this day that continue the idea and sometimes for good reasons.

However, getting workforces together in productive ways today means combining several technologies to produce the most efficient and streamlined solution, one that lets people and technology work at their best. Online meetings tend to split into different conversations, conversations often turn into meetings, two people collaborating becomes a working group of ten or twelve, where all the participants have media and materials to share. Bringing the underpinning technologies together that enable all this makes practical business sense, and, for IT departments, practical operational sense. It’s better to administer and oversee fewer systems, especially since the strands of what a system does are so interconnected.

Throughout 2020, many teams had to piece together communications solutions, pushing VOIP traffic to remote workers, asking employees to download software onto personal devices, and creating shared resources online (like file shares) quickly. In many cases, the outcomes were functional but represented both multiple security concerns and a technology framework that wasn’t efficient for its users.

This is the situation in which many businesses now find themselves, especially as some workers return to their workplaces while others remain remote. Resources have been distributed across different cloud services like online document hubs, databases with web front ends of varying complexity, kanban boards, shared calendars, notes apps, pasteboards, and so on. IT teams have been trying to unpick this puzzle as 2020 turns into 2021, a job of work that will undoubtedly have to continue for many months, in most cases.

The answer for many organizations is the market-leading integrated call, messaging, and meeting platform, one that not only integrates soft- and hardware, but one that is actively inclusive – multimedia and multilingual. The all new Webex solution means organizations distributed across countries, timezones, and even languages have a single place to talk, see, meet, share, collaborate, and work.

Source: Cisco Webex

Personalizing success

The danger of a homogenous technology platform is that the people who use it day in and day out can feel de-personalized if it does not work the way they do, and furthermore, look and feel in ways with which they are comfortable.

Webex allows every user their own settings and layouts, each of which is replicated across the different platforms on which they work. As users move from mobile to laptop, tablet, or Webex device (like video or desk devices), conversations and meetings continue seamlessly, as do each users’ personal preferences.

And perhaps the most notable preference in diverse workplaces is language. The all new Webex will be able to simultaneously translate from & into ten languages, so each participant in a meeting or workspace can properly express themselves. There will also be real-time transcription of speech that is created by intelligent, context-specific AI-powered algorithms.

As you might expect, there are plenty of possibilities for breakout spaces, text chats alongside video calls, and fully-integrated file and media sharing. Webex is a highly organized, interconnected, and personalizable platform that works the way the organization does.

The AI algorithms that underpin the platform mean intelligent noise cancellation and bandwidth sensitivity that ensure the clearest and uninterrupted communications.

Having work-oriented technology in one place has distinct advantages right across a company or organization. The go-to platform becomes a work hub that – thanks to its integration capabilities – fits into existing workflows and application. Open APIs ensure seamless data movement between legacy platforms and existing resource silos, so time and effort no longer have to be wasted pulling together required information.

Webex emancipates and equalizes all workforce members, regardless of language, personal working methods, and modes of communication. By drawing together the discrete strands of modern work practices safely and providing a secure platform to empower the business better, the face of modern communications technology is changing for the better.

To learn more about how the all new Webex can make your everyday working more effective, get in touch with a representative today.