The San Jose based IT giant has rolled out new feature updates supporting both in-office and remote work requirements to empower the hybrid workforce.
Cisco has charted a course for the future of work environments as the world tries to bounce back from the impact of COVID-19. The company has announced a powerful set of new feature updates to drive hybrid work environments.Â
In hybrid work environments, employees can choose to work virtually or from the office. In either of the cases, organizations need to ensure availability of appropriate technologies to facilitate seamless work experience. “Because at the end of the day, work is no longer a place you go, work is what you do,†said Javed Khan, SVP and GM for Cisco’s Collaboration Group.
Khan also took to Twitter to announce the same:
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Empowering the Remote Workforce
Cisco has announced six new features aimed to empower the remote workforce. Khan adds, “Everything we’re doing is designed to make it easier to get work done.â€
New features are as follows:Â
- Video for everyone: Cisco enhanced their video application to ensure loss in video quality to improve collaboration experience for employees. The standout feature is that with the new upgrade, even a 50% packet loss in the network won’t hamper video quality. Further, the intelligent super-scaling delivers 720p quality. It also includes region of interest encoding, which helps Webex focus only on certain important areas in a video.
- Virtual Customized or Blurred Background: Webex users can leverage background customization features across Windows, Mac and Android platforms. Customization includes virtual backgrounds or blurring them out.Â
- Webex Assistant for Meetings: Webex Assistant makes collaboration more efficient than before. It can take notes, record meetings, run transcripts and much more.
- Screen Share Preview: Enables proper synchronization of what’s on the screen through visual verification between the participants.Â
- Hand raising: The new ‘Raise Hand’ feature allows participants to do that irrespective of the device they’re using, even through phone (PSTN).Â
- More business calling capabilities in Webex Teams: Enterprise calling features like visual voicemail, local contacts search, and call pull can help users to convert any area into a workstation.Â
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Return to Office – The Homecoming
A hybrid workforce means that a chunk of the workforce will work from the office. In line with the guidelines issued by CDC like physical/social distancing etc., Cisco made the following feature updates to Webex:
- Remote control: Webex devices can now be controlled remotely by users with their laptops or mobile phones thereby, eliminating the need to touch a public device. Users can call, mute, change audio, share screen, as well as end a meeting or call remotely.
- Voice Control: Webex will now also be voice-controlled to eliminate physical touching altogether.
- Alerts: Activated sensor-based notifications from room devices provide information in real time in case maximum prescribed capacity in a room is breached.
- Cleaning Notifications: Employees can also get notified regarding when a particular room was last cleaned.
- Touchless Log Ins: In case an employee needs to log in and access shared workstations and hot-desk environments, they can do it without touching anything, all through a personal Cisco headset.
Cisco also announced workforce optimization, report management, and PSTN calling for organizations with remote working customer center agents. For organizations, the next big challenge is to prepare the workforce to be equally productive from wherever they are and effectively manage this new work experience.
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