Your employees, customers, and suppliers have big expectations when it comes to calling and collaboration experiences. More enterprises are working and sharing globally, and the number of remote workers continues to increase. Employees and customers have come to expect flexibility in anytime, anywhere communication. At the same time, business success hinges on enabling quality collaboration. The ability to innovate and create bigger ideas requires a real connection and clear communication. And the future is only going to demand more of it. That’s why Cisco® cloud calling is making it possible for you to grow to your expectations, with less complexity in communications and more dynamic ways to collaborate using new cognitive calling capabilities. Find out why Cisco cloud calling is more secure, more scalable, and more ready to serve your future business needs than your existing on-premises PBX infrastructure.
Chapter 1: A secure global platform Chapter 2: A full-stack collaboration suite Chapter 3: Integrated devices and software Chapter 4: An open and intelligent user experience Chapter 5: Flexible cloud transition paths
Until now, most cloud alternatives to on-premises PBX systems have lacked the security, features, functionality, and trusted performance record necessary to be viable replacement options for the enterprise PBX and PBX network. Cisco Webex® Calling is powered by the Cisco Webex cloud platform—which means it’s backed by Cisco global security protocols. We collect, use, and process customer information only in accordance with the Cisco Privacy Statement, the Cisco Webex Terms of Service, and regulatory compliance in every market we operate in.
The Webex cloud platform is fully geo-redundant and has no single point of failure. It features a security descriptor definition language (SDDL) approach to product security, data protection, and privacy, as well as fraud detection mechanisms.
We know that online collaboration must provide multiple levels of security for tasks that range from scheduling meetings and authenticating participants to sharing documents. So we make security the top priority in the design, development, deployment, and maintenance of all our networks, platforms, and applications. You can incorporate Cisco cloud calling solutions into your business processes with confidence, knowing we have already applied the most rigorous security practices, because security is built into every product we offer. We deliver cloud from geo-redundant data centers in seven countries, operated by experienced Tier 4 operators, providing a multi-tenant cloud service that’s more reliable, scalable, and secure than any on-premises option.
When you buy a business phone system, it’s important to consider a solution that will serve all types of collaboration that go on in your business. Cisco Webex Calling is part of the Cisco Webex midsize and enterprise-grade collaboration suite. It’s delivered with a full-stack bundle that provides the essential business calling features you need today and for tomorrow—plus Cisco Webex Teams collaboration and Cisco Webex Meetings conferencing services.
Cisco offers a complete suite that will delight your employees and your customers. Cisco Webex is a trusted global cloud calling solution uniquely capable of serving large and multinational businesses—so you get the full cloud benefits of quality, predictable costs, and reduced administrative complexity, with the power of cloud calling.
Devices for every use case
Cisco collaboration solutions bring people together anywhere—on any device—with a single architecture for clear delivery of voice, video, and data. Whether you’re calling, creating, viewing, messaging, sharing, conferencing, or using voice or presence capabilities, you need to be able to do it from a variety of devices. From desk phone or laptop to room monitor or mobile device, the experience should be seamless. Cisco endpoints range from IP phones to web, mobile, and desktop clients—all integrated to make it easy to switch between devices. Take users from their smartphone in their car to the devices they use in their office, home, or meeting room, with easy device handovers and full access to business calling features at each step. If your workforce is resistant to change and you want to maximise end-user adoption, our USE experts can provide insights and guidance for Webex, UC devices, or even for your Contact Center.
Intelligent pairing of devices with users
The Cisco Webex experience offers high-resolution video and animation, shared whiteboards, and clarity of image and sound for deeper engagement—from huddle spaces to board rooms. Rich collaboration experiences happen when all your devices interoperate. Instant access to content fosters high-quality communication, regardless of device or location, and allows users to personalize their viewing and interaction experience.
How does instant access work? Users can automatically pair with room devices when they enter the conference room, connecting their Cisco Webex app to a Cisco Webex room device, whiteboard, or desk phone, to share and receive content, transfer calls from their smartphone or tablet to the room device, or use their smartphone or tablet to control the Cisco Webex room device. Users can even start a meeting before they get to the room, then transfer it to the room device when they arrive. Or access can be activated when users bring mobile devices within range of select Cisco voice and video collaboration tools, allowing them to control the video system from a mobile device, view content on their mobile device, and share content from laptops using the room system monitor. Unique Cisco IP phone integration lets mobile devices—both Apple iOS and Android devices—connect to Cisco IP phones via Bluetooth.
Good user experiences matter before, during, and after the call. Cisco cloud calling solutions use artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and data analytics to turn calling into cognitive collaboration. Cisco takes advantage of AI and ML data and analytics to create context and deliver it to people in the meeting. These insights into people enhance meeting dynamics and help build teamwork and comradery. AI and ML can also offer virtual or real-time assistance, recognize participants, suppress or detect noise, share documents, and find patterns in topics, language, and conversational interfaces. With the intelligence that can be gathered through sensors, bots, customer relationship management (CRM), Internet of Things (IoT), profiles, calendar scheduling, and social and public data—plus the analytics to turn it into information to aid connection—collaboration can be made more personal, more meaningful, and more productive. Greater context leads to better decision making.
New cognitive collaboration technology is making it easier for users to join meetings, learn about who they’re meeting with, and get up to speed on the meeting agenda. With the Cisco Webex suite, all of the applications work together for a more seamless experience. And when you use the cloud, you always have access to the latest capabilities and features, without the hassle of deployment. Release cycles run in weeks, not years, so there’s no waiting for the newest update.
Cisco makes your cloud calling transition simple, fast, secure, and affordable by addressing your concerns on three fronts at once: commercial, experience, and architecture.
Commercial: Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan On the commercial side, cloud changes your communications budget from a CapEx to an OpEx model. The Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan simplifies the transition by giving you one way to buy Cisco calling, whether you choose a cloud, hosted, or on-premises model. With the Flex Plan, you get Cisco’s industry-leading collaboration tools for calling, messaging, team collaboration, meetings, and contact center under one simple subscription-based offer. Buy one license, and you can convert it from on-premises to cloud. Flex Plan gives you the confidence of knowing that your on-premises investments will be protected as you move to the cloud.
Why Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan?
• It’s simple: Take advantage of Cisco’s industry-leading collaboration tools, available via one subscription. • It’s flexible: Mix and match between cloud, on-premises, hosted, and hybrid deployment options. • It’s agile: Get users up and running with the services they need today. Scale up with ease as adoption increases. Experience: The Webex advantage Webex delivers an exceptional, modern collaboration experience your employees will enjoy across their calling, messaging, meetings, and team collaboration activities. The cloud enables Cisco to deliver the best innovation faster. Whether it’s automatic pairing of devices to applications when you enter a room, using AI to streamline tasks, or adding ML to analytics and diagnostics tools to keep IT ahead of performance issues, Webex gives you the advantage. Your customers and people will feel the difference right away through better response times, simpler workflows, and a greater sense of connection with each other.
The Webex Teams user experience (UX) extends across the on-premises and cloud application experience, so users of an on-premises Cisco Jabber® account will have similar client graphics and similar calling, messaging, meetings, and team collaboration experiences when they get to the cloud. When you’re ready to move your infrastructure to the cloud, Webex makes the user experience seamless
Architecture: Cloud first, not cloud only
Moving your business to the cloud is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. The Webex cloud offers choices in a cloud platform model—public cloud and private cloud—delivered from qualified Cisco channel partners in over 80 countries.
As the global market leader in cloud calling, only Cisco Webex offers the scale, security, reliability, and innovation that the enterprise demands. With hundreds of calling features, HD audio and video, intelligent AI, and rich interoperability, Cisco cloud calling meets your business wherever you are, helping you transition to the cloud at your own pace as part of a powerful collaboration suite that includes advanced mobility, meetings, team collaboration, customer care, and devices.
Where do you go from here?
There’s no doubt that calling and collaboration solutions need to evolve to meet the needs of users in the midmarket and the enterprise today. Cloud calling from Cisco provides the most flexible and agile options to serve your calling and collaboration needs. With Cisco, you can worry less about the challenges of cloud and focus more on the advantages your business gains every day by working smarter.
