WebexOne 2024 Key Takeaways

Practical AI use cases are live and foster broader AI adoption in CX.

No surprise that AI was prominently featured at WebexOne. What was eye-opening was the number of real-world deployments on display during several client spotlights. Notable and newest are the impressive natural-language Webex AI Agent and Webex Connect. 

Debuting its Webex AI Agent, Cisco demonstrated a spoken-word interface between a caller and an AI agent. We witnessed an astoundingly natural-sounding conversation, with the AI agent being able to handle interruptions and changes of topic while staying within the guardrails of its intended use case. Paired with real-time automation, rich communication services (RCS) and integration into back-end systems, callers and customers not only get questions answered but get full resolution for their issues. It is set for release in Q1 2025 and will help WWT clients scale their CX operations so that their business can increase frontline capacity and offer real 24/7 service. 

Within AI Studio, IT staff and contact center teams can build and test various AI agents, building different bi-directional bots that connect to backend systems so that answers are delivered and issues are resolved without transferring to a human contact center agent. Your team will be able to test various use cases and even choose voice tone and style to better deliver on your company's brand.

Webex Connect. Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS) integrates disparate communication channels in which customers interact with brands and organizations and presents a holistic view to contact center agents who are interacting with customers. Regardless of whether customers initially connect via SMS, email, websites or social platforms, human agents can see the full journey and what has been communicated where and respond intelligently.  Clients using Webex Connect can create collections of communication workflows for initiating outbound customer communications or to respond to inbound inquiries. 

Vidcast. In August 2021, Cisco announced Vidcast as a solution for asynchronous video communication. At its core, it is a video recording and editing tool to share video messages of their presenter and screen without requiring a live meeting. At WebexOne in October 2024, Cisco showcased AI enhancements that include ingesting a set of slides and proposing a script for the talk track, and AI-generated videos not simply built with a single script but capable of creating differentiated journeys and personalization by pulling from CRM data. Carnival Cruise Line showed attendees how they used Vidcast to deliver personalized rich messaging to cruise customers with the objective of easing the onboarding process. 

AI use cases that have been available for nearly two years are becoming more widely adopted and proven. WWT's Terry Ford presented calculators that enable organizations to calculate their projected return on investment (ROI) of common Contact Center AI use cases like Agent Assist and Call Summarization. 

We believe these leading-edge deployments, along with some foundational AI use cases in the contact center, will help CX and contact center leaders build their business case for their organizations to adopt AI. Data silos and integration challenges are the top two hurdles to AI adoption. However, CX and IT organizations that overcome these challenges can achieve competitive advantages, such as higher agent retention, scalability and 24/7 customer support.

Cisco continues to invest heavily in collaboration device innovation 

Cisco revealed a new room microphone device, integrations and AI enhancements that demonstrate they remain committed to best-in-class video and meeting experiences for employees no matter where they work from. The circular Ceiling Microphone Pro, the AI Codec and the spatial meetings in Webex for Apple Vision Pro headsets deliver not only sizzle but substance. They reduce digital friction and eliminate the sense of distance between in-person and remote collaborators. Key technologies:

• Webex AI Codec. We've all heard garbled and unintelligible audio due to network issues. AI Codec fills in the gaps of missing or dropped audio and is available now via the Webex App for desktop and mobile devices, both in Webex Calling or Webex Meetings.
• Cisco Ceiling Microphone Pro. Simplifies meeting room configuration and set-up. The AI-enabled microphone adapts to room acoustics and the active speaker to deliver more focused and clear audio for remote participants. This device is intended for medium-to-large conference rooms.
  • Product overview on Webex.com
  • Cisco Ceiling Microphone Pro product data sheet.
• Cisco Spatial Meetings for Apple Vision Pro. Apple joined the stage with Cisco to demonstrate lifelike video meetings with such depth and dimension that the collaborators feel like they are working together. The headsets are equipped with NVIDIA chipsets and dual-lens cameras that can capture every nuance in a three-dimensional (3D) environment. Use cases for this type of 3D collaboration include product development, design reviews, remote training and education in industries like construction, manufacturing, retail and healthcare.
• Video endpoints with integrated sensors that unlock the benefits of Cisco Spaces. Arriving employees can book desks, huddle spaces and meeting rooms and seamlessly transition from mobile Webex calls to device-hosted meetings. IT managers can see which rooms are not only booked but actually used, by how many people and for what: was it just a video conference bridge for a meeting or were there screenshares or whiteboarding?
• Side cameras enable remote participants to see and participate in cross-table conversations, not missing out on conversations between in-room meeting participants.

Room refresh tools ease the burden for IT leaders

Whether organizations are compelling or incentivizing a return to the office, WWT sees our clients across industries updating the workplace to make it worth the commute. Large-scale meeting room and workspace refreshes are underway. In addition to improving the experience for general employees and contact center agents, Cisco introduced a room configurator tool to simplify and scale meeting room refreshes.

In Webex's Workspace Designer, IT and AV teams can size the room and select fit-for-purpose video endpoints, microphones, and ancillary microphones and cameras. Staff responsible for modernizing the in-office experience can specify room size, table size and number of chairs and see the impact of their choice for various room kits, cameras and microphones. The room configuration tool will visualize the audio and video coverage of the selected devices and offer suggested alternatives to improve camera coverage or microphone reception. 

Control Hub: Cisco continues to make Control Hub a strategic asset in its arsenal and expand its functionality for IT and AV managers. This year they introduced Smart Diagnostics in Control Hub. It is an AI-powered feature that proactively identifies and resolves device issues, reducing downtime and improving overall device performance. This combined with Control Hub's integration into Thousand Eyes, Meraki and Cisco Spaces means that Control Hub becomes truly a hub to manage any and all of the issues related to meetings: network usage and availability, network switching and security, as well as room occupancy or availability.

Overall, we see Control Hub and Workspace Designer as key tools for enabling smarter workplace management and facilitating large-scale room refreshes. 

Webex leverages Cisco's cross-architecture strengths.  

Networking, monitoring and automation make collaboration more seamless, but there are roadblocks to the synergy. We refer to the visibility ThousandEyes delivers into Cisco video endpoints and sensors. It makes sense to extend TE's visibility to collaboration events (meetings, telemedicine and webinars) Even so, among our clients, WWT observes that the internal organization, departmental silos within IT and licensing are impediments to unlocking the full value of the Webex+ThousandEyes collaboration monitoring and assurance.

Webex for government and FedRamp certification 

For Public Sector clients, compliance with federal, state or local regulations has hindered the adoption of Webex Calling and Webex Contact Center. Cisco's roadmap now has FedRamp-compliant versions with a target introduction of Q2 2025. They also showcased Webex Calling integration within Microsoft Teams for public sector clients. For agencies where on-premises contact centers are the norm, we heard Cisco is working to make the Webex AI Agent and other AI-enabled tools available to on-prem instances in the calendar year 2025.

World Wide Technology can help Public Sector agencies assess and implement Webex Meetings, Webex Connect or Webex Contact Center for you in compliant and secure versions whether your agency's underlying messaging platform is MS Teams or Webex. 

Equal impact across the Employee Experience and Customer Experience (CX)

Historically, WebexOne was an event for those in IT and AV primarily focused on employee engagement, workforce collaboration and productivity. Just one year ago, attendees and presenters were split, with 70 percent focusing on employee experience (EX) and 30 percent on contact centers or a broader CX focus.  

This year's attendees represented CX and EX equally 50/50. In part, this is driven by the normalization of hybrid work and the predominance of remote contact center agents. What we see though is a broader embrace of what WWT has believed: if you empower employees with frictionless experience, the organization is able not only to collaborate but to innovate, evolve and better address your customers' needs. CX and EX are intrinsically linked. We saw this proven on stage with our client presenters and in the titles represented among WebexOne attendees. 

Global accolades for World Wide Technology 

WWT is honored to be named Cisco's Global Collaboration Partner of the Year for 2024. Cisco Partner Awards recognize top-performing partners demonstrating service excellence and innovation in delivering solutions that help our clients succeed. We are also honored to receive the Webex 2024 Global Partner of the Year award, which demonstrates WWT's remarkable dedication to enhancing collaboration and delivering world-class workplace and customer experience at scale. See more about World Wide Technology's recognition across EMEA, APJC and the Americas for Cisco solutions.