News Summary: 

  • New Webex Assistant for Webex Meetings turns meetings into a digital treasure trove.
     
  • Webex Assistant is learning Spanish! We’re showing a preview at Cisco Live in Barcelona.
     
  • Continuing Cisco’s commitment to security and data privacy, customers can now choose whether their Webex Teams data will be stored in Europe or the United States.
     
  • New Cisco Webex Room USB is an entry-level video device offering smaller organizations collaboration without compromise.   

BARCELONA Spain, January 28, 2020—Would you like to have better, more engaged meetings? Today at Cisco Live Europe, Cisco announced innovations to do just that—using only your voice. We’re introducing new AI-powered voice intelligence capabilities to Webex Meetings to help turn talk into action. The CiscoWebex Assistant for Webex Meetings is powered by technology from the recent Voicea acquisition, turning Webex meetings into a digital treasure trove.

“Voicea users have reported saving more than six hours per week per user with more actionable and efficient meetings – and we believe Webex users will experience similar results,” said Sri Srinivasan, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Team Collaboration at Cisco. “We’re excited to bring this and other cognitive features to the 300 million users we already serve with Cisco Collaboration. This technology will fundamentally change how we are able to deliver massively personalized experiences and transform the way we work.”

Webex Assistant for Meetings becomes the first digital in-meeting assistant for the enterprise. With it, voice commands automate mundane meeting tasks (like taking notes, transcribing and follow-up) so users can focus on the meeting. Not only can you see closed captioning and instantly transcribe what is said, you can also tell Webex what points to highlight. The recorded transcripts become searchable—not just within the meeting, but across meetings. It also creates action items, so no one forgets who committed to do what. And, speaker labeling makes sure you know who is saying what during the meeting. In addition, a host of post-meeting features enable easy editing and sharing of all the meeting assets. (In related news, Voicea technology is also integrated into the Cisco contact center portfolio. Read morehere).
 
Customer benefits include:

  • More productive and actionable meetings: Turning talk into action means more focused meetings and better engagement and follow-ups.
     
  • Delighted users: No more worrying about who will take notes during a team call—Webex will do it. Can’t join the meeting? Simply skim the meeting highlights to see what was decided. Gone are the days of being expected to “catch up” by watching a recording over the weekend. We have the most accurate transcription engine on the market, with roughly 20% better word error rate than competitive solutions.
     
  • More accessible workplace: Real-time transcripts and closed captioning allow for more focused meetings for all, especially for hearing impaired participants.
     
  • Peace of mind with the most secure, real-time transcription solution on the market: You wouldn’t invite your competitors to join your sales forecast meeting; you shouldn’t have to worry they might see the call transcript. Our security is second to none. We are the only collaboration vendor with in-house data management—no third parties involved. 

Cisco also announced three additional important updates which include: 
 
Webex Assistant Learns Spanish: “¡Hola, Webex!”
Cisco added conversational AI to Webex Rooms in 2017. With Webex Assistant for Webex Rooms, you can use your voice to join meetings, make a call, and control our room devices. It makes life a lot easier.   
 
Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world—and it was the #1 customer request for what language Webex Assistant should learn next. So, Webex Assistant is learning Spanish! Soon, users will be able to speak either English or Spanish to Webex Room devices, and Webex Assistant will understand and talk back in the preferred language.  
 
You’ll be able to say things like:

  • OK Webex, llama a Juan Pérez. (call Juan Perez) ​ 
  • OK Webex, entra a mi sala personal.​ (enter my personal room) 
  • OK Webex, entra a la sala personal de María.​ (enter Maria’s personal room) 
  • OK Webex, sube el volumen​. (turn up the volume) 
  • OK Webex, apaga el micrófono​. (turn off the microphone) 

Now that the hard engineering work of making sure Webex is ready to handle other languages is done, Webex is busy learning other languages, too. What’s next? Stay tuned!  
 
Continued industry-leading commitment to security and data privacy
Cisco is the world’s largest cybersecurity company, so it should come as no surprise that the security and privacy of your data is top of mind for us. Building on our true end-to-end encryption and multilayer security, we now give customers a choice as to whether their Webex Teams data (Users, Keys, Messages and Files) will be stored in Europe or the United States. We already provide this for Webex Meetings – this is a continuation of our commitment to your security and data privacy. 
 
Cisco is the only collaboration company solving these complex problems for customers. No other full-stack collaboration company has addressed these issues.

New Cisco Webex Room USB
Small and mid-sized businesses are under as much pressure as larger organizations to transform. The new Cisco Webex Room USB gives smaller organizations collaboration without compromise—amazing quality and security in an affordable, entry-level video device for huddle rooms and small open spaces. It is an attractive alternative to other entry-level solutions in this space, but with the quality experience you’d expect from Cisco in addition to easy installation and management. It’s perfect for the smaller organization getting started with video room devices, but looking for a business-class solution that doesn’t create added complexity and cost.  
 
Research has found there may already be as many as 25 million huddle spaces around the world, with more springing up daily. However, 78 percent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with current meeting room techniques; and 65 percent said half or more of their huddle spaces need video conferencing capabilities. Clearly, as more spaces are added, IT will need the manageability that Cisco is known for. 
 
Additional Resources

  • Blog: Read more about this announcement in Sri Srinivasan’s blog here.
  • For more information about Cisco Collaboration, click here.

About Cisco
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Availability Disclaimer: Many of the products and features described herein remain in varying stages of development and will be offered on a when-and-if-available basis. These products and features are subject to change at the sole discretion of Cisco, and Cisco will have no liability for delay in the delivery or failure to deliver any of the products or features set forth in this document.