News Summary:New global survey reveals employees fear returning to the office and want better video meetings.
A flurry of Webex enhancements improve your experience so you can focus on the work.
Cisco also delivers new sensors, devices, and analytics to make the eventual return to office safer.
SAN JOSE, Calif., October 6, 2020 The pandemic has dramatically changed how we work and how we feel about going back to our offices. According to a new global survey, 95% of workers are uncomfortable about returning to the office given the current health crisis, 98% expect future meetings will have participants joining from home, 53% of companies are planning to optimize their office footprint, and 96% want intelligent technology to improve work environments.
With that as the backdrop, Cisco's collaboration group today announced innovations for both the remote and the in-office experience to help teams stay safe and get great work done as companies navigate 2020 and beyond. With the goal of creating a 10x better meeting experience, innovations announced today are as follows:
Making remote work 10x better than in person experiences: Webex meetings
According to the survey, 58% say they will continue to work remotely eight or more days per month even after the pandemic is over so it's critical that companies nail the video meeting experience. Webex is full of features to help users before, during and after meetings. Today we add even more:
- Show up the way you want. Waiting in the lobby before you're let into the meeting? Use that time to personalize how you'll appear in the meeting. We've enlarged the view so you can clearly see how your background will appear or select a virtual background. We've added more of those, too.
- Stop searching for how to ____ (fill in the blank). Our new, elegant design puts controls in the most logical place without covering shared content or your video and even adapts to your screen size. Want to chat with someone? Hover over them. Need to change your audio? Hover over yourself. Simple.
- Make it yours. Hate it when your screen fills with a big gray box because the person who is talking isn't sharing video? Now you can tell Webex to hide non-video participants. This is just one of many new customizable options. Customize once, enjoy every meeting.
- End the background noise. Distracting noise on Webex meetings is a thing of the past. By the end of this month, technology from our BabbleLabs acquisition will both quash the whirr of the vacuum and enhance the speaker's voice so you can hear clearly. (Read related press release here.)
Technology to help workers safely return to the office when it's time
Whether you think a return to the office is three, six or even 12 months away, companies know they must prepare now since far-reaching changes are needed. Companies need to optimize their space, address worker concerns about sanitation and social distancing and plan how to communicate policies and information clearly. Cisco is giving customers the data and tools to make this journey back to the office. Specifically, we are adding:
- Even more environmental sensors in Webex devices.
Cisco has pioneered the use of sensors in collaboration gear provide important environmental datapoints to users, IT and employee experience experts to ensure and safe and comfortable workplace. Previously we announced sensors that detect ambient noise levels and count the number of people in a space. These existing sensors and the data they collect become even more important now as they can identify underutilized or overcrowded spaces. Additional sensors will now also collect data on room temperature, humidity, air quality and light. Plus, weve made our people counting capabilities smarter. Thanks to machine learning, Webex will help ensure compliance with room capacity limits, counting people whether they are wearing face masks or not no matter where they are in the room. Quickly identifying workspaces with environmental roadblocks lets companies take action to improve productivity and the quality of the meeting experience, for both in-office and remote participants.
- Webex Room Navigator: New devices for inside and outside meeting rooms.
Companies need a new approach to the meeting space to ensure safety and optimize use. We're announcing today two versions of the new Webex Room Navigator. These are purpose-built devices that contain all the sensors mentioned above. They sit either inside or outside the meeting room to provide intelligent, safe room booking for users and deep data for IT and facilities managers. The out-of-room model makes it simple to find and book a space to meet; it clearly shows when the room is free and changes the status to booked when you enter. Activate it with touch or to avoid touching a possibly contaminated surface just use your voice. The in-room model provides alerts for social distancing, cleaning schedules, and more and allows you to book from inside the space, too. Both versions have a digital signage mode so companies can use the screens to convey important information. Even better: built-in no-show technology automatically senses if no one shows up for a scheduled meeting and frees up the room for another team's use.
- Webex Control Hub: Deep, actionable workplace analytics.
Our survey highlighted that fewer than half of all companies can measure room utilization, which means they lack the visibility needed to set proper cleaning schedules a top concern of employees as they contemplate returning to the office. Webex Control Hub provides this much-needed visibility. Now it will provide historical insights into both room utilization and room environment metrics such as rooms booked but not used, median occupancy across all spaces, and ambient noise levels. These insights provide actionable in
