Cisco Systems Inc. today debuted a slew of additions to its Webex portfolio of communications products, including artificial intelligence features designed to optimize meetings and new hardware devices.

The company detailed the enhancements at its WebexOne 2021 event running virtually today and tomorrow.

The Webex product portfolio is headlined by the popular videoconferencing service of the same name. Cisco also offers more specialized cloud services for use cases such as virtual events and customer service, as well as a line of complementary hardware devices.

Earlier this year, the company combined several Webex offerings into a new bundle called Webex Suite in a bid to win over more enterprise customers. The bundle offers up to 40% lower pricing compared with buying the individual products separately.   

At WebexOne 2021 today, Cisco detailed a set of new AI capabilities that aim to make the suite even more competitive by streamlining the meeting experience.

The first new AI capability automatically optimizes meeting sound to account for the fact that factors such as a user’s distance from a conference phone can affect voice volume. Another new feature uses AI to filter background noise. In December, Cisco will also add  a camera capability called People Focus to the mix that will automatically optimize the visuals of attendees’ facial gestures and body language.

Cisco in conjunction shared an update on Webex Leap, a recently launched initiative through which the company is looking to develop new AI features and other capabilities for Webex. One of the first technologies to have emerged from the initiative is a tool called Vidcast that allows users to create and share video clips. Cisco today launched Vidcast into public beta and disclosed that the tool is set to be integrated into the Webex app next year. 

On the hardware side, Cisco is expanding its Webex device portfolio with two new systems. Each system targets a different set of collaboration use cases.

The first new product, the Webex Desk Mini, is a more compact version of Cisco’s existing Webex Desk and Webex Desk Pro videoconferencing devices. It features a 15.6-inch 1080p display with a resolution of 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels, as well as a 64-degree HD camera and a microphone array with noise removal capabilities. The suggested resale price is $1,695, or $999 for customers eligible to use Cisco’s cloud promo discount.

The other new addition to the Webex device portfolio is the Webex Board Pro. It’s an interactive whiteboard that can be ordered with a 55-inch or 75-inch responsive display, which is paired with integrated videoconferencing features, dual 4K cameras and a directional audio system.

Customers also receive two active styluses. Pricing varies according to screen size: The 55-inch display is priced at $11,995, while the 75-inch edition of the Webex Board Pro is set to go on sale for $19,995.

“All my research and conversations with business and IT leaders indicate the future of work will be hybrid,” Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst at ZK Research, told SiliconANGLE. “Given there is an eye to getting people back into the office, businesses have now started to modernize their in-office collaboration systems. Cisco is one of the few vendors that makes its own hardware as well as software and that gives it an advantage as it controls the end-to-end experience.”

In a sense, he added, what Cisco is doing in business collaboration is similar to what Apple Inc. has done in consumer electronics. “The Webex experience is easy, high-quality and secure and the latest batch of announcements expands Webex into new areas such as home offices and VR,” he said. “Cisco is not and never will be the cheapest vendor, but it does offer an experience that’s difficult to replicate by the vendors that partner for hardware.”

Alongside the new devices and AI enhancements, Cisco debuted a number of more specialized feature additions at WebexOne 2021 today.

New analytics capabilities promise to provide teams with useful work-related information directly in the Webex interface. A capability called Connections will enable workers to access various data points related to their team, such as information about what new job title a colleague has received after a recent promotion. Managers, in turn, are receiving tools that display anonymized workforce metrics such as employee sentiment and the times when staffers usually do their work. 

According to Cisco, the insights provided by Webex can help managers combat workforce fatigue and inform employee wellbeing initiatives. Also in the interest of boosting employee wellbeing, Cisco is rolling out a new stress reduction feature called Thrive Reset that was developed through a partnership with Thrive Global Holdings Inc. announced earlier this year.

The partnership with Thrive Global is part of a broader effort by Cisco to expand the software ecosystem around Webex in order to extend the product suite’s feature set. The company said more than 60 new integrations with partner products will arrive to Webex in the near future. The integrations will span the Smartsheet collaboration platform, HackerRank, a popular technical hiring platform, and a long list of other enterprise software-as-a-service products.

With reporting from Robert Hof

Photo: Cisco