Cisco is expanding its unified communications offer with new services following its takeover of BroadSoft. The Cisco BroadCloud Calling phone system brings a cloud PBX to the Webex platform to help service providers expand their offer for business customers. The company also presented at its Partner Summit a new calling app and Webex platforms for small meetings.
Cisco said the new BroadCloud platform is like "UC on steroids—world-class calling, meetings and team collaboration from one of the most trusted names in the business". The platform was designed for companies with 100 or more employees.
BroadCloud Calling will be available on the Cisco Collaboration Flex Plan, so companies can choose to deploy on-premise, in the cloud, or mix and match and update at any time. BroadCloud Calling is offered as an option on the plan so service providers can customise their collaboration services for each customer. The new service is initially available through six service providers in the US (including NWN and Orange) and will be expanding to support global locations across 19 countries in 2018, with continued expansion through 2019.
Cisco also introduced a new Calling App for the UC platform, to help customers extend their services to mobile devices. Along with standard features such as mute, park, transfer and click to dial, it comes with premium features such as HD video calls, number display options, integration with Outlook and enterprise directory and white-label options.
In addition, the company announced a new package aimed at so-called 'huddle spaces', where colleagues can meet in small teams away from open-plan office spaces. Aimed at meetings of up to five people plus remote contacts, the new WebexRoom Kit Mini offers cameras and microphones for videoconferencing. The Webex Board 55 can be added for whiteboard collaboration.
Also new is Webex Share, a palm-sized adapter that works with Webex Meetings and Webex Teams to turn any TV or screen into a presentation device without the need for any dongles or cables. Used with the Webex app, this helps improve sharing content for one-to-one meetings at the desk, the company said.
