Webex by Cisco has added new generative AI-powered features across its CCaaS, UCaaS, and security portfolios to improve productivity and simplicity.
Productivity improvements come through the addition of generative AI-powered summarization capabilities into Cisco Webex CCaaS and UCaaS platforms.
Meanwhile, the latest generative AI features in Cisco Security Cloud are set to simplify policy management and enhance threat response.
Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Security and Collaboration at Cisco, said:
Generative AI will quickly become pervasive as we see businesses and workers embrace the technology to become materially more productive.
“At Cisco, we’ve been using AI for years. Now we’re unveiling how we’re incorporating generative AI into our existing products, helping customers drive real value to unlock the most secure, unrivaled work experiences possible.”
The introduction of these AI technologies aligns with its 2023 State of Global Innovation Study, which found that IT professionals believe generative AI will have the greatest impact on their business.
In fact, 85 percent of respondents said they were already prepared for the effects of the generative AI revolution.
AI Summarization Capabilities
The new AI summarization features being incorporated into the Webex Suite include Webex Contact Center conversation summaries, “Catch Me Up”, intelligent meeting summaries, and summaries in Vidcast.
New Webex Contact Center conversation summaries will allow agents to quickly digest long chats with customers and assist in the post-call conclusion and resolution with customers.
When calls are escalated to human agents, summaries give agents a clear understanding of customer issues and previously explored resolutions through self-service. They also provide agents and customers with a call summary.
“Catch Me Up” enables users to catch up on missed calls, meetings, chats, and other interactions.
Intelligent meeting summaries provide users with action items and key points.
The essential information of Webex meetings can now be automatically generated, saving time for attendees and others unable to partake in a meeting by removing the laborious work of listening back to meeting recordings or reading through transcripts.
Summaries in Vidcast, the video messaging tool, create chapters and highlights to help viewers rapidly locate the crucial moments in videos.
AI and ML in Security
Artificial intelligence and machine learning innovations are being implemented to simplify operations and increase efficacy.
Cisco Security Cloud will use a generative AI Policy Assistant to reduce the risk of attacks by enabling security and IT admins to outline security policies and assess the best way of building them into their security infrastructure.
The new generative AI capabilities are currently in preview. This week, the preview showcased how the Cisco Policy Assistant can engage with firewall policies to redefine rules within the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center.
According to Cisco, it is the first of many demonstrations of generative AI’s ability to upgrade policy management within the Cisco Security Cloud.
The Cisco security operations center (SOC) Assistant can augment security analysts with machine speed and scale.
It offers a full situation analysis with recommended actions, combining intelligence from Cisco Security Cloud solutions and reducing response times to potential threats.
Cisco’s generative AI solution for Webex and Security Cloud will be previewed at Cisco LIVE 2023.
Webex summarisation, policy management, and SOC Assistant Summaries will be available by the end of 2023.
Additional SOC Assistant features will be available in the first half of 2024.
Last month it was revealed that Cisco’s collaboration sales had dropped by 13 percent, making it the third successive quarter that the business unit has endured losses.
In April this year, Cisco introduced a “self-learning contact center” vision, with two new CCaaS tools to support it.
