Cisco is pulling its Webex collaboration platform closer to Apple technologies in a bid to improve hybrid working environments.
In doing so, it has released a Mobile Camera Share feature for iPhone and iPad users.
The innovation allows them to use their camera while on the Webex Meetings mobile app to share live video with their teams.
With this footage, teams can annotate over the top. This includes adding words, drawings, and shapes, which may enable hybrid employees to work more effectively together from different settings.
In time, if Cisco can add such innovation to the Webex Contact Center, it may allow agents to better troubleshoot by accessing a live video stream of the customer’s problem.
Yet, for now, anybody from engineers to construction teams can use the feature in Webex Meetings to provide their colleagues and customers with real-time progress updates.
Moreover, experts watching the footage may give their input, highlighting possible areas of concern on-screen with annotations.
Talking to TahawulTech.com, Ahmad Zureiki, Director of Collaboration Business, Cisco Middle East and Africa, added: “True hybrid work means being empowered to use your favorite devices to work seamlessly in the office, at home, and everywhere in between.”
The latest collaboration solutions from Webex signify another step towards empowering workforces with greater choice and beyond the office.
In addition, Webex users can harness their iPhones to add visual effects, which may include filters alongside its Center Stage and Portrait mode features.
Webex will also support Desk View in macOS Ventura, removing the need for complex camera equipment to simultaneously show the user’s face and desk.
Such announcements underline Cisco’s intent to build the future of collaboration and hybrid work. Building on its Apple partnership is a significant part of this.
In 2022, the two tech pioneers have already teamed up to launch Webex for Apple iPad and Apple AirPlay on Webex devices.
As such, the speed of innovation is impressive. Yet, so is Cisco’s commitment to interoperability – as its recent partnership with arch-nemesis Microsoft also highlights.
Speaking at the time, Jeetu Patel, EVP and GM of Security & Collaboration at Cisco, added:
Interoperability has always been at the forefront of our hybrid work strategy, understanding that customers want collaboration to happen on their terms — regardless of device or meeting platform.
Thanks to its cloud-native Webex platform, Cisco can innovate quickly and bring shared offerings to market quickly.
Meanwhile, Cisco has also announced integrations with Google, Amazon, and Zoom to build up its list of partners and lead the era of hybrid work.
In tandem, the vendor has recently developed many more routes to market while growing its list of channel partners from 300 to 3000.
Such an approach, coupled with a championing of interoperability, may help Cisco’s end-point devices to remain the solution of choice for many businesses. Its Webex collaborations portfolio may also gain momentum.
