WebEx for mobile

Cisco has unveiled plans to bring its WebEx online meeting service to a new crop of smartphones.

The announcement, at Mobile World Congress, means users will be able to join Cisco WebEx Meeting Center web and audio conferences on smartphones including the BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8900, and BlackBerry Storm from RIM, the Nokia E71, Nokia E75, Nokia N97, and other Nokia Eseries and Nseries, and the Samsung Blackjack II. They will be able to participate in audio and web conferencing via 3G or Wi-Fi, attend scheduled meetings and view presentations, applications and desktops with live annotations. In addition, Cisco is announcing the capability for hosts of Cisco WebEx meeting applications, including Meeting Center, Training Center, and Event Center to invite attendees with SMS-capable phones to attend meetings by responding to an SMS invitation.

“The freedom that users will be able to gain from using this solution will help businesses and their employees to increase productivity because workers will be able to work wherever and whenever they wish, using their chosen device,” said Doug Dennerline, senior VP of Cisco’s collaboration software group.

Highlights / Key Facts: 

• With Cisco WebExTM meetings on a smartphone, users are no longer out of touch when on the road. Productive meetings with customers, colleagues and partners are now as easy as a phone call. In response to customer needs, Cisco is expanding its offering of Cisco WebEx Meeting Center to include smartphones such as the BlackBerry® BoldTM, BlackBerry CurveTM 8900, and BlackBerry StormTM from Research In Motion (RIM), the Nokia E71, Nokia E75, Nokia N97, and other Nokia Eseries and Nseries, and the Samsung Blackjack II. Support for these smartphones is scheduled to be available in April 2009.
• Users will be able to launch Cisco WebEx Meeting Center through the browser on their smartphones to receive integrated audio and web conferencing over 3G or a combination of 2G and Wi-Fi. In addition, users will be able to attend a scheduled meeting and to view presentations, applications and desktops with live annotations. This offering is planned to be available on several smartphone operating systems including BlackBerry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile. There is no cost to attend these meetings, but to schedule and host a meeting from a computer requires a host account on Cisco WebEx Meeting Center.
• In addition, by sending an SMS message, meeting hosts will now be able to invite a mobile attendee on any SMS-capable mobile phone to a meeting in progress and the attendee will simply reply “1″ to easily join the audio portion of a meeting with Cisco WebEx Meeting Center, Training Center, and Event Center.

 

What is web conferencing?
Web conferencing adds the power of visuals to your conference calls. Everyone can see the same thing at the same time, while you talk. All you need is an Internet connection to share anything on your computer screen with anyone, anywhere. Show presentations. Look at documents together. Demonstrate any application.

You can work together like you do in person, without traveling. You’ll save time and money, get things done faster, and serve your customers better. For example, you can use web conferencing (also called web meeting, online meeting, or web collaboration) to:

• Make sales presentations online.
• Demonstrate applications for sales or training.
• Collaborate on product designs with distributed teams.
• Look at planning documents and budget spreadsheets together in regular staff meetings.

 

 

References:

• http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/prod_021709.html
• http://www.webex.com/index.html