Item: Webex App
Rating: 7
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

My organization uses Cisco Jabber as its primary messaging platform alongside Microsoft Teams. The Cisco Jabber is also used in conjunction with the Cisco physical phone system, allowing all users to make and receive calls both internal and external to the organization via their computers. This latter usage has been invaluable during the lockdown as it has allowed users to make landline calls while away from their phone systems.

Pros and Cons

Easy to call internal and external contacts
Dock icon that easily shows new messages
Easy to access message history

The emojis look like they are from the early 2000s
Would be nice to be able to plan meetings straight from the chat
The notification dock is great, but it would be nice to monitor how many messages per conversation are new.
Managing audio devices can be difficult, and may change to unwanted settings when swapping between devices. Jabber will sometimes default input and output devices to my laptop when I would prefer this to be all through my headset.

Return on Investment

Massive ROI while staff have been away from the office, being able to take calls and perform normal business tasks
With the loss of video call, screen share, and control share when moving from Skype, many tasks (in particular IT support tasks) have had to shift a lot of functions to MS Teams.
The Jabber notification dock has been a fantastic way to monitor new messages coming through

Alternatives Considered

Skype for Business (formerly Lync), now part of Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Teams

Cisco Jabber, paired with a Cisco physical phone system, has been the best way to synergize traditional phone calls with computer usage. Taking calls through Jabber when away from the phone system has been fantastic and seamless. While I preferred the chat user interface of Skype, Jabber's chat platform is much simpler to use than Teams. This is largely due to the clear intended usage of Jabber and the notifications being much cleaner. In Teams, I will often ignore new notifications as there is a lot of activity and posts which are not intended for me. In Jabber, I am always aware that I need to check messages to [myself]. Teams and Skype both blow Jabber out of the water in terms of video calling, as this is not an available option in Jabber.

Key Insights

Do you think Webex App delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with Webex App's feature set?

Yes

Did Webex App live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Webex App go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Webex App again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Microsoft Teams, Anaconda, Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), Qlik Sense, Affinity

Likelihood to Recommend

Cisco Jabber is extremely useful as an all-in-one messaging platform, especially if you require the ability to make phone calls. Prior to Cisco jabber, working from home meant forwarding all calls to my mobile phone. Now, I can easily take calls through my laptop (and can still forward calls if necessary). Jabber also has an easy to way share screen captures within chats. I consider the phone calls to be the biggest improvement of its direct competitor, Skype For Business. However, Skype for Business allows for VOIP calls with video, and the ability to share control. This loss of functionality is not an issue for my organization, as we run Jabber alongside Microsoft Teams, which has the ability to video control, screen share, and control share.

Working from home saviour - easy calls and chat

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Jabber