Webex Calling: Well suited to a remote workforce
September 08, 2020
Webex Calling: Well suited to a remote workforce
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Webex Calling
We use Cisco Webex Calling for all staff in our organization. This allows us to have a work DDI number despite largely working from home as we can plug the phones into any internet connection without needing access to a corporate network. We also make use of the soft client on our smartphones so that the same landline number follows us around too but allows customers to call the cheaper number.
- It is an enterprise phone system available from anywhere.
- Allows the use of soft clients and physical phones for dedicated spaces like meeting rooms.
- Works well with Webex Teams and Meetings too.
- The Microsoft Teams integration also requires the Webex Calling client to be installed due to the available MS Teams APIs.
- The unified client (Webex Teams and Webex Calling in one) is still a work in progress.
The Calling app is very simple to use, although on my MacBook is does not update itself automatically until the Webex Teams client. The Webex Calling app really only has a phonebook and a visual voicemail tab, plus a dialpad. It can do video calls, too, but I tend to use Webex Teams directly for video calling.
- It was very simple to deploy this phone system both in general and to remote workers.
- Being able to use existing numbers meant we got flexibility without needing to change how customers interact with us.
I have not noticed any automatic noise suppression, but I also do not remember any poor quality calls. So if it is enabled, then it must work perfectly well. Similarly, I was not aware of the transcription feature so I cannot comment on that. Some of the configuration settings are done via a web portal rather than within the application itself, which is similar to Cisco Jabber in an on-premise deployment too. These settings are nothing that would be changed frequently, however, and that website is fairly well laid out.
We also use Webex Teams and Webex Meetings and so for outbound calling we do use the integration from Webex Teams that will cross-launch the Webex Calling application when dialing PSTN numbers. I have been told that a unified application is coming that will mean one installer rather than three, but I have not used that yet. It does sound promising.
Being a service hosted on the internet, all calls are secured automatically without any specific configuration required so I haven't really needed to consider security settings. The interoperability with other phone systems is achieved through the local gateway which is also the PSTN access at our company. Cisco provided a template configuration for the gateway which was then easily able to be integrated via SIP trunks into other phone systems we have experimented with.
- Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Call Manager)
Previously we used Cisco UCM as our phone system, which is still Cisco's current on-premise offering. The main advantage of Webex Calling is the ability to easily connect phones and devices from outside the corporate network without having to create the Expressway setup first. The future integration between Webex Teams and Webex Calling will also be beneficial, although I think similar integration between Webex Teams and CUCM is also possible.