Item: Webex Meetings
Rating: 7
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Cisco Webex meetings as our primary meeting platform across the organization for all meetings. The tool is used all day, every day by employees as we operate with many offices across the US and need to ensure we collaborate effectively across the org. During the period of Covid-19, Webex meetings has been used in both traditional/formal meetings and also in the case of casual conversation. I'll frequently jump on my personal meeting room with a colleague to chat about something, it has replaced the usual stop by someone's cube to ask a question.

Pros and Cons

Reliable meeting quality with audio and video.
Integrates with Webex teams for a better end to end experience.
Good integration with Outlook for setting up and adjusting meetings as needed.

Limited functionality vs. other platforms like Zoom (less bells and whistles!).
Some people have difficulty accessing meetings if not in our network.
The app sometimes has issues, will crash when initiating a meeting.

Return on Investment

Easier collaboration across the organization.
Run effective meetings with record features, scheduling meetings, etc.
Can replace face to face time with quick meeting functionality (personal room).

Alternatives Considered

Zoom and Microsoft Teams

Cisco Webex teams has been incredibly reliable during Covid-19 where the usage across these platforms has increased exponentially. We really have not experienced any video or audio issues. Whereas with Zoom we have experienced issues with the amount of bandwidth they have. Zoom of course has a lot more bells and whistles, Cisco Webex teams has only just introduced features like emoticons and having the ability to change your background. I also much prefer Zoom for the feature to make yourself look better (touch up my appearance) which Cisco Webex meetings does not have!

Key Insights

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

Not sure

Are you happy with Webex Meetings's feature set?

Yes

Did Webex Meetings live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Webex Meetings go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Webex Meetings again?

Yes

Reliability and Availability

Has always been very reliable with only a couple of issues in the past year. Video and audio quality is always very good, however the platform does struggle with many people on video and audio (could also have something to do with computer bandwidth). We had over 50 people on a video call and found the platform to crash repeatedly, however for something like this I would recommend leveraging Webex events.

Scalability

I strongly believe you can use Cisco Webex meetings for all sizes of organizations and it will be able to grow with the organization. There's a level of basic functionality that comes with Webex meetings, but can be added on to with Webex teams for more collaboration and then Webex events/conference for larger scale events. If you already are a part of the Cisco portfolio it's a very easy transition and the technology works together (especially Cisco phones/conference technology for in-office).

Performance

I have had a very reliable experience with Cisco Webex Meetings, but there have been a couple of instances where the platform has lagged:

During a Webex meeting when many are on video, the platform has struggled not to crash for everyone.
Sharing certain screens, for example when sharing my screen to show our project management software everything lags, but with other views it does not.

I have not had any issues with the integration with Outlook, as well as Skype. We are transitioning away from Skype but Webex works well.

Likelihood to Recommend

Cisco Webex meetings is a given if you're in the Webex portolio already and in a larger organization. I am not familiar with the packages available, but cost savings for a smaller org using something like Zoom. The meetings are reliable and includes all of the same features that many other meeting platforms do. I really like the integration with Outlook which makes scheduling meetings easy and managing calendars. It is a reliable platform that we have heavily relief upon during Covid-19 and even before.

Smaller organizations and others who work with customers a lot may not want to use Cisco Webex. I have found some people outside of our organization have had issues accessing meetings and dialing in.

A necessary platform for organizations already in the Cisco portfolio. Very reliable!

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Webex Meetings