Item: Webex Meetings
Rating: 7
Author: Talha Shahzad

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Webex Meetings mostly for international meetings, with large participant numbers. Also, Webex is our product of choice when meeting people outside our organization. We have used Webex also for our team meetings where break-out groups are required. Webex is easy to use as it does not require software installation; it can be used straight from the browser. All the invitees need is a link.

Pros and Cons

Easy to access meeting links
Break-out groups
Handle large participant numbers
Options to have Webex Events for broadcast style events

The overall interface could use a facelift.
There is room for more inter-operability between desktop and mobile app.
Sometimes the web app can be slow.

Return on Investment

Saves time scheduling meetings.
Has improved coordination while working remotely.
Is being used for office Town Halls.

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Teams

Actually, we use both Microsoft Teams and Webex Meetings. Although, Webex Meetings was our initial choice and has been used for longer at the organization. Microsoft Teams is still fairly new and I don't think we have had a chance to explore its functionalities to the fullest. However, one advantage Teams seems to have had right off the bat is it being a Microsoft product. Hence, it integrates better with Outlook. As I mentioned, we still prefer Webex Meetings for larger meetings (Teams can be too bandwidth hungry) and for meetings with external partners (Teams has had issues with inviting people outside our organization).

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?

Yes

Would you buy Webex Meetings again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Reliability and Availability

Webex Meetings has been always available for me. I don't recall a single time when Webex Meetings failed to work or the server was down. In order words, it has been quite dependable. Also, compared to other similar products, Webex usually runs error-free. The only issue we once had was once with an employee functioning in a really low bandwidth environment. But that issue was localized for that one user and other people in the meeting were able to access all Webex features.

Scalability

I can speak to multiple departments at my organization using Webex Meetings. It has been, and continues to be, our longest online meeting software. It has been deployed across the organization and each department uses it. As I have mentioned, our monthly all-organization Town Halls are hosted on Webex. We have also used it to broadcast a panel-based speaker event.

Performance

I can't speak of integration with many software. The only integration I have is with Microsoft Outlook and the integration has been error-free for me. I do think Webex usually loads quite quickly. The only issue we had once was for an international employee who was based in a very low bandwidth environment and it took her 5-10 minutes for the meeting to start. But that issue was only for her and nobody else in the meeting experienced that. However, I have noticed that Zoom has a faster startup time than Webex. Webex, though, is usually faster to load than Microsoft Teams.

Likelihood to Recommend

Webex Meetings is great for larger meetings, especially involving people outside the organization. The ability to just send a link and then open the meeting right from the browser is very convenient. Webex now also has more options for things such as Webex Events (where one can broadcast a meeting, such as a staff announcement event or a speaker series). As per my discussions with IT, Webex Meetings also has an advantage in terms of meeting security and access control. This is part of the reason Webex has been the product of choice for our staff meetings. Webex's interface has improved, but there is room for some more improvement. I think this is one place where some competitors have a slight edge.

Webex Meetings: A trustworthy and great tool for meetings, especially for participants external to your organization

Overall Satisfaction with Webex Meetings