Cisco upgrades its telepresence and unified communications portfolio

Cisco last month announced a series of upgrades to its unified communications and telepresence portfolios

VoIP, unified messaging, products and services

Cisco last month announced a series of upgrades to its unified communications and telepresence portfolios. With the unified communications upgrades, Cisco has improved mobile access, video collaboration and extended interoperability across multiple applications and devices from Cisco, Microsoft, and Apple. With its second announcement, the company extends its solution to the mid-market business with Cisco TelePresence from any conference room environment, standards-based video conferencing session or Web-based video session.

Cisco’s enhancements to its unified communications systems build on the company’s collaboration portfolio. Features include better desktop integration with a client services framework that exposes Cisco unified communications features like softphones, messaging, and conferencing, allowing the features to be integrated within desktop applications. 

Cisco has also integrated its WebEx Connect with its unified communications capabilities, and its WebEx Meeting Center with its video conferencing capabilities. Cisco also announced device integration with Microsoft's Office Communicator client and its WebEx Connect platform. Other unified communications upgrades include the Cisco Mobile Supervisor for Apple iPhone, added so contact center supervisors can receive real-time reports, notices and performance metrics on an iPhone or iPod touch.

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

Cisco last month announced a series of upgrades to its unified communications and telepresence portfolios. With the unified communications upgrades, Cisco has improved mobile access, video collaboration and extended interoperability across multiple applications and devices from Cisco, Microsoft, and Apple. With its second announcement, the company extends its solution to the mid-market business with Cisco TelePresence from any conference room environment, standards-based video conferencing session or Web-based video session.

Cisco’s enhancements to its unified communications systems build on the company’s collaboration portfolio. Features include better desktop integration with a client services framework that exposes Cisco unified communications features like softphones, messaging, and conferencing, allowing the features to be integrated within desktop applications. 

Cisco has also integrated its WebEx Connect with its unified communications capabilities, and its WebEx Meeting Center with its video conferencing capabilities. Cisco also announced device integration with Microsoft's Office Communicator client and its WebEx Connect platform. Other unified communications upgrades include the Cisco Mobile Supervisor for Apple iPhone, added so contact center supervisors can receive real-time reports, notices and performance metrics on an iPhone or iPod touch.

In related news, Cisco said it had significantly enhanced its Cisco TelePresence portfolio. With the telepresence upgrades, the company unveiled its Cisco TelePresence System 1300 Series, added support for telepresence over T-1/E-1 connections, and provided applications to extend collaboration options. 

The new Cisco TelePresence System 1300 Series is designed for use with existing meeting rooms that can fit up to six people. It uses one screen, three cameras, and a 65-inch plasma screen. Expanding its capability to work with other video systems, Cisco TelePresence meetings can now include video from “any standards-based high-definition videoconferencing system as well as standard-definition video conferencing, WebEx and other desktop video applications like Microsoft Office Communicator,” according to the company’s prepared statement. The company also disclosed that Cisco TelePresence is Cisco's fastest-growing new product category, with more than 300 customers and 2,000 systems deployed worldwide.

Read more about voip & convergence in Network World's VoIP & Convergence section.

Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. Larry Hettick is a principal analyst at Current Analysis.