Webex by Cisco and AWS have expanded their partnership to enhance worker collaboration and improve the customer experience.

In practice, this means that Amazon WorkSpaces has launched new synergies, including hosting Webex Contact Center and empowering Webex for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

Muneer Mirza, General Manager of AWS End User Computing, said:

As an industry leader and a trusted AWS partner, Webex Contact Center by Cisco aligns with our vision of the Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client. With a commitment to seamless solutions, we love the idea that customers can use the Webex platform on the WorkSpaces Family of services to ensure the best experiences possible.”

Webex Contact Center and AWS WorkSpaces

Webex Contact Center enables customers to communicate through their channel of choice, encompassing voice, text, email, or social messaging. This ensures that agents have context and intelligence across the entire customer journey.

The Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client improves IT team productivity by supporting various end users with cost-effective and safe access to virtual desktops. WorkSpaces Thin Client enhances security by impeding local data storage or app loading. The service streamlines monitoring and access control with its device management processes.

Now, in partnership, Webex Contact Center is supported by the Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client to streamline and minimise the start-up costs of a customer support agent.

“Webex by Cisco is excited to be the first third-party validated contact centre solution to support Amazon Workspaces Thin Client,” added Lorrissa Horton, SVP/GM and Chief Product Officer, Cisco Collaboration. “The new validated capabilities elevate Webex Contact Center and associated Cisco devices to easily and quickly deploy new virtual desktop solutions that lower cost for customers, increase security, and maximise productivity for agents.”

Cisco peripheral hardware, such as headsets and desk cameras, is also now certified for Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client.

Webex for VDI and AWS WorkSpaces

Managing a cloud provider for VDI addresses several cloud enablement challenges, such as audio and video performance, network stability, server overloading, and bandwidth requirements. Webex now offers extended support for virtual desktops through a Webex plugin for Amazon WorkSpaces, improving audio and video performance for hybrid meetings and calls.

The Webex plugin finds a secure connection through a virtual channel within the Amazon WorkSpaces desktop computing session, simplifying the user experience by offloading audio and video processing to the user’s local device.

When joining a Webex Meeting or making a call through an Amazon WorkSpaces session, users can configure audio and video devices through Webex’s native preferences settings. The Webex plugin encodes and transmits video and audio to the Webex Meeting or Calling service while extracting video and audio from the Webex service and overlaying it on the Webex client running within the Amazon WorkSpaces session.

The plugin also configures the Webex App window position and synchronizes audio and video actions, so if a user mutes their microphone or turns their camera on or off, those changes happen on the user’s computer and the virtual desktop. Because media is transmitted directly from the local device to the server and encoding and decoding are conducted locally, the user experience echoes the media quality of the native Webex app.

The Webex plugin for Amazon WorkSpaces is now accessible and works with Amazon WorkSpaces employing the DCV protocol on Windows. MacOS compatibility is coming soon.

The Big News From Last Month’s Webex One

At last month’s significant industry event, Webex One, the vendor outlined its new AI strategy to transform communication and collaboration, which included real-time media models (RMMs) and the Webex AI Codec.

Webex’s ambition is to utilise real-time audio and video communications to address common challenges, including ensuring crystal-clear audio and video calls even with low bandwidth. Cisco also revealed the launch of its new Webex AI Assistant with new features to improve customer productivity and accuracy.

Also revealed at the event, Webex meetings will soon be available on Apple TV 4K and Apple Watch. The Webex app will soon be available in the Apple TV App Store, including a QR code system that offers users a seamless login experience. Large displays are supported using Continuity Camera support in tvOS 17 to wirelessly connect their iPhone or iPad to Apple TV 4K and leverage the device’s camera and microphone to engage in meetings.

Lastly, Cisco and Bang & Olufsen partnered to develop wireless earbuds designed for secure hybrid working. The Bang & Olufsen Cisco 950 earbuds are designed using advanced security and manageability features with premium sound quality to provide high-quality, personalised audio experiences for professionals on the go.



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