Cisco Unveils Webex AI Strategy with Real-Time Communication to Enhance Collaboration and Productivity
Cisco, a leading technology company, has announced its new AI strategy for its Webex platform, aimed at improving communication and collaboration for users. Unlike other AI offerings that focus solely on text or documents, Webex will leverage real-time communication for audio and video to address everyday challenges. The goal is to ensure clear and uninterrupted audio and video calls and meetings, even in low-bandwidth situations.
As part of this strategy, Cisco has also introduced the new Webex AI Assistant with enhanced capabilities that will boost productivity and accuracy. The AI assistant will be applied across the entire Webex portfolio, including the Webex Suite, Cisco Collaboration devices, Webex Contact Center, Webex Connect, and Webex Control Hub. Companies like McLaren Racing and Team DSM are already testing the new AI capabilities.
According to Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Security and Collaboration, AI holds the key to bridge the gap in the new era of hybrid work, enabling everyone to work and communicate to their full potential. Cisco sees this announcement as a monumental step forward, as customers will benefit from AI being pervasive in every aspect of the Webex platform.
In the Philippines, there is a significant opportunity for AI to make collaboration more intelligent, secure, and inclusive. As companies in the country continue to deal with the challenge of maintaining a consistent employee experience regardless of location, Cisco’s innovations aim to level the playing field and unlock new levels of productivity. The focus is on delivering a seamless meeting experience and a range of AI-powered capabilities to streamline work.
One of the key advancements in the Webex platform is the introduction of Real-Time Media Models (RMMs). These models will enhance audio and video quality by providing valuable context about human interactions, such as gestures and movement. RMMs will also enable audio and video channels to be used as signals of context in text-based capabilities like meeting summaries and highlights. This combination of AI for text, audio, and video will provide users with real-time insights. In the future, Webex may even be able to recognize when a participant steps away from a meeting and capture meeting notes to bring them up to speed upon their return.
Another notable addition to the Webex platform is the Webex AI Codec, a generative AI solution designed to redefine real-time communication and solve the challenge of audio quality. The AI Codec aims to deliver crystal-clear audio regardless of network conditions, even in areas with poor connectivity. It incorporates speech enhancement functions like noise removal and de-reverberation to ensure unprecedented audio clarity. Webex will also leverage machine learning techniques to improve video quality using Super Resolution, delivering high-definition meetings with excellent video quality regardless of bandwidth conditions.
The newly launched Webex AI Assistant will empower users with a robust set of capabilities while minimizing work and costs for IT. The AI assistant will prompt users with questions and generate real-time answers based on their responses. Some of the capabilities include Change Message Tone, which provides recommended changes to tone and phrasing in messaging platforms, Suggested Responses for contact center agents responding to customers, Meeting Summaries to catch up on missed portions of meetings, Message Summaries to recap unread messages or spaces, and Slido Topic Summaries for interactive events. These new capabilities will be rolled out gradually, with shipping planned before the end of 2023.
To ensure the best user experience, Webex will harness a combination of best-of-breed Large Language Models (LLMs) based on the use case and training. This federated approach combines commercial, open source, Cisco-proprietary, and select customer models.
Cisco emphasizes its commitment to responsible AI. The company has long focused on incorporating AI in its products with attention to security, privacy, and human rights. Cisco’s Responsible AI Framework ensures adherence to standards for transparency, fairness, accountability, privacy, security, and reliability.
With its new AI strategy and enhanced AI Assistant capabilities, Cisco aims to revolutionize collaboration by delivering intelligent, secure, and inclusive solutions. The technology giant believes that AI will play a pivotal role in enabling the future of work and communication, ultimately maximizing productivity and efficiency for users across various industries.
