Open Collaboration Portfolio Integrates Cisco Unified Communications, Cisco TelePresence and Cisco WebEx

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 24, 2008 – Cisco today announced a new collaboration portfolio designed to help companies accelerate business processes, increase productivity and speed innovation. The Cisco® collaboration portfolio consists of Cisco Unified Communications, Cisco TelePresence and a new Web 2.0 application platform, all of which use the network as the platform to help enable people to connect, communicate and collaborate from any application, device and workspace. The portfolio of unified communications, video and a Web 2.0 platform is designed to integrate with business applications, existing IT infrastructures and other Web services and to allow developers to create customized applications and network-based services. The new portfolio products include the following:

•Unified Communications: Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0 offers significant improvements in total cost of ownership, ease of use, and interoperability with business applications.
•Video: Cisco TelePresence Expert on Demand integrates the immersive Cisco TelePresence experience into the contact center for high-value, in-branch customer service and the ability to summon expertise directly from a Cisco TelePresence meeting.
•Web 2.0 Applications Platform: Cisco WebEx® Connect, a new software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, integrates presence, instant messaging, Web meetings and team spaces with traditional and Web 2.0 business applications.

“Collaboration is the next phase of the Internet, a phase that analysts see as a $34 billion market opportunity, and at the center of this phase is the network,” said Don Proctor, senior vice president, software group, Cisco. “Our network platform uses open-standards protocols to expose critical collaboration services such as presence, instant messaging, call control and policy to a broad range of devices and applications. The Cisco collaboration portfolio uses this network architecture to create an integrated collaboration experience that encompasses everything from simple text messaging to immersive Cisco TelePresence sessions.”

“Having the right collaborative platform helps speed our decision making, increase productivity and improve relationships within the organization and with our customers and partners. I think our ability to collaborate is a competitive advantage for Activision,” said Thomas Fenady, senior director, information technology, Activision. “Cisco’s approach to collaboration takes advantage of our underlying corporate network to provide our teams with a seamless communications experiences, helping us collaborate within the context of business processes.”

With the network as the platform, the Cisco collaboration portfolio is designed to interoperate with business applications, communications devices and Web-based tools while allowing IT departments to maintain their mandates regarding security, policy and compliance. An open architecture and standards-based application programming interface (API) exposes application and network services and supports end-user customization, IT integration and third-party application and hardware interoperability. Customers can create collaborative mash-ups with public Web-based tools as well as with corporate applications such as those for customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP). The open architecture also allows Cisco collaboration capabilities to be delivered to a range of devices including Windows and Mac OS desktops, and mobile phones running Symbian, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile operating system.

Cisco provides open application development environments based on Web 2.0 tools and APIs. These include:

•Cisco Unified Applications Environment, to deliver Web applications to the Cisco Unified IP Phone screen
•Cisco Applications eXchange Platform, to expose capabilities within the router to applications in branch offices
•Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance 8.0(4), to provide an open network security appliance that allows businesses to extend their collaboration capabilities with a high degree of security via a converged data and voice virtual private network
•And now, Cisco WebEx Connect, to bring together business applications, Web tools and team workspaces

Cisco Unified Communications Release 7.0
Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0 enables organizations to collaborate in ways that help them quickly adapt to market changes and improve competitive advantage through speed and innovation. Accelerating the deployment of Unified Communications applications requires a company to use its existing infrastructure and applications. Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0 offers enhancements to its applications development environment and provides deeper integration with desktop products from IBM and Microsoft. Mobility enhancements help extend productivity features across workspaces. Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator now supports devices running on Windows Mobile as well as Symbian and BlackBerry operating systems. Cisco Unified Communications Release 7.0 continues to help reduce system and management costs by increasing Cisco Unified Presence scalability to 30,000 users and Cisco Unity to 15,000 users on a single server and by enabling optimization of network management through an easy-to-use appliance deployment environment. For more information, visit www.cisco.com/go/unifiedworkspace.

Cisco TelePresence Expert on Demand
Cisco TelePresence Expert on Demand provides a collaborative, high-touch customer service experience, enabling customers to connect with subject-matter experts for tailored, in-person service at the touch of a button. Cisco TelePresence Expert on Demand combines the power of Cisco Unified Communications and Cisco Unified Contact Center with the immersive “in-person” experience of Cisco TelePresence to transform the way organizations deliver high-touch customer and point-of-sale services. Users can summon expert assistance directly in a Cisco TelePresence meeting or use a dedicated Cisco TelePresence endpoint and get face-to-face assistance. For example, a retail bank could provide “in-person” services to bank customers in every location via Cisco TelePresence, while optimizing highly trained resources. This gives organizations the ability to scale scarce resources or expertise in a cost-effective manner, irrespective of geographic location. For more information, visit, http://cisco.com/en/US/products/ps7060/index.html

Cisco WebEx Connect
Cisco WebEx Connect is a cloud-based application platform for collaborative business mash-ups. Cisco WebEx Connect includes a number of standard applications including enterprise instant messaging, team spaces, document management, calendaring and discussions, which can be combined with third-party widgets that are built using open APIs, enabling companies to work from a single workspace. Extensive administrative controls support enterprise policy, security and compliance requirements to enable highly secure inter-company collaboration. Cisco WebEx Connect works with enterprise messaging solutions and Cisco Unified Communication system to deliver integrated communication capabilities within the context of a collaborative mashup. For more information, visit, http://www.webex.com/go/connect_tour

Availability
Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0 and Cisco TelePresence Expert on Demand are available immediately. WebEx Connect is currently available as a desktop and Web-based client; support for mobile clients is scheduled to be available in early 2009.

Links

•Cisco Collaboration Homepage
•Cisco Unified Communications Product Portfolio
•Cisco WebEx Connect Page
•Cisco WebEx Connect Quick Tour

About Cisco
Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at www.cisco.com for ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com