Bengaluru, NFAPost: As work from home and video conferencing became the order of the day, Cisco-owned video conferencing app Cisco- Webex has recorded 590 million participants in September and is on the path of making it to 600 million this month.
The number is nearly double if compared to March when countries started shutting down due to the pandemic. Due to Covid-19, the office started closing down and people switched on video conferencing platforms to work from home. It brings growth for platforms like Webex, Zoom Video Communications Inc and Microsoft Corp’s Teams.
According to a statement of Cisco System Inc’s General Manager for Security and Application Business Jeetu Patel, even though the expansion in Webex user numbers started in March it has not tapered off and attendees are at all-time highs in October amid a resurgent pandemic.
Explosion of attendees
Webex clocked 324 million meeting participants in March. Zoom recorded 300 million daily participants in April, and Teams in April disclosed 200 million. The numbers may not be comparable because the companies may use different methods of counting attendees and do not disclose those methods.
According to Cisco, a large percentage of the usage comes from enterprises. But Cisco is working to change that. Webex has a new product for schools that features the ability to host a large classroom, split the class into small groups, and bring it back together.
“We are focused on education very aggressively,” said Cisco System Inc’s General Manager for Security and Application Business Jeetu Patel.
New feature
Cisco also plans to roll out a feature to filter background noise such as a barking dog or the sound of a passing car from an ongoing meeting following its acquisition of BabbleLabs in August.
Cisco System Inc’s General Manager for Security and Application Business Jeetu Patel also said the company will make the Webex new features will be available to all WebEx users from Oct. 30 for no additional charge. He also pointed out that Cisco remains open to more acquisitions that will add new capabilities to Webex.
Cisco Webex was founded as WebEx by Subrah Iyar Min Zhu in 1995 and taken over by Cisco Systems in 2007. Its headquarters are in Milpitas, California. Its software products include Webex Meetings, Webex Teams, Training Center, Event Center, Support Center, Sales Center, MeetMeNow, PCNow, Webex AIM Pro Business Edition, Webex WebOffice, and WebEx Connect. All Webex products are part of the Cisco Systems collaboration portfolio.
