No Jitter Roll: Cisco Exec News, 8x8 Goes Free VideoNo Jitter Roll: Cisco Exec News, 8x8 Goes Free Video
The latest news from Cisco, 8x8, Talkdesk, Telia Carrier, and BenQ.
March 12, 2020
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In this week’s No Jitter Roll, we share an executive shakeup, a freemium video meeting offering, an AI-based self-service knowledge base, an SD-WAN service, and a wireless presentation system.
Amy Chang Steps Down from Cisco
Last week, news surfaced that Cisco’s Amy Chang has taken a leave of absence from her role as SVP of Cisco’s collaboration technology group. Chang herself had orchestrated a series of leadership changes since landing responsibility for the collaboration group following the May 2018 acquisition of her relationship AI startup, Accompany, and had earned kudos from analysts for bringing focus to the collaboration – and contact center – portfolios. Sri Srinivasan, previously SVP & GM for Webex Meetings, Teams, Calling & Devices, will now be heading up the entire collaboration business, and Chang will assume a new role on her return, a company spokesperson confirmed.
8X8 Offers Free Video Meetings
Similar to other coronavirus offerings, 8x8 this week announced expanded capabilities for its 8x8 Video Meeting service, which now allows unlimited meetings with no attendee or duration restrictions. Other expanded features include:
International dial-in numbers for more than 55 countries, including local and toll-free options
Google and Outlook plugins that allow users to schedule and join 8x8 Video Meetings from their calendars
Support for YouTube live streaming for large meetings
Personal URL to a private virtual meeting space and cloud storage for meeting recordings
Closed caption, transcription, and machine learning-based noise-cancelling capabilities
Talkdesk Continues Portfolio Updates
Cloud contact center provider Talkdesk marches on with its 20-in-20 program by unveiling the fifth product during week five. Talkdesk Guide, powered by AI from Talkdesk iQ, seamlessly integrates with and consolidates information from disparate databases, FAQs, and third-party sources to deliver a self-service experience and real-time knowledge base for customers and agents, the company said.
Highlights include:
Personalized self-service experience for each customer – uses trend analysis, natural language processing, and information culled from multiple databases to anticipate and interpret customer needs
Plug-and-play knowledge base – enhances self-service capabilities in applications such as chatbots and virtual agents
Talkdesk Agent Assist pairing – presents agents with the relevant content and resolution recommendations in a real-time environment
No code required – click-based interfaces enables users to create and maintain content
Talkdesk Guide is available now.
Telia Carrier Expands SD-WAN Service
Telia Carrier has expanded its Cisco-based SD-WAN service, adding availability in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Telia Carrier’s SD-WAN service, which launched in 2017, allows granular application visibility via a user interface, cloud application performance management, central management of WAN edge routers, and dynamic connectivity routing, Telia Carrier said.
BenQ Launches Wireless Presentation Systems
Visual display and collaboration solutions provider BenQ unveiled its InstaShow S line of wireless presentation systems for conference rooms.
The plug-and-play systems include a receiver and two HDMI transmitter buttons and allow users to host meetings without the need for additional software or integrations, according to BenQ. Up to 32 participants or input sources at a time can participate in a meeting, and presenters with an interactive flat panel (IFP) display can annotate their presentations, BenQ said. InstaShow S also features a split-screen mode, which allows up to four users/sources to share a screen, and a touch-back feature that gives a presenter the ability to take control of an application from an IFP.
The InstaShow line works with any operating system or hardware platform and can connect to devices using an HDMI port, BenQ said. Mobile device users can connect to the system through Apple Airplay, Miracast, or the BenQ InstaShare app. IT managers can maintain and remotely configure InstaShow devices through BenQ’s device management software, BenQ said.
InstaShow S WDC10, WDC10C, and WDC20 are currently available for $999, $1,099, and $1,499, respectively, according to BenQ.
Dana Casielles, No Jitter associate editor, contributed to this article.
