June 2021 (41.6.5)

Keyboard Shortcut Management (Mac)

On Mac, you can now access and manage keyboard shortcuts directly from the Help menu in the desktop app meeting window. This feature was already released on Windows.

• Here, you can manage the Global Shortcut setting to determine if you’d like to be able to use the shortcut even when the Webex Meetings desktop app isn’t in focus.

• You also have the option to customize the shortcut and redefine it to the key combination of your choosing.

These settings are useful if you find the keyboard shortcuts conflicting with other applications.

June 2021 (41.6.4)

Webex Events (New)

Host High Capacity Webex Events (New)

In case you missed the announcement in 41.6, you can now host events with even more people. We’re excited to announce that high capacity events is now available. You can purchase an event license so that you can host events with 5,000, 10,000, 50,000, and 100,000. We’ll announce the enablement schedule separately. The new event offer enables users to host webinars up to 10,000 attendees and webcasts up to 100,000 attendees, based on capacity purchased. You can find the for enablement schedule at status.webex.com/maintenance.

For more information, see Compare Webinar and Webcast Mode in Webex Events (New).

Webex Events (New) Enablement Update

In 41.5, only Webex Meetings Suite sites were enabled with Webex Events (new) and other sites needed to opt-in. In early July, all existing sites with Webex Events service (classic) and existing users with Webex Events licenses will be auto-enabled with Webex Events (new). The Webex Events license entitle a user with both Webex Events (new) and Webex Events (classic).

Modern View as the Default for Event only Sites and Users

Previously, Classic View was the only view for users or sites that have Webex Events only. But once Webex Events (new) is auto-enabled, in the July 41.7 update, Modern View will be the default homepage for hosts who only have Webex Events. Event hosts will still have access to Webex Events (classic) from the left navigation menu.

Summary Reports in Webex Event (New)

If you’ve hosted an event within the last 90 days, you have access to a summary of your past events from My Events > Summary Event Report. You can export your reports to a CSV file.

You can find out who has attended events you’ve hosted from My Reports > Webex Events (new) > Attendee History Report. You can search for someone’s name or email address to see which of your events they’ve attended in the last 90 days.”

Finally, an event host may view up to three previously downloaded Event Summary Reports or Attendee History Reports in My Reports > Webex Events (new) > Generated Report History.

Limitation:

The “attended” count for a webcast in the event summary report only includes the count of panelists. It will also include the count of attendees, in a future release.

For more information, see Use Your Cisco Webex Site in Modern View.

Attendance and Registration Reports

As a host you have access to events attendance and registration reports in one place to better understand an event’s turnout. In the Registration report view, you can look up someone’s registration the host can choose to view individual registration by clicking on the registrant’s name. You can export report in a CSV formatted file that is available for both reports.

You can share these reports with others.

If the host has shared the post event content, the people you have shared with will have access to these two reports.

Limitation: The webcast attendance report will only include panelists. Attendees will be included in the attendance report in a future update.

For more information, see Compare Webinar and Webcast Mode in Webex Events (New).

In-Meeting

Automatically Detect when You're Sharing Video

When sharing your screen or an application, Webex Meetings can now detect if you're sharing motion and video content or sharing more static content like text and image. The client will automatically optimize accordingly, so that participants always get the best experience. Remember to select Share computer audio if you’re sharing media and would like participants to be able to hear the sound through the Webex conference.

By default, when you share content Webex will automatically optimize, but if you prefer, you can still manually choose to Optimize for text and images or Optimize for motion and video from the drop-down.

For more information, see Share Motion and Video Content in Webex Meetings and Webex Events (New).

June 2021 (41.6.3)

Dark Theme by Default

Your Webex meetings and events will now be set to dark theme by default. You can still change your color theme during a meeting or event and that theme will be used going forward.

If you’ve previously changed your theme, or if you’re using Windows in high contrast mode, you will not see a change to your theme.

Optimized Shared Content Dialog

We've updated the look and feel of the Share Content dialog, making it easier to the find the options your looking for, without having to scroll as much.

For more information, see Share Motion and Video Content in Webex Meetings and Webex Events (New).

New Sharing Icon

We’ve updated the Webex branding, so you’ll now see a new sharing icon to indicate who has the presenter role. There’s no functionality change - just a new look.

June 2021 (41.6)

Highlighted Features for this Update

• Integration of Slido Polling and Q&A Features in Webex

  Desktop

  Webex has integrated Slido into its new AppHub for users to access the great polling and Q&A features, including word clouds, quizzes, and ratings.

  

  

  

  • Windows users may need to wait for WebView2 browser to download when using Slido for the first time (if not downloaded already). This can take a couple of minutes.

  • This feature isn’t available for Webex for Government.

  See more information about polls and Q&A for Slido in Webex Meetings.

  Mobile

  Webex has integrated Slido for mobile users to respond to Slido polls and Q&A within the Webex Meetings app.

  

• Layout Optimization Features

  • Scale or Hide the Filmstrip in the Stage Views

    You can now scale the filmstrip in both the Stacked and Side-by-side views by simply dragging it to make the filmstrip bigger or going the other way to hide the filmstrip by collapsing it completely.

    

    For more information, see Adjust How Many Participants Appear in the Stage Views in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

  • Limit Attendees View to Stage only When Syncing

    Hosts and cohost will now have a new option when syncing their stage to Lock attendee view on stage only, which hides the filmstrip from their view, so that they can only see what's on stage. This prevents attendees from being able to change to a different view, for use cases where you want complete control over who attendees can and can’t see at any given time.

    

    For more information, see Sync Your Stage with Everyone in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

• Reactions Flow Across Webex Rooms Devices and Apps

  You can now have a more expressive and fun meeting experience with multiple reactions to choose from in a meeting. You’ll now be able to send and receive reactions across cloud registered Webex Rooms devices and Webex apps.

  Users on standards-based SIP and H.323 video devices won’t be able to see reactions in this update but worry not. We’ll bring that soon!

  This feature isn’t available for Webex for Government.

• See More People During Active Content Share on SIP-Based Webex Devices

  With the unique integration between Webex meetings and Webex devices your in-meeting video and content experience just got better with SIP-based Webex Desk, Room, DX, SX, and MX-series devices.

  Before this update, when content was shared in a meeting, you would see a single video stream with people at the top of the screen that had whitespace around it, making it hard to see who else is in the meeting.

  Now, you’ll see a video strip of up to six video participants displayed at the top of the screen for a more immersive video experience. This experience is also consistent with our devices when registered to the cloud.

• Updated Stack Layout Experience for On-Premises Registered Video Devices

  We’re updating the Stack layout experience for on-premises registered video devices to better align with the rest of the portfolio. Stack view is one where the active speaker is shown in a large pane with other people shown separately in smaller size.

  In the Webex app and Webex devices registered to the cloud, this view has the not active speakers shown above the active speaker. However, on devices registered on-premises, this would have the not active speakers shown below the active speaker.

  We’re changing the experience for on-premises registered video devices to better align with the rest of the app and device experiences by moving the not active speaker above the active speaker. At the same time, the empty spot in between not active speakers is now removed.

Webex Events (New)

Removal of Attendee Names in Reaction in Webex Events (New)

Based on the feedback received during the beta program, attendees’ names will now be hidden in a Webex Events (new) webinar on desktop and mobile. The ability to configure whether to show attendees’ name will be available in a future update.

Webcast Scheduling – Enable or Disable Chat, Q&A, and Polling

With this update, webcast hosts have the option to enable or disable polling, chat, and Q&A individually at the time of scheduling with Webex Events (new). Once the webcast has started, chat, Q&A, and polling options can’t be changed.

For more information, see Start and Manage a Webcast in Webex Events (New).

Customize Registration Rules in a Meeting or a Webex Event (New)

The host can now customize the auto-approval rules when attendees register for a meeting or a Webex Event (new) for both webinar and webcast modes.

When a meeting or an event requires registration, a list of auto-approve or auto-reject rules can be created and applied to any new registrants who meet these criteria.

For example, the host can,

• Auto approve all registrants from a specific company email domain.

• Auto reject all registrants from one or more specific email domain(s).

• Auto accept VIP registrants who match specific email addresses and manually approve the rest of the registrants.

See more information about setting automatic approval rules.

Pre-Meeting Experience

Meeting Template Improvements

We’ve made some changes for meeting templates in the Webex Meetings scheduler.

When you edit a scheduled meeting, you will no longer see the default meeting template selected in the drop-down list. This avoids potential confusion if you were not using the default template.

When you’re scheduling a Personal Conference meeting, the meeting templates drop-down list will now appear. This makes it easier if you want to select a meeting template.

While scheduling a meeting, when you select a meeting template that was customized by you or the site administrator, that template’s settings will now be used, instead of what you’ve set in Preferences. However, if a customized meeting template feature isn’t available to your site users, then your option in Preferences will be used.

In-Meeting Experience

Scale or Hide the Filmstrip in the Stage Views

You can now scale the filmstrip in both the Stacked and Side-by-side views by simply dragging it to make the filmstrip bigger or going the other way to hide the filmstrip by collapsing it completely.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

Limit Attendees View to Stage only When Syncing

Hosts and cohost will now have a new option when syncing their stage to Lock attendee view on stage only, which hides the filmstrip from their view, so that they can only see what's on stage. This prevents attendees from being able to change to a different view, for use cases where you want complete control over who attendees can and can’t see at any given time.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

Stop Syncing Directly from the Stage

We've added a convenient Stop button to the sync bar when syncing your stage, making it easier to stop syncing instead of having to go back into the layout menu.

For more information, see Sync Your Stage with Everyone in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

Return to Previous View When Host Stops Syncing

Now, as a meeting participant, if the host or cohost stops syncing their stage, you’ll be returned to your previous view. For example, if you were in Grid View, and the host starts syncing their stage, your view will automatically switch to the Stack view. If the host stops synching their stage, you’ll return to Grid view.

For more information, see Sync Your Stage with Everyone in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

Optimized the Filmstrip Default Size for High-Resolution Displays

We've also adjusted the default filmstrip size for a more balanced view on high-resolution displays.

Reordered the "More Options" Menu in the Video Thumbnails

We've reordered the selections in the menu when clicking on "More Options" in the video thumbnails, putting the most common options, first.

Web App: Scale the Filmstrip in Stack View

Web app users can now scale the filmstrip in the Stack view. Like the Side-by-side view, simply drag to make the filmstrip bigger or smaller.

For more information, see Adjust How Many Participants Appear in the Stage Views in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

Web App: Grid View Zoom in and Zoom Out

Like the desktop app, web app users will now see the slider to zoom in and zoom out in grid view.

For more information, see Adjust How Many Participants Appear in Grid View in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

Media Enhancements

Intel Hardware Encoder for Sharing in Windows

This update includes a new advanced video setting for Windows apps.Hardware acceleration for sharing to reduce the load on the main system processor, when possible, by off-loading share processing to any available dedicated hardware.

When Hardware acceleration for sharing is enabled, the system will only choose to encode share content with codecs that are natively supported by the hardware the client is running one. This will effectively disable support for any newer software codecs such as AV1.

For more information, see Select Advanced Video Settings for Webex Meetings.

Device Enhancements

1080p Video Resolution for All Video Devices

Video devices joining Webex meetings will now have up to 1080p video resolution with up to 6 Mbps bandwidth for the best possible video quality.

Webex Rooms devices registered to the cloud were already enjoying 1080p video. With this release, we’re expanding this capability to all standards-based SIP and H.323 devices that support 1080p video at 30 frames per second. Those SIP and H.323 devices were only able to get 720p video prior to this update.

Reactions Flow Across Webex Rooms Devices and Apps

You can now have a more expressive and fun meeting experience with multiple reactions to choose from in a meeting.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

See More People During Active Content Share on SIP-Based Webex Devices

With the unique integration between Webex meetings and Webex devices your in-meeting video and content experience just got better with SIP-based Webex Desk, Room, DX, SX, and MX-series devices.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

Updated Stack Layout Experience for On-Premises Registered Video Devices

We’re updating the Stack layout experience for on-premises registered video devices to better align with the rest of the portfolio.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

Administration Experience

Global Distributed Meetings (GDM) Updates

In this update, we’re enabling Global Distributed Meetings (GDM) for SIP calls made into Webex Meetings. In order for us to support GDM for these standard devices and clients, we’re using a GeoDNS based on MaxMind's GeoIP database. To ensure that we connect your SIP clients and video devices to the best Webex Media Node, you should verify that all of your external IP addresses that our cloud service will see have the correct country code associated with them. This includes any Expressways or other SBCs that you concentrate outbound SIP traffic through or if you have any devices directly connected to the Internet. If the country code for these IP addresses is incorrect, you need to submit a correction to MaxMind. For more information, see the help article for the full details on how to test your addresses and how to submit any required reports to MaxMind.

If you have reasons not to allow this feature, it can be disabled on a site-by-site basis by request while any issues are corrected.

Allow Compliance Officers to Delete Meeting Recordings

Compliance Officers, in addition to the meeting hosts, can now remove meeting recordings for any of their site users using API. This ensures adherence to corporate policies when the recordings contain material that shouldn't be distributed. Deleted recordings are still available under the retention policy (soft delete) in the eDiscovery tool.

Disable Callback to Certain Countries

Site administrators in Webex Site Administration and Webex Control Hub now have the ability to turn off telephony callback for any countries they choose from the Audio Settings page. If there are countries you don’t do business with, or if you want to prevent fraudulent or suspicious calls to your meetings from certain countries or regions, you can uncheck them from the Webex Allowed Callback Countries list. For more information, see Disable Callback to Certain Countries

People Insights Managed in Control Hub

People Insights profiles will no longer be managed at the site level in Webex Site Administration and Webex Control Hub. Instead, IT administrators can configure People Insights options at the org level in Control Hub to easily configure People Insights for all their meeting sites. The existing site settings in Site Administration and relative settings in Control Hub are disabled, but we’ve added a link to Control Hub for configuration.

People Insights Profiles for Webex, Jabber, Webex Meetings, and Webex Events (New) in Control Hub.

Webex Meetings VDI

Provide VMWare Support for ThinPro 7.1.x

Currently VMWare support is available only for Windows Thin Clients. With this update, VDI support will be available for Linux.

For more information, see Release Notes for Cisco Webex Meetings Virtual Desktop Software Release 41.x.

Webex Meetings Integrations

Integration of Slido Polling and Q&A Features in Webex

Webex has integrated Slido into its new AppHub for users to access the great polling and Q&A features, including word clouds, quizzes, and ratings.

See more information about polls and Q&A for Slido in Webex Meetings.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

Webex Meetings List Available in Microsoft Teams Using a Hybrid or On- Premises Microsoft Exchange Mailbox

No more jumping back and forth between Microsoft Teams and your Webex Meetings desktop app just to see your meetings list. You can now see all your meetings list in Microsoft Teams.

Webex Meetings for iOS and Android

See the Cisco Webex Meetings Mobile App Resources for more info on the Webex Meetings mobile app.

Slido Integrated into Webex Meetings

Webex has integrated Slido for mobile users to respond to Slido polls and Q&A within the Webex Meetings app.

Webex Meetings for iOS

See the Cisco Webex Meetings Mobile App Resources for more info on the Webex Meetings mobile app.

Sync the Stage from Mobile

Similar to desktop, hosts and cohosts on the iOS mobile app can customize the stage by dragging a participant’s video on the stage area and syncing the stage for everyone in the meeting to see.

For more information, see Resize the Stage in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

May 2021 (41.5.2)

Tool Tip for Customizing the Stage

We've added an animated tool tip in the stage views to quickly show how you can customize the stage by drag and dropping participants from the filmstrip onto the stage.

May 2021 (41.5)

Highlighted Features for this Update

• Real-Time Translation

  With real-time translation, you can create an inclusive and engaging meeting experience Webex provides real-time translation of your meetings from English to 100+ languages, including Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, Dutch, and Japanese. After the host turns on Webex Assistant, the Closed Captions dialog box can be translated from English to the selected language. Each attendee can select any language. In one meeting, the maximum number of unique languages that can be used concurrently is 5. The Captions & Highlights panel, as well as any post-meeting transcriptions and highlights, will be shown in English (no translation).

  Real-time translation is a paid add-on.

  

  See more information about real-time translation.

• Availability of Webex Events (New)

  Previously we announced that Webex Events (New) was in public beta in the 41.4 update. In this update, the Webex Events (New) will be generally available and will be automatically enabled for Webex Meetings Suite customer sites. If your site isn’t auto-enabled with the Webex Events (New) and you would like to request to enable the Webex Events (New), contact Cisco support to submit an enablement request. For more information, see Webex Events (New).

• PSTN for Attendees Joining a Webex Event (New)

  With this update, the Call in and Call me audio options will be available for attendees joining an event in Webex Events (New). In addition, attendees have the option to call in to the event without joining from the Webex desktop app.

  • The toll, toll-free, and Call me options are available based on the site configuration where the event is hosted.

  • Up to 3000 event participants can join (only for Events 3000 customers) telephony audio in Webex Events (New).

  • This applies to Webex Events (New) event mode only.

  For more information, see Choose Your Audio and Video Settings Before You Join a Webex Meeting or Event.

  

• Stop Video from Video Devices (Devices and Mobile)

  Devices

  We all like engaging video experiences in a meeting, but at times you need to stop the video from a particular participant.

  Meeting hosts can now stop video coming from video devices. Before this update, hosts could only stop video from other desktop app users.

  

  Once video is stopped, users can resume video by taking one of the following actions:

  1. Webex Rooms devices with dedicated a touch device: select start video from the touch device.

  2. Webex devices configured in Personal Mode: close or re-open the privacy shutter.

  3. SIP and H.323 devices: use DTMF-66.

  When any of these devices leave and re-join the meeting, their video will start, even if it had been stopped previously by the host. If the participant has joined from more than one application or devices, the participant has to leave from all and then join back to start the video.

  For more information, see Turn off Participants Video in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

  Stop Video from Mobile Devices (Android and iOS)

  Similar to desktop, the host can now stop video coming from a participant.

Webex Events (New)

Availability of Webex Events (New)

Previously we announced that Webex Events (New) was in public beta in the 41.4 update. In this update, the Webex Events (New) will be generally available and will be automatically enabled for Webex Meetings Suite customer sites.

For more information, see Webex Events (New).

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

PSTN for Attendees Joining Webex Events (New)

With this update, the Call in and Call me audio options will be available for attendees joining an event in Webex Events (New). In addition, attendees have the option to call in to the event without joining from the Webex desktop app.

For more information, see Choose Your Audio and Video Settings Before You Join a Webex Meeting or Event.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

Q&A, Chat, and Polling Added to Webcast Mode

In this update, event attendees can interact with panelists and stay more engaged in Webex Events (New) webcast mode. Hosts can create polls and enable Q&A sessions that can be moderated by the host, cohosts, and panelists.

Hosts, cohosts, and panelists need to click Communicate to attendees which opens a new window to view attendee list, chat, answer questions, or start a poll with attendees.

Using the webcast page, attendees may submit questions to panelists, respond to a poll, and chat publicly with panelists and attendees.

For more information, see Manage Question and Answer Sessions in Webex Webcasts.

Maximum Registration for Events and Meetings

While scheduling an event or meeting with a limited number of registrants, the host has the option to enable registration and set the maximum registration capacity at the time of scheduling a meeting or an event.

For more information, see Require Your Attendees to Register for a Meeting or Event and Advanced Scheduling Options for Webex Meetings and Events.

Export Registration Report for Events and Meetings

The host can now download a copy of the registration report for meetings or Webex Events (New) by going to the Manage Registration page.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

Walk-Through of Events (New)

With this update, hosts whose sites are enabled with the Webex Events (New) will see a walk-through on their Webex site that highlights the Webex Events (New) features.

In-Meeting Experience

Real-Time Translation

With real-time translation, you can create an inclusive and engaging meeting experience Webex provides real-time translation of your meetings from English to 100+ languages, including Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, Dutch, and Japanese.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

For more information, see Show Real-Time Translation in Webex Meetings and Events.

Web App: Assign and Defer in Q&A

Continuing to build on web app support for Q&A, we are excited to announce in this update that Meetings host and cohosts, and Events (New) panelists using the web app can now assign questions to other hosts, cohosts, or panelists to answer or defer questions in the Q&A panel, just like they can in the desktop app.

For more information, see Question and Answer (Q&A) Sessions in Webex Meetings and Cisco Webex Events (New).

Web App: Show or Hide Video Name Labels

Web app users now have the ability to manage how video name labels are displayed. Like in the desktop app, the layout menu in the web app allows you to choose from the three settings:

• Automatically hide names when not speaking.

• Show all names.

• Hide all names.

For more information, see Show or Hide Names in Thumbnail Videos in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

Web App: Show or Hide Participants Without Video

Web app users now have the ability to hide non-video participants from view like they can in a desktop app. Simply turn off Show Participants without video from the layout menu to focus only on those users with video on.

For more information, see Hide or Show Non-Video Participants During Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

Web App: Cohosts can now Sync their Stage

One of the web app limitations in 41.4 was that only web app hosts were able to sync their customized stage for everyone. In this update, we're happy to announce that web app cohosts can now sync their stage as well, just like in the desktop app.

For more information, see Sync Your Stage with Everyone in Webex Meetings and Webex Events and Video Layouts in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

Web App: Drag and Drop from Filmstrip onto the Stage

Users in the web app can now use their mouse to easily drag and drop participant videos from the filmstrip on to the stage, just like they can when customizing their stage in the desktop app.

For more information, see Move Participants to the Stage in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

Free Text Notes

This feature will enable meeting attendees to type in comments and their manually curated highlights in the highlights tab of the post meeting page so they can share with other meeting attendees.

Device Enhancements

Stop Video from Video Devices

We all like engaging video experiences in a meeting, but there are times when you need to stop the video from a particular participant.

For more information, see Turn off Participants Video in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

Post-Meeting Experience

Share Post-Meeting Content to the Webex App

From the post-meeting web page, you can now easily share meeting content to an existing or newly created space in the Webex app to continue collaborating.

Recording Availability Indicator Icon

We’ve added an indicator to the My Recorded Meetings page that displays within how much time the recording will be generated. Typically depending on the file size and bandwidth, recordings will be available within 12 hours.

For more information on Recording, see Record a Meeting.

Administration Experience

End of Service for Java Client Downloads

In an ongoing effort to maintain and upgrade our service and code base, we're ending service for our Webex Meetings, Webex Training, and Webex Support Java clients. This means that customers will no longer be able to download these clients. Existing clients can still be used, but updates will no longer be made. The vast majority of functionality of these clients can be found through the Webex web app.

Migration of Existing Display Names from Control Hub to Webex Meetings

This is a data migration that will be transparent to customers.

Some customers might experience seeing an inconsistent display name in a meeting, which is different from the display name in Control Hub. After the migration, all the users will see consistent display names on all services.

Live Streaming Setup for Workplace from Facebook

Workplace from Facebook live streaming is now available as a listed third party live streaming option. The options for the site and their users are off by default and must be enabled by a Webex site administrator to live stream to Workplace from Facebook.

For more information, see Stream Your Webex Meetings or Events on Workplace from Facebook.

Video-Centric Recording Layouts to be Enabled by Default

Administrators no longer need to choose video-centric layout recordings explicitly for your company sites. Going forward there will be no check box to enable this setting in the site administration settings page. Instead, video-centric recording layouts will be enabled by default for all your sites. You can still choose the layouts you would like the recordings to be generated in, just like today.

For more information, see Choose the Default Screen Layout for Recordings in Webex Meetings and Events.

Global Distributed Meetings (GDM) for the Webex App and Webex Registered Video Devices

In this update, we’re enabling Global Distributed Meetings (GDM) for the Webex app and Webex-registered video devices. These clients already used GDM for one-to-one calls and for meetings in a space. Now these apps and devices will automatically perform reachability tests to determine which Webex Media Node to use when joining Webex Meetings.

We preparing to support GDM for SIP calls made into Webex Meetings in an upcoming update. In order for us to support GDM for these standard devices and clients, we are using a GeoDNS based on MaxMind's GeoIP database. To ensure that we connect your SIP clients and devices to the best Webex Media Node, you should verify that all of your external IP addresses that our cloud service will see have the correct country code associated with them. This includes any expressways or other SBCs that you concentrate outbound SIP traffic through or if you have any devices directly connected to the Internet. If the country code for these IP addresses is incorrect, you’ll need to submit a correction to MaxMind. For the full details on how to test your addresses and how to submit any required reports to MaxMind, see How to Verify that Webex can Correctly Identify the Source Country for your SIP Calls to Webex Meetings?.

Webex Meetings VDI

Support 10ZiG Zero Clients Thin Client

In this update, the Webex Meetings VDI plugin will support 10ZiG Zero Clients thin clients for the Citrix environment.

For more information, see Release Notes for Cisco Webex Meetings Virtual Desktop Software Release 41.x.

Webex Meetings Integrations

Davra Integration for Interim Simultaneous Interpretation

Interim Simultaneous Interpretation using a third-party integration with Davra will be available until the Simultaneous Interpretation feature is available directly within the desktop app later this year.

• Hosts can schedule meetings with multiple language channels.

• Attendees will be able to select the language they want to hear during the meeting.

• Multiple interpreters per language can join so they can rotate during the meeting.

For more information, see Davra Integration: Interim Simultaneous Interpretation

Slack Integrations for Public and Private Channel

Slack administrators for organizations with the Webex integration will now have the ability to set up a 'Personal Room meetings to be used in Private Channels only '- when that option is selected (by typing the bot command: /webexconfig enable_personal_room_privacy), then the behavior will be as follows:

• When Slack users in a Private Channel click Start an Instant Meeting, the instant meeting uses their personal room to create the meeting.

• When Slack user in a Public Channel click Start an Instant Meeting, the instant meeting will schedule a regular Webex Meeting.

For more information, see Install and Set Up Cisco Webex Meetings for Slack.

End of Service for Mac Productivity Tools

With Microsoft blocking support of injection-based plugins for Mac Outlook beginning in May 2021, the last update of Productivity Tools for Mac will be in 41.5.

Change in Downloads Page UI

From the 41.5 update, when Mac OS users access the Downloads page, they won’t see the Cisco Webex Productivity Tools download link and Productivity Tools description anymore, but Windows users can still see it.

Webex Meetings APIs

Additional Meeting RESTful API Options

Webex Meetings now has a boolean that allows developers to specify if they want to exclude the password from the meeting email invitation and another boolean to specify if they want to list the meeting on the public calendar. Also, email reminder support has been added that allows developers to specify the number of minutes before the meeting begins, for sending an email reminder to the host.

Webex Meetings for iOS and Android

See the Cisco Webex Meetings Mobile App Resources for more info on the Webex Meetings mobile app.

Stop Video from Mobile Devices

Similar to desktop, the host can now stop video coming from a participant.

PSTN for Attendees Joining Webex Events (New)

In the Webex Events(New), participants can use PSTN for their audio connection.

1. As host, you can schedule a meeting that allows PSTN calls.

2. As participants (both host and attendees), you can use the Call in or Call me options when you join a meeting or switch your connection during a meeting.

For more information, see Choose Your Audio and Video Settings Before You Join a Webex Meeting or Event

Q&A, Chat, and Polling Added to Webcast Mode

In this update, chat, polling, and Q&A will be available for end users during a webcast in all new events. In the mobile app, the chat, polling, and Q&A will be available on a standalone web page.

For more information, see Manage Question and Answer Sessions in Webex Webcasts.

Recording Tab Show and Hide Behavior to Align with Web App

The mobile app will align with the web page to show or hide the recording tab, based on the user's options. For example, if a user doesn't have cloud recording storage, the recording tab won’t be shown.

Stage View Layouts Support

Mobile participants (both host and attendees) can add a ‘spotlight’ on a specific participant. The user could move a participant’s video to the stage area (by tap or drag and drop). If sharing is on or under the active speaker layout, the drag and drop will use the mid-right area as the stage, and the user sharing, or active speaker will be to the mid-left area.

April 2021 (41.4)

Highlighted Features for this Update

• All New Webex Events

  New Webex Events Service

  We previously communicated that the all new Webex Events would be part of the update that becomes generally available with 41.4. However, we are continuing to incorporate valuable feedback learned from early field trials. Webex Events (New) will remain available as a Beta release until the 41.5 update.

  In this update, we’re adding an all-new Webex Events service that supports up to 3,000 participants. The classic version of Webex Events remains available on your site.

  Webex Events (New) brings you a best-in-class virtual event experience that is video-centric, intelligent, and simple to use. Hosts choose between two modes in the new scheduler - Event mode for an interactive and highly engaging experience, and Webcast mode for events with limited attendee interactions. In both modes:

  • Presenters can share content optimized for motion and video with computer audio.

  • All attendees can view the panelists’ video and shared content.

  • Cohosts can be assigned at the time of scheduling, or during an event, to help manage attendees in an event.

  • Hosts can set a stage view for all attendees. Note that the layout in the recording will follow the host's Recording > Preferences option. Some Webex Events (Classic) functionality isn’t yet available, but will come in future updates. These include, but aren’t limited to, attendee telephony audio options in Event mode, registration and attendance reports, importing attendees, and registration auto-approval rules.

    See Webex Events (New) to learn more about the new scheduler, Events mode, and Webcast mode.

• Zoom In and Zoom Out in Grid View

  Need to get a closer look at someone's video? By default, the Webex Meetings desktop app grid view adjusts automatically based on the number of people in the meeting. In this update, we're introducing a new slider, giving you more control of how many videos you want to see at any given time. Zoom in to see videos larger, or zoom out to see more people on screen.

  

  

  For more information, see Adjust How Many Participants Appear in Grid View in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

• Customize the Stage View

  Our new customizable stage allows you to easily control who or what you want in view at any time in Webex Meetings and the “all-new” Webex Events.

  When in the Stack or Side by side view, you can now easily grab a participant from the filmstrip and move them to the stage. This is a great way to get a closer look at a participant, to place an active speaker right next to the content that's being shared, or to keep users who aren't actively speaking in view (for example, a sign-language interpreter).

  Simply drag a video from filmstrip on to the stage with your mouse, or select Move to stage from the more options menu of the user you would like to move.

  

  

  

  You can easily add and remove videos from the stage at any time. Up to four videos can be added to the stage, in addition to the shared content or active speaker.

  For more information, see Move Participants to the Stage in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

  Simplified Layout Options

  As part of this effort, we also simplified the layout options. Grid view is still specific to when no content is being shared. However, the Stage Stack and Side by side views are now consistent, whether content is being shared or not.

  Focus view is now obsolete, as you can use the slider to zoom all the way into only one active speaker.

  Sync my Stage for Everyone

  As a host or cohost, once you customize your stage, you can sync your view to become the default stage view for everyone in the meeting.

  For more information, see Sync Your Stage with Everyone.

  Known Limitations to be addressed in a future update:

  • Video endpoints don’t support the ability to customize what's on stage in this update, and will continue to follow their own layouts as defined today.

  • Recordings will continue to follow the layout defined by the host in the recording preferences.

  • Livestreaming will continue to follow the streaming layout options defined by the host.

  • Web app can support up to six videos in grid view (maximum 180p resolution).

  • Web app hosts can sync their stage, but web app cohosts won’t be able to synch their stage in this update. (Support for cohosts to sync their stage is targeted for 41.5).

  • Web app doesn’t support drag and drop in this update.

• Customized Layouts Attendee Support

  Similar to desktop, mobile attendees can now select a preferred default layout (grid view vs focus or active speaker view) for their own meeting. After selecting it, they will be able to switch between different views again at any point within the meeting.

  For more information, see Switch Your View in Webex Meetings and Webex Events from a Mobile Device.

• iPhone Breakout Room Host Support

  Similar to desktop and Android, iOS users will now be able to host and assign breakout sessions directly from their mobile apps on their iPhone devices.

  For more information, see

  • Create Breakout Sessions

  • Assign Participants to a Breakout Session

  • Change Breakout Session Settings

  • Add, Rename, or Delete a Breakout Session

  • Move or Exchange Attendees in Breakout Sessions

In-Meeting Experience

Zoom In and Zoom Out in Grid View

Need to get a closer look at someone's video? By default, the Webex Meetings desktop app grid view adjusts automatically based on the number of people in the meeting. In this update, we're introducing a new slider, giving you more control of how many videos you want to see at any given time. Zoom in to see videos larger, or zoom out to see more people on screen.

For more information, see Adjust How Many Participants Appear in Grid View in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

Customize the Stage View

Our new customizable stage allows you to easily control who or what you want in view at any time in Webex Meetings and the “all-new” Webex Events.

For more information, see Move Participants to the Stage in Webex Meetings and Webex Events.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

Answer Q&A in Webex Meetings Web App

Hosts, Cohosts, and Panelists joining Webex Meetings and the “all-new” Webex Events from the Web App can now answer questions in the Q&A panel.

Media Enhancements

New AV1 Codec for Content Sharing

We’ve added a new next generation video coding format from the Alliance for Open Media to our Webex Meetings desktop app. This codec is referred to as AV1 and is optimized to provide a great user experience while using less bandwidth than existing codecs.

In this update, we have added support for this codec when sharing has been manually set to Optimize for motion and video. Sharing content with this codec requires a minimum of a Quad-core processor. Receiving content shared with AV1 requires the minimum of a Dual-core processor. In this initial update, all participants in the call must meet the minimum requirements for this codec to be used.

When AV1 is successfully negotiated, all participants will display the AV1 logo for 5 seconds at the beginning of content sharing. The logo will be displayed in the top left corner.

For more information, see Share Motion and Video Content in Webex Meetings and Webex Events (New).

Administration Experience

Control Hub Settings to Block User from Joining External Webex Meetings

Site Administrators can now turn on a setting for their organization which prevents all their company users from joining any external meetings. This setting also provides capability for you to add sites to the "approved site" list there by controlling which sites your company users can join or be blocked.

The join policy setting is applicable for the Webex Meetings app only. The setting can be configured from Control Hub. If turned on for your company, this policy will be applied to all users in your organization joining from mobile, desktop, and browser using your company's claimed domain email address to join meetings.

Currently this setting is applicable to ALL users in the organization.

Enhance User Export Function in Site Administration

Some customers want to export a report of inactive users instead of a report with all users.

This new function allows the administrators to export the list of inactive users in a file. As it’s a partial set of data, it’s more efficient than exporting all users.

Webex Meetings Integrations

Ability to Set-Up Default Webex Site for an Organization

Microsoft Teams Administrators can now set up a default Webex site for their entire organization. This means that all Microsoft Teams channels within an organization will use that default Webex site for the integration.

There are three new commands for the Administrator:

• Site org - allows them to see which Webex site is currently set as default for their organization.

• Site org [Webex Site URL] - allows them to set a Webex site as default.

• Site org reset - allows them to remove the default Webex site previously set.

For more information, see Deploy the Cisco Webex Meetings Integration for Microsoft Teams to Your Organization

Webex Meetings for iOS and Android

See the Cisco Webex Meetings Mobile App Resources for more info on the Webex Meetings mobile app.

SDK Integration for Facebook Portal Using Smart Camera

Attendees on Facebook Portal devices will now take advantage of the Facebook Camera SDK improvements for a better self-video experience. The default camera state will be "Desktop mode," which allows the camera view to be optimized for meeting participation.

Webex Meetings for iOS

See the Cisco Webex Meetings Mobile App Resources for more info on the Webex Meetings mobile app.

iPhone Breakout Room Host Support

Similar to desktop and Android, iOS users will now be able to host and assign breakout sessions directly from their mobile apps on their iPhone devices.

For more information, see

• Create Breakout Sessions

• Assign Participants to a Breakout Session

• Change Breakout Session Settings

• Add, Rename, or Delete a Breakout Session

• Move or Exchange Attendees in Breakout Sessions

OS Support for 14.4 and 14.5 iOS

Webex Meetings on mobile now officially supports OS versions iOS 14.4 and 14.5.

Webex Meetings for Android

See the Cisco Webex Meetings Mobile App Resources for more info on the Webex Meetings mobile app.

Improvements to the Active Speaker View Discoverability

Mobile users will now see a clear icon indicator of how to get to active speaker focused view, for better discoverability.

For more information, see Switch Your View in Webex Meetings and Webex Events from a Mobile Device.

Customized Layouts Attendee Support

Similar to desktop, mobile attendees can now select a preferred default layout (grid view vs focus or active speaker view) for their own meeting. After selecting it, they will be able to switch between different views again at any point within the meeting.

For more information, see Switch Your View in Webex Meetings and Webex Events from a Mobile Device.

March 2021 (41.3)

Highlighted Features for this Update

• Q&A Added to Webex Meetings

  Desktop

  As part of our continued effort to bring training features into meetings as standard functionality, Q&A is now supported in Webex Meetings. Meeting participants can type their questions into the Q&A panel, which can be answered by the host or cohosts.

  

  The following limitations in this release, to be addressed in a following release:

  1. You can’t answer Q&A from the web app. In order for hosts, cohosts, and panelists to answer questions, they will need to use the desktop app.

  2. Q&A isn’t currently supported within a breakout session. Q&A is only supported in the main session.

  Mobile

  Similar to Webex Events, mobile hosts and attendees in Webex Meetings will now be able to fully participate in Q&A sessions.

  See more information about Q&A.

• Pre-Meeting Lobby for Scheduled Meetings

  Webex scheduled meetings now have a pre-meeting lobby, just like Personal Room meetings. When attendees try to join a meeting, they can wait in a lobby if the meeting hasn’t yet started. Once the host or cohost starts the meeting, they will enter the meeting based on meeting security settings.

  This enhances the join experience for attendees as they don’t have to re-try to join a meeting multiple times until it has been started by the host or cohost. They can simply join the meeting and wait in the lobby until the meeting starts.

  While waiting in the lobby, the attendee can notify the host that they’re waiting. Attendees will be removed from the lobby based on the lobby timeout value set by the site administrator.

  Pre-meeting lobby will be supported for attendees joining from the Webex app and video devices. Support for phone-only attendees will be added in the next update.

  

• Moderated Unmute Support for SIP-Based Video Devices

  It was initially communicated that this feature is available for all video devices. However, moderated unmute is currently only supported on SIP-based video devices.

  Extending the moderated unmute mode support to SIP-based video devices, hosts now have the ability to directly unmute remote participants on video device when this mode is enabled.

  Administrators can enable moderated unmute mode on their site, giving hosts access to this option in the meeting scheduler and Personal Room preferences. Meeting participants will see a clear indicator in the meeting window for meetings in moderated unmute mode.

  As a reminder, default behavior in Webex meetings remains where users are prompted to unmute. This new behavior is only available for special cases, where the administrator has enabled the feature.

  

  For more information on moderated unmute mode, see

  • Mute or Unmute in Webex Meetings Suite

  • Set Your Webex Meetings Personal Room Preferences

  • Schedule a Cisco Webex Meeting

Pre-Meeting Experience

Edge Chromium and WebView2 Required for Facebook with Webex

As Microsoft has retired support for Internet Explorer, you may be required to install Microsoft Edge Chromium and Microsot Edge WebView2 in order to sign in to Webex using your Facebook account, or when streaming to Facebook Live.

You’ll need to install Edge Chromium, decide which WebView2 app to use, Evergreen recommended, and then install WebView2.

If the meeting host isn’t signed in, a sign in window will open once they enter their email address. Guests who have accounts can sign in by clicking Sign in on the top right of the preview window.

Pre-Meeting Lobby for Scheduled Meetings

Webex scheduled meetings now have a pre-meeting lobby, just like Personal Room meetings. When attendees try to join a meeting, they can wait in a lobby if the meeting hasn’t yet started. Once the host or cohost starts the meeting, they will enter the meeting based on meeting security settings.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

In-Meeting Experience

Q&A Added to Webex Meetings

As part of our continued effort to bring training features into meetings as standard functionality, Q&A is now supported in Webex Meetings. Meeting participants can type their questions into the Q&A panel, which can be answered by the host or cohosts.

For more information, see the Highlighted Features for this update.

Media Enhancements

HD Video

We’ve added a new HD Video setting to control the default resolution used by the camera. The meeting application will default this setting per the table below, based on the capabilities of the hardware that is used. If the system doesn’t meet the minimum requirements for High-Definition video, the option won’t be available.

For more information, see Select Advanced Video Settings for Webex Meetings.

Webex Meetings VDI

VDI App Plugin Checker

Webex Meetings VDI will check the status of the VDI plugin. It will notify the user to install the VDI plugin if it’s not detected, or upgrade the VDI plugin if the version is a mismatch between the HVD installation and the plugin on the thin client.

Administration Experience

Administrator Option to Allow Hosts to Edit Recordings

In 40.8, a security update was made to disable hosts to edit or delete recordings if auto-recording option is enabled in the administrator portal. With this update, the administrator has the option to enable editing privileges for hosts even when automatic recording is enabled.

A Fresh New Look for the Webex Control Hub Analytics

On February 25th, 2021, the Meetings Analytics tab will be replaced with new redesigned pages to make it more user-friendly. These pages provide faster load times, higher data resolution, and real-time data with a 10-minute lag time. We’re also adding a new participant’s tab to highlight the activities of host and attendees. On top of all that, we’re introducing a new Classic Reports tab in Analytics to support all the Cisco Webex Meetings Suite reports from Site Administration.

New visualizations will be rolled out for Webex Control Hub Analytics by April 2021. This will provide faster load times for Webex Meetings, Messaging, Calling, and Video Mesh analytics pages. Detail tables will be moved under Reports as CSV downloads for Pro Pack customers.

Webex Meetings Integrations

Meeting Join URL Added to Outlook Add-In Location Field

Adding a Webex meeting to an event using the Microsoft 365 Add-in will add the meeting join URL to the location field.

For more information, see Schedule and Join Meetings with Cisco Webex Scheduler for Microsoft 365.

Webex Meetings for iOS and Android

See the Cisco Webex Meetings Mobile App Resources for more info on the Webex Meetings mobile app.

Q&A Added to Meetings

Similar to Webex Events, mobile hosts and attendees in Webex Meetings will now be able to fully participate in Q&A sessions.

Android

iOS

Pre-Meeting Lobby in Webex Meetings

Similar to Desktop, mobile users will now be taken to a pre-meeting lobby if the host hasn’t yet joined a scheduled Webex meeting.

Android

iOS

Active Speaker View Discoverability

Mobile users will now see a clear icon indicator of how to get to active speaker focused view, for better discoverability.

Android

iOS

Escalate SIP Call to Webex Meetings

Mobile Webex app users will experience an intuitive transition into their Webex meeting on the Webex Meetings mobile app, if the calling user chooses to move their SIP call into a Webex meeting.

Customized Layouts Attendee Support

Similar to Desktop, mobile attendees will now be able to select a preferred default layout (grid view vs focus or active speaker view) for their own meeting. After selecting it, they will be able to switch between different views again at any point within the meeting.

Webex Meetings for iOS

See the Cisco Webex Meetings Mobile App Resources for more info on the Webex Meetings mobile app.

iOS 10 OS No Longer Supported

In case you missed the iOS 10 OS will no Longer be Supported announcement that came in the 41.2 update, Webex Meetings will no longer support iOS 10 OS. OS 10 users will no longer be able to install or update their Webex Meetings app versions. No functionality will be turned off. However, we’ll no longer release patch fixes or updates specific to this OS version.

Profile Picture Support for Control Hub-Managed Sites

iOS users are now able to upload their profile picture directly from their mobile apps when signed in to their Webex Control Hub-managed Webex sites.

Display Only Video Participants in Grid View for iOS

Similar to Desktop, iOS attendees will now have the option to only see participants sending video while in Grid view. Non-video participants will still show up in the participant list.

Webex Meetings for Android

See the Cisco Webex Meetings Mobile App Resources for more info on the Webex Meetings mobile app.

Problem Reporting Enhancement

Android users will now be able to select a category from a drop-down when reporting a problem from the app, for more efficient processing of their feedback.