Webex Teams is a Cisco Collaboration platform that enables users to instantly chat, meet, whiteboard and share documents with each other securely via the cloud. The free client can be used on a great variety of devices including smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Its unique and modern design combined with flawless performance and a vast feature set has made it a favourite with some of the largest corporations across the world. Everyone in our office uses it daily and frankly, we’d struggle without it! Today we are looking at all the new Webex Teams features that Cisco released on October 25th. 

In a recent update, Cisco enabled Webex Teams users to send and receive animated GIFs. This went down well with the community. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a GIF must be worth a million! Who needs to type responses to co-workers with a whole catalogue of GIFs at your disposal? However, there were some opinions that there was not enough control over the GIFs. Cisco listened and added stop-and-play functionality to them. Now you can pause the GIFs easily so they don’t play on an endless loop.

One of the best Webex Teams features is the ability to meet with people over HD video. Cisco has further optimised the video resolution by using 180p, 360p, or 720p based on the size of the application window. These changes enable Cisco to better optimise your available network bandwidth. Before this update, 720p resolution was used regardless.

It’s almost time for the highly anticipated release of the Webex Share device. This is a small dongle that can turn any old TV that may be sitting in the office, into a modern, wireless presentation screen! This update enables Webex Share functionality for Webex Teams when you get the device. Not only will you be able to wirelessly share your screen, but you can also join a meeting and control the device from your application.

One of the best Webex Teams features is the ability to meet with people over HD video. Cisco has further optimised the video resolution by using 180p, 360p, or 720p based on the size of the application window. These changes enable Cisco to better optimise your available network bandwidth. Before this update, 720p resolution was used regardless.

Sometimes when conversations are in full flow, the point someone made that you want to respond to has travelled up the page as more messages come in. Now, on iPhones and iPads you can quote previous messages in the chat to add context to what you are sending. The quoted message shows the user’s name and indents their original message when you add your reply.

Cisco’s security guarantee is one of the primary Webex Teams features that appeals to businesses. Cisco is a market leader in cyber security and have developed advanced tools to prevent threats from every conceivable angle. This technology is built into the foundation of Webex Teams so you can trust your sensitive information is completely safe. However, none of this matters if users do not have a passcode on their phone. A lack of device security may seem ludicrous to most people but you would be surprised at how many people don’t see the need. If their phone is stolen or goes missing without a passcode, anyone can access anything that has been shared in messages within Webex Teams. In this update, this has now been prevented. Users are not able to set the app up on their phone without first creating a passcode for their device. Webex Teams is even more secure than before.

Cisco has added some more features to the meeting side of Webex Teams. Now, when you are sharing your screen during a meeting you have the option of zooming into a specific part of your screen to make it more clear. Cisco has also improved Webex Teams features on the web which includes recording meetings and viewing details about meetings when you click the “i” next to the title.

There are several other changes that Cisco has implemented but these are the major ones that are likely to affect your everyday usage. It’s great to see them constantly adding more features to an already feature-rich platform and shows why Cisco is the firm industry favourite for collaboration.

If you enjoyed this article, why not check out some of the best features of the Webex Board.