Reimagining collaboration: Spotlight on 5 Webex customers
Cisco Live 2024 EMEA kicks off in Amsterdam on February 5-9, and we can’t wait to come together to gain knowledge, cultivate a vision, build community, share experiences, and explore the possibilities of IT!
In celebration of this event, we’re showcasing five Webex customers in the EMEA region and beyond. These stories highlight the power of leveraging collaboration solutions to create elevated collaboration experiences for customers and employees.
The customers highlighted in this blog, McLaren Racing, TenneT, Odeabank, Mesh Community, and Galway Simon Community, span a variety of industries and stand out as innovators and champions of elevated collaboration and customer experience. Their stories reveal practical ways forward-thinking organizations can implement and scale collaboration technology to overcome challenges and drive innovation.
1. The need for speed and flexibility: McLaren’s hybrid work success with Webex
On and off the track, the McLaren Racing Formula 1 team is constantly on the go, whether they’re working from the team’s headquarters in London, England, from home, or somewhere in between. When the global health crisis hit in 2020, McLaren was seeking new ways to engage with its growing global fan base, while ensuring their teams could effectively collaborate regardless of geographic location.
McLaren turned to Webex as its solution for virtual meetings, messaging, and events. Fast forward to today, the McLaren Formula 1 Team uses the Webex Suite’s end-to-end collaboration solutions to securely collaborate from home, the office, and on the go. Webex also offers McLaren endless opportunities to engage with their fans—all while achieving a sustainable approach to hybrid work.
“Webex technology is embedded throughout our team’s operations, helping us be connected and agile with our people who operate at race pace throughout the globe,” Matt Dennington, Executive Director, Partnerships, McLaren Racing, said.
Cisco devices have helped the organization transform its workspaces and headquarters into the ultimate hybrid work hub. When McLaren team members are on the go, they seamlessly shift their meetings to a mobile phone or Cisco device through a QR code, so they never miss a beat.
“We have very sophisticated communications amongst many people around the world that need to be very secure and in real-time… That’s where Webex comes into play,” Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, said.
2. Elevating the conference room experience at TenneT
In Germany and the Netherlands, TenneT is one of the region’s largest electricity transmission system operators, owning and managing over 25,000 kilometers of high-voltage lines and cables. TenneT provides 24/7/365 power to over 43 million customers, and the company’s mission is to deliver electricity as safely, reliably, and sustainably as possible.
To work toward a future of affordable energy, Product Owner and Project Lead Bas Ferwerda and his team needed to stay on the same page by leveraging the right collaboration tools.
At the time, about 75% of TenneT’s conference rooms were built with Cisco technology, but the TenneT team was ready to give its meeting rooms a refresh and upgrade to the latest equipment. TenneT worked with Cisco partner Axians, a premier information and communications technology (ICT) service provider, and together, TenneT, Axians, and Cisco worked together to transform TenneT’s conference room spaces through a standardized implementation process.
“We have about 400 meeting rooms and thousands of users who each have their own wants and specific wishes,” Ferwerda said. “We came up with room standards for different sizes. This allowed us to collaborate with internal users, conduct a site survey of the room, and decide which mold it fit into.”
The company’s meeting rooms are equipped with the latest technology, including the Cisco Board Series. Plus, TenneT’s entire workforce also leverages the Webex App, allowing the TenneT team to quickly access Webex Calling and Webex Meetings to seamlessly collaborate.
TenneT is in the process of rolling out Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR). Because Cisco devices feature seamless MTR integration, the company can deploy Teams without disrupting everyday workflows.
“With Cisco as the base solution, users have the flexibility to use the system of their choice,” Peter Ariens, Client Manager at Axians, said. “Still, you have Cisco running through the entire implementation, which makes it very valuable.”
Looking to the future, TenneT is eager to continue leveraging Webex solutions and Cisco devices to enhance its collaboration practices.
“As new devices and standards come, we will adapt our rooms over time,” Ferwerda said. “Because Axians conducted all our site surveys and is deeply familiar with Cisco devices, I foresee it being a very strong partner in the future for any company, including us.”
3. Supporting hybrid work: secure collaboration tools at Odeabank
Odeabank is one of Turkey’s most awarded financial institutions with numerous awards, including International Finance Magazine’s “Best Customer Service” honor. Odeabank’s success can be attributed to its forward-thinking approach to customer service and its adoption of advanced technology, helping the bank keep up with an ever-evolving industry.
To reach its goals of driving pace and agility when it comes to banking processes and the development of new products, Odeabank knew it needed to implement a collaboration solution that met its security standards.
“We have strict regulations in Turkey,” Tonyukuk Ozden, IT Network Security Manager at Odeabank, said. “We must keep our data in the country. So, the cloud application and finance area is very hard to deploy. However, we found a solution with Cisco – that offered the key management system (KMS) technology, which allows us to easily encrypt our data and messaging data with our own certificate.”
With the Webex Suite, Odeabank found a collaboration platform that supports secure and seamless hybrid work experiences. The bank’s secure collaboration is no longer dependent on all employees working in the office. Webex’s end-to-end cloud collaboration tools allow the Odeabank team to work securely from anywhere.
“Everything is in one platform. We can reach anyone in the bank very easily,” Cagin Cirikciel, Head of Odeabank’s IT Infrastructure Teams, said. “I can say our efficiency has grown because all stakeholders—business partners, business teams, IT teams, and any other participant can collaborate very simply and easily. Before the Webex cloud, we were communicating using separate systems. Now we can bring all these together under one platform in the Webex App, which has increased our efficiency.”
4. Meetings made for everyone: Mesh Community’s leverages the power of device interoperability
As a co-working space in Oslo, Norway, Mesh Community serves more than 3,800 members and 750 companies. The community recognized that its members use a variety of video conferencing platforms, which meant the organization couldn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to its collaboration devices. A major reason business professionals in Oslo are drawn to Mesh Community is because the space allows startups and smaller-scale businesses to access and leverage sophisticated collaboration tools that are often only available in a large-scale corporate setting.
With Cisco devices and Webex solutions, Mesh Community doesn’t have to settle when it comes to its members’ meeting experiences.
Mesh Community’s spaces are built around Cisco devices, including Cisco Desk Pros and Cisco Board Pros. To support seamless collaboration, Cisco devices are built with interoperability, allowing members to easily connect to other meeting and collaboration platforms through seamless integrations.
“Cisco devices provide a quality experience. They enable users to easily connect to people on other meeting platforms,” Mats Mathisen, Head of Service Design & Community at Mesh Community, said.
For example, Mesh Community has deployed a variety of Cisco Room Kit endpoints across its workspaces. These include integrated video bars paired with external flat displays that enable the community to easily join any meeting platform—Webex, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet—in small and medium-sized rooms.
“We always knew that advanced video conferencing would be a major requirement. We wanted to make it clear to members that our facilities would be world-class. Webex brings that credibility,” Mats Mathisen, Head of Service Design & Community at Mesh Community, said.
5. Efficiency and connection: Galway Simon Community’s hybrid solution
At Galway Simon Community in Galway, Ireland, community and collaboration go hand in hand. The non-profit supports people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness through prevention work, access to housing, and health and wellbeing services.
After BNP Paribas, a French multinational universal bank, donated Cisco phones to Galway Simon, the team reached out to Webex to learn more about Webex Calling and the Webex App. Since then, Galway Simon has embraced the Webex Suite to power its hybrid work efforts, allowing the Galway Simon team to stay connected with each other and their community.
“We live in our chats,” Meaghan Hynes, Galway Simon’s Head of Fundraising and Communication, said. “The chat functionality is excellent on Webex… The internal adoption is going very well, and I love the file-sharing of images, videos, and documents. They’re there, they’re recorded, and everyone can view them rather than connecting to the server or downloading a file. That’s been really helpful.”
One of Galway Simon’s largest events of the year is Sleep Out for Simon. The Galway Simon team invites people from all over the city and the surrounding counties to give up their beds and sleep outdoors for a night, showing solidarity with those experiencing homelessness. The event also aims to raise awareness and funds to support those facing homelessness. The Galway Simon team leverages Webex to stay connected at every stage of the planning process.
“It’s one of our biggest campaigns of the year, and there’s a lot involved in that from a marketing communications and advocacy perspective,” Hynes said. “Bringing in teams and communicating effectively and quickly when we’re hitting hard deadlines for press ads, radio ads, and PR is so important. Webex quickens things up particularly when you have half the team working remotely.”
In the future, Galway Simon hopes to livestream the event and engage attendees through Q&A and live polling capabilities in Webex.
“The fact that we have the ability to be able to act on it without having to have that big IT department within our organization is a major plus for us,” Hynes said.
Reflections on hybrid collaboration: lessons from Webex customers
As we’ve explored the stories of Webex customers from a variety of industries, it’s clear that modern collaboration tools can make a powerful impact on the ways we work. From driving secure hybrid work at Odeabank, to elevating conference room experiences at TenneT, to supporting agile work at McLaren Racing, to creating custom meeting experiences at Mesh Community, and powering efficiencies and connection at Galway Simon Community – the scope and scale of Webex’s influence are truly global.
These stories underscore the essence of our digital age – where borders are blurred, and collaboration is not just beneficial, but crucial to success. As we navigate the complexities of modern work, it’s clear that robust collaboration solutions are not just nice-to-haves, but essential for businesses to thrive.
Looking ahead, the future of collaboration will continue to evolve, but the core principle remains the same: To connect people, seamlessly and effectively, regardless of where they are located. As we continue to explore and drive innovation for more effective teamwork, we can look to these Webex customers as examples of successful collaboration. Their experiences remind us that with the right tools, we can foster innovation, drive efficiencies, and make connections effortless.
Are you looking for more practical tips on how to elevate collaboration and customer experience at your organization? Check out the Webex Champion Award Winners Ebook and discover how the winners of the 2023 Webex Champion Awards are successfully reimagining work, workspaces, and customer experience.
More Customer Stories:
- How Financial Services Organizations Use Webex to Improve Customer Experience and Hybrid Work
- Grand River Hospital sets a high bar for virtual care with Webex
- Stony Brook School – A Century-old Institution Meets Modern Education Demands
The post A spotlight on Webex customer success stories across Europe first appeared on Webex Blog.