Cisco Callway Becomes Cisco WebEx Telepresence

A few weeks ago I wrote about what Cisco Callway is and how easy it is to use Cisco Callway with Cisco Telepresence video hardware.

Cisco’s announcement this week that Cisco Callway has become Cisco WebEx Telepresence means that your Callway hosted video subscription not only has a new name, but it became cheaper with more functionality!

Changes to Cisco Callway

If you already use Cisco Callway or have already looked into it, you need to know what has changed besides just the name. Here is a quick run through.

(1)    The ‘Standard’ video package no longer exists. This was unlimited video up to 720p for $99 a month.

(2)    The pricing on the Cisco WebEx Telepresence Premium package which includes unlimited 1080p video was reduced from $149 to $99 a month. So now you can have premium resolution at the standard price!

(3)    The ‘Premium’ package now includes an ad-hoc bridge for up to 9 people so you can bring other Cisco WebEx users into your current video call for collaboration.*

(4)    The Jabber package was reduced from $49 a month down to $29 a month, putting desktop telepresence in the hands of more people at a more affordable rate, and of course, discounts are available when you buy subscriptions in quantity for many people (for instance your field sales department!)

(5)    The Jabber package now includes an ad-hoc bridge for up to 6 people. *

(6)    The 6 port MeetMe bridge was reduced from $349 a month to $249 while the 12-port MeetMe bridge was reduced from $699 to $499 a month.

(7)    If you are already a Cisco Callway subscriber, your URI will be changing to @webex.com rather than @Callway.com

(8)    There is now a portal where corporate customers can enter and manage all the subscriptions assigned to their company so you no longer have to rely on VoIP Supply to tell you who in your company you have registered, who is active, and what service level they have.

* When using the personal 6 or 9 port bridge, all users must be Cisco WebEx Telepresence users. When using the MeetMe bridge, any standard-based video user regardless of brand can join.