First Published: December 21, 2020

Last Updated: January 11, 2021

Early Release Announcement

A few months ago, we announced FedRAMP authorization for Webex for Government, our complete collaboration solution bringing meetings, calling, and messaging together in a single app. (You can read that announcement here.)

We’re delighted to announce that we have made Webex for Government available on your existing FedRAMP meetings test site.

Keep reading to learn more about the benefits we’re delivering with Webex for Government.

Please note that we have enabled your test site with an early release version. Ensure that you have established connectivity as described in the FedRAMP Meetings Ports and IP Ranges Quick Reference. Also note that there are some known limitations which we’ve described here.

Cisco Webex app

Embark on the best Webex experience yet! This single app for messaging, calling, and meetings makes working together distinctly better. Users can download and sign in to the new app using their existing Webex Meetings credentials.

New to Messaging? Use the Webex app to bring your meetings and messaging into a continuous workflow. Want to know more? Check it out. Ready to install? We've got instructions and best practices for app deployment here.

The Webex Meetings app on desktop or mobile hasn’t gone away. We won't ask or force users to download the new Webex app.

Cisco Webex Control Hub

Control Hub is the unified administration portal for all Cisco collaboration services—calling, meetings, messaging, and devices. In the initial phase of the EFT, you’ll gain access to:

Analytics and Diagnostics. Leverage detailed interactive usage information for analytics like:

  • A 10-minute data refresh means you can confidently report any time.

  • Meetings analytics and network quality reporting

  • Identify users with repetitive network quality issues and cross-launch into troubleshooting

  • Network quality KPIs and metrics for VoIP, video and join meeting time (JMT)

  • Trending charts with summary statistics

  • Correlations with connection type and region/location

Real-Time Experience Detail:

  • Pinpoint a meeting where users are experiencing issues to troubleshoot real-time.

  • Drill down into meetings on a per participant basis and see detailed information about the audio, video, and sharing quality of a meeting. 

    See the CPU usage of the device a participant used to join the meeting.

  • Data is updated every minute so you can diagnose problems as they arise.

  • Easily register and use Cisco Webex cloud-registered boards and video devices.

Learn how to use Control Hub for FedRAMP here.

Video Platform 2.0

With the upgrade to Webex for Government, we're excited to provide you with a stunning new video-centric collaboration experience.

  • Simultaneous individual video streams in a 5x5 grid view (instead of active speaker only).

  • Users on Webex apps will be able to share video-optimized content along with audio to users on video devices.

  • Up to 200 users will now be able to join your meetings from video devices, up from 25.

  • See the full list of participants on Touch devices.

  • Users on dual-screen Cisco video devices will be able to see participant video on both screens.

  • Control the meeting using numeric key commands with on-prem registered video devices; lock and unlock the meeting, mute all participants, and start or stop recordings.

  • Join Webex events as a panelist on a video device.

  • Share whiteboards on capable Cisco video devices.

  • For improved security, users on video devices can wait in the visual lobby until the host admits them.

  • Users on video devices that belong to your organization can join unlocked meetings directly.

  • Rich integration with Webex Rooms systems including wireless control of your room systems and wireless content sharing right from the comfort of your Webex app.

Video Platform 2.0 Best Practices

  • To deliver an optimal experience, allow for a minimum of 2.0 Mbps for single-screen devices, and higher bandwidth with multiscreen devices.

Additional Features

We planning to deliver even more great new features with your upgrade to Webex for Government. Take a look!

  • Go big with Streaming—Easily stream your meetings and events to Facebook, YouTube or Vbrick to large audiences. Administrators can manage streaming permissions within the Site Administration portal. Read details here.

  • Cisco Webex Meetings Scheduler for Office 365—The meeting scheduler for Office 365 allows users to schedule Webex meetings or Webex Personal Room meetings directly from the Microsoft Outlook desktop or web apps. Learn how to configure the add-in here.

  • PSTN Support for 1,000 callers—Your Webex meetings will now allow up to 1,000 attendees to dial in over PSTN.

What's Next?

Take a look at the resources we’ve included throughout this announcement as you get started. We will provide regular updates to known limitations on this page throughout the EFT.

We want your feedback! Please provide feedback in the Webex space that we'll be setting up for you if you experience an impact not described as a known issue.

Current Known Issues and Limitations

Webex App

  • FedRAMP users cannot message users on a commercial deployment.

Control Hub

  • For upgraded Webex sites, Meetings user management will remain in Site Administration. In near future, we will provide upgrade options to move Meetings user management to Control Hub as well.

  • An unexpected tab called “Meeting Redesign” shows up in Control Hub Analytics. This tab is not applicable for Webex for Government and will be removed shortly.

Video Platform 2.0

  • At this time, pair/share and callback to video devices from meetings do not work.

  • At this time, H.323 devices are not able to dial by IP address to join meetings.

  • Users who join meetings using a device that uses the H.263 video codec will see shared content embedded inside the main video feed, together with other participants’ video.

  • Cisco video devices that have reached End of Life are not supported, including CTS-series systems.

  • Cisco cannot guarantee the content-sharing experience when other conferencing bridges call into a Webex meeting.

Additional Features

  • At this time, the Cisco Webex logo doesn't appear on live streams.

  • At this time, streaming to Vbrick Rev – North America is not available.

  • At this time, the Site Administration portal shows streaming target options that are not FedRAMP approved (Vbrick—Asia and Vbrick—Europe). It is not possible for users to stream to these targets. We plan to remove these targets from the portal to address this issue.

Testing Recommendations for the Current Release

Before you begin

Read through the earlier sections in these release notes to understand the new features.

Procedure

Step 1

Test the all new Webex app experience—sign in with your Webex Meetings credentials, create a space, schedule a meeting,and collaborate with other government users.

We recommend reviewing the app setup instructions in the Webex for Government Administration Guide.

For help, see The Webex App UI.

Step 2

Join a meeting with multiple users on video and check that you can see the participants individually.
Step 3

Test basic meeting analytics.

We're currently preparing a help article for Webex for Government users. To view your meeting analytics data, from https://admin-usgov.webex.com, go to Analytics, then click Meetings.

Step 4

Try sharing video or animations in a meeting using the Optimize for motion and video setting to ensure a higher frame rate is sent.

You can also share your desktop audio so that everyone can hear the media through the Webex Audio conference.

For help, see Share Motion and Video Content in Cisco Webex Meetings.

Step 5

Try joining an event as a panelist.

For help, see Join and Assist Cisco Webex Events as a Panelist.

Step 6

Try live streaming to a streaming service such as Facebook, YouTube or Vbrick Rev.

For help, see Live Stream Your Meetings or Events.