Cisco on Cisco

Stephen Krause was tired of dealing with too many mass emails. As Manager, Systems Engineering for the Enterprise and Select sales teams in the Cisco WebEx Technology Group, Krause manages the East Sales Engineer (SE) Team, nine sales engineers located throughout the eastern United States. And those nine SEs were far too dependent on their email inboxes.

“Our team’s email alias generated 30 to 40 messages every day,” he says. “If anybody had a technical question, they would send a message to the entire group.” The problem with that approach, Krause explains, is that mass emails tend to affect everyone’s productivity without necessarily locating the right resource. “My team members, myself included, were allowing their inboxes to drive their workload,” he says. “To be more productive, we needed to start thinking of email as just one of the many communication tools at our disposal. Email shouldn’t be a taskmaster.”

With that goal in mind, he started looking into Cisco WebEx Connect.

Breaking the Email Habit
Cisco WebEx Connect combines WebEx core applications, such as Cisco WebEx Meeting Center™, with an open development platform to deliver flexible collaboration. Krause created a workspace in WebEx Connect that enabled SEs to share files, initiate discussion threads, contribute to ongoing discussions, chat with other team members, or find critical team resources within a single user-friendly, Web-based interface. This Connect space also makes it quick and easy for team members to launch a meeting or simply share an application in WebEx Meeting Center.

But to make WebEx Connect an integral part of the East SE Team’s internal processes, Krause needed to convince his colleagues to change their deeply ingrained dependence on group emails. “Nobody likes change, and everybody’s been using email for years,” he says. “So I started thinking of ways to encourage my team to embrace the potential of this new technology.”

Breaking the email habit took some time, but Krause’s approach was simple. Whenever SEs submitted a question or concern to the team’s email discussion group, he would reply by asking them to post it in the team space instead.

Slowly, as SEs began using the team space to ask and answer questions, they began to realize that WebEx Connect discussions were far more productive and informative than a standard email thread. “WebEx Connect makes it easy to see which discussions are most recent and which discussions have generated the most responses,” says Krause. “I send email or instant message alerts when I post a new discussion topic or make a major update. But all of the real back-and-forth happens within WebEx Connect.”

The Payoff: More Productive, Informative Discussions in Less Time
Cisco WebEx Connect has enabled a 95 percent reduction in the East SE Team’s dependence upon email. Meanwhile, the Connect space has become the team’s primary gathering place for daily discussions, chat, and resource exchange, and even includes discussion threads covering every product and service that WebEx offers. “I spend roughly 70 percent of my working hours within WebEx Connect,” says Krause. “This technology has transformed how I work on a day-to-day-basis. It’s transformed how my team interacts. And it has absolutely enhanced our productivity and responsiveness across the board.”

Shared Documents, Minimal Hassle
By creating a centralized space for shared documents, Krause’s team can significantly increase productivity by sharing client contacts, keeping a group calendar, or posting the latest updates on cross-platform support. “If information is difficult to find and people have to dig for it, they probably won’t read it,” says Krause. “With WebEx Connect, we can eliminate time-consuming archival searches in multiple locations. Our team space has become a one-stop shop for the information that we need to access on a regular basis.”

Cisco WebEx Connect also makes it easier for new or returning team members to get up to speed, because the discussion board organizes and prioritizes topics for fast review. “WebEx Connect makes it possible for all of us to access and process far more information in far less time,” says Krause. “That means faster training for new hires. It also means that when we take time off, we’re able to get back on the horse more quickly than ever.” 

An Open Development Platform, an Innovation Engine
WebEx Connect accelerates innovation with mash-ups of Cisco technology, Cisco WebEx functionality, and third-party applications. For instance, Krause’s team has created a custom business application, or “widget,” that combines Google Maps with an online personnel directory for quick access to subject matter experts. “The map instantly shows you someone’s location and area of specialization,” he says. “That takes a lot of the guesswork out of finding the right resource to answer a particular question or obtain important information.”

The Ever-Present Remote Team
The presence function in WebEx Connect offers multiple options for engaging with fellow users on the fly. By simply glancing at the SE Team Space, Krause can see whether a team member is available for an instant message or a PC-to-PC call. He can schedule a one-click WebEx meeting for everyone in the space. He also has the option of using the Click to Call function, which dials any team member’s Cisco IP phone via the Cisco Unified Communications Manager. “WebEx Connect offers my team so many ways to stay connected, no matter where they are or how they prefer to work,” says Krause. “We’ll never go back to the days of endless emails just to arrange a meeting.” 

Moving Toward a Post-Email World
Krause and his team have quickly adjusted to a work routine that involves fewer emails and more opportunities for collaboration. Now it’s just a question of how many new ways they can apply the power of collaborative technology. “Cisco WebEx Connect has already transformed how we interact,” says Krause. “We’re excited to share what we’ve learned and build up a whole network of collaborative spaces. There’s no question in my mind that this technology serves as a model for the future of business communication.”