Get Started with Webex Hybrid Services

Start here to deploy Webex Hybrid Services. Throughout this article, you will find a variety of information for getting started with hybrid services. This includes design recommendations, end-to-end deployment guides (including how to register nodes with cloud services), troubleshooting tips, and software release notes that will help you get up and running with hybrid services.

Overview

It is possible to seamlessly connect your Webex deployment that is on-premises with Webex Hybrid Services. With this connection, you can maintain your existing deployment while improving it at the same time:

• Streamlining the administration process

• Scheduling meetings has never been easier

• Better calls

• The management of resources can be improved

Each hybrid service is deployed one time during the deployment process. It will be installed automatically on your equipment when you register your hybrid environment to Expressway-based hybrid services, so that you will be able to access your environment from the cloud. Other software, such as directory and media, can be deployed on a supported Windows or virtual machine environment if the software is not Windows. A secure connection is established between our service in the cloud and the software (Expressway connectors, Webex Video Mesh nodes, Cisco Directory Connector software) containing these components.

Hybrid Directory Service

In order for the Cisco Directory Connector to maintain synchronization with Microsoft Active Directory users, it automatically creates, updates, and deletes user accounts into the Webex Control Hub, ensuring that information about users is always current. As far as user account information is concerned, the information that is mirrored within Control Hub comes from the Active Directory, which remains the single source.

• Streamline the daily process of managing and administering users by simplifying the administration tasks.

• When users click to call, message, or to add people to meetings on our Webex App, we need to provide accurate and up-to-date directory content.

Hybrid Calendar Service

Webex hybrid calendar connects your on-premises or cloud deployments of Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, or hybrid Exchange deployments with Oracle Calendar or Google Calendar. The Webex Meetings and Webex App meetings can be scheduled and joined directly from your calendar client—especially for mobile devices, since there are no extra plugins required to participate in Webex meetings and Webex App meetings.

When a meeting location is normally added to a calendar client, there is an option that allows users to:

• In the invitation, you can automatically share the host’s WebEx Personal Room URL or link to their Personal Room URL so that you will be able to invite them to join the meeting.

• It is possible to automate the creation of a Webex App space and a corresponding join link to be created when you add @meet to your emails. All meeting invitees are given access to this information in order to share documents and information before, during, and after the meeting.

With Webex App, people can be notified when they are out of the office directly from Outlook. In Webex App, the status of automatic replies and the range of dates can be seen in these locations as soon as someone sets an automatic reply and a range of dates:

• There is an @mentioned message directed at the user who is out of the office.

• This can be found under the People section for that user.

• There are results for the name of that user in the search results.

• The People roster has been expanded to make room for a new space.

Hybrid Calling for Webex Devices

Using Hybrid Calling for Webex Devices, you can use the ability to make hybrid calls for devices such as the Cisco Webex Board, the Cisco Webex Board, or a room, as well as Room, Desk, and Desk devices that are integrated into Workspaces or configured as Personal Mode devices in Controller Hub. When Cisco Webex devices are enabled with Hybrid Calling, they will also have the ability to connect to the enterprise’s phone system when they are registered in the cloud. In addition to calling user extensions or the PSTN, your Webex (Workspaces or Personal Mode Devices) devices will also be able to receive incoming calls from the PSTN, utilizing your existing on-premises dial plan.

It is possible for your users to do the following with Hybrid Calling:

• Call directly from the device—The Unified CM deployment allows you to provide your users with the ability to have a line and PSTN service around their devices, even though they are registered to the cloud. This will be served through your Unified CM deployment. These devices can be used by employees and clients to join meetings, as well as dialing other extensions and numbers using these devices in the office.

• Call from Webex App while connected to the device—The Webex App also allows users to call phone numbers while connected to a Webex device that has been registered in the cloud as being capable of Hybrid Calling and thus allows users to make hybrid calls. With the Webex App, users have the ability to call a mobile number or place a call directly to the local pizza place or even to someone’s mobile phone number from a Webex device.

Cisco Webex Video Mesh

A dynamic mix of video conferencing resources on-premises and in the cloud, is automatically determined by Edge Video Mesh. When there are sufficient local resources available on site, on-premises conferences can remain on site for as long as possible. Conferencing then expands to the cloud when local resources run out.

The benefits of Webex Video Mesh include the following:

• By keeping your calls on your premises, you will be able to improve the quality of your calls and reduce latency.

• As soon as your on-premises resources reach their maximum or aren’t available, your calls will be extended transparently to the public cloud.

• The Control Hub ( https://admin.webex.com/) is the single user interface that helps you manage a Webex Video Mesh cluster from the cloud.

• If there is a need to scale capacity or optimize resources, do so.

• Providing seamless user experience by combining cloud and on-premises conferencing features into one easy-to-use system.

• Reduces concerns over capacity, since additional conferencing resources are always available in the cloud when they are needed. The worst case scenario does not need to be considered when planning for capacity.

• Reports on capacity and usage are available in the administration section of WebEx at https://admin.webex.com/.

• Users can use a standard-based SIP endpoint and a client with on-premises standards-based media processing when they dial in to a Webex meeting or Webex App meeting:

  • The Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Expressway on-premises call control software (Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Expressway) are used to manage SIP-based endpoints and clients (Cisco endpoints, Jabber, 2nd party SIP), when calls are placed into a Webex meeting or a Webex App meeting.

  • An application that joins a Webex meeting, such as the Webex App app, which includes room devices paired with the app.

  • Devices that connect directly to a Webex meeting, such as desks and rooms (including Webex Boards).

• Provides on-net SIP-based endpoints, clients and interactive voice response systems (IVRs) that are optimized for audio and video.

• It has been confirmed that Webex clients continue to participate in meetings from the cloud (internal and external).

• A number of endpoints are able to join meetings from the cloud, including H.323, IP dial-in, and Skype for Business (S4B) endpoints.

• The system supports high definition video at 1080p and 30 frames per second as an option for meetings if the participants of the meeting who are capable of supporting 1080p use the Hybrid Media Nodes that are already located on-premises. On-premises users continue to have high resolution 30 frames per second on supported endpoints even when a participant joins a meeting in-progress from the cloud.

Hybrid Data Security

Webex has always been designed with data security as one of the main focuses from the very beginning. Webex App clients interact with the Key Management Service (KMS) to encrypt content end-to-end, which is a cornerstone of this security, which ensures that all content is encrypted from end-to-end. In the KMS, cryptographic keys are created and managed by the system, and these keys are used by the clients for dynamically encrypting and decrypting their messages and files.

Cisco’s cloud KMS, which is Cisco’s version of the secure realm, allows Webex customers to automatically encrypt end-to-end communications using dynamic keys. By integrating hybrid data security into your enterprise data center, you are able to keep keys to your encrypted content inside your enterprise data center, so no one else but you holds the keys to your encrypted files.

Hybrid Message Service

A service like this can be very useful if you have users using Webex App who need to send and receive messages with users using Cisco Unified Communications Manager instant messaging and presence service (UCM IM&P). By using the Hybrid Message Service, Cisco Webex Teams clients can exchange one-to-one instant messages with Cisco Jabber clients that are registered with the Unified CM IM and Presence service in order to communicate with each other. Cisco Webex Teams users can now see the presence status of Cisco Jabber users based on how they interact with Cisco Webex Teams clients via the Hybrid Message Service.

Design

To assist you with the planning of your Hybrid Services deployment, we have put together the following documents:

• Preparing for Hybrid Services Deployment: Things You Need to Know

  It is necessary to take some time to configure a number of prerequisite items listed in this document. In order to ensure the smooth implementation of Hybrid Services, you need to understand these networking and security concepts up front.

• Hybrid Services Architecture Guide: Preferred Architecture Guidelines

  • Design Overview

    Cisco Validated Design (CVD)

  In this article, we will present a brief overview of the Hybrid Services, as well as Cisco Validated Design guidelines for enterprises looking to implement Hybrid Services. They contain an architectural overview which introduces the components involved, a detailed technical discussion of the architecture in which the various connectors and software are discussed, how they function, which components are included in them, and best practices in the deployment of these connectors.

• Reference Guide for integrating HCS with Hybrid Services (for HCS deployments only)

  During the process of planning and implementing Hybrid Services in your Cisco HCS deployment, many questions will arise. This document is designed to answer those questions.

Deployment

A summary of each hybrid service can be found in the deployment guides. The guides also provide information on what the system requirements are, what prerequisites have to be met, the steps of deployment (including how to register nodes in the cloud), as well as supplementary material such as feature tests, system management, and troubleshooting guides.

Configure Email Notifications for Hybrid Services

Your organization may wish to have email notifications sent to you and other administrators about the status of any Hybrid Services you set up, alarms, updates to the software, and so on, even after these services have been set up.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Cisco Webex hybrid services?

The Hybrid Message Service is an IM and Presence service which allows a Cisco Webex Teams and a Cisco Jabber application to exchange one-to-one instant messages between each other. Using the Hybrid Message Service, Cisco users are able to see whether Cisco Webex Teams users are present based on the activity of their Teams clients through Cisco Jabber.

What are the two station types that are available with the Webex calling service?

There are two types of licenses that are available for Webex Calling, Professional and Workspace.

Can I delete Cisco Webex service?

Whenever you decide that you no longer want Webex to be installed on your computer, it can be removed at any time.

What is Webex hybrid?

With Hybrid Calendar, you can connect any on-premises Exchange, Office 365, hybrid Exchange or Google Calendar deployment to Webex to connect your users to meetings. With this service, you are able to schedule Webex meetings from your calendar client and join them as well — especially if you are using a mobile device, as there is no need for any additional plugins to do so.

What are Webex services?

As Cisco’s cloud-based web and video conferencing service, Webex Meetings allows global and virtual teams to collaborate in real-time using the latest mobile devices and the most sophisticated video conferencing systems using Cisco’s web and video services.

All images and contents credit goes to help.webex.com