The News: At Mobile World Congress 2023, Webex made a major announcement about its collaboration with Samsung to help hybrid teams get more out of Webex meetings on the Samsung Galaxy S23 and Galaxy Z Fold 4. Not only will hybrid teams get more out of Webex meetings on their mobile device, but also improved team collaboration. Read more on the Webex blog.
MWC 2023: Webex and Samsung Deliver Webex Meetings Enhancements on Samsung Galaxy S23 and Galaxy Z Fold 4
Analyst Take: Attending meetings on mobile devices is rapidly becoming the norm in today’s hybrid work environment — no surprises there. As a result, I’d venture a guess that news coming out of MWC 2023 of Webex and Samsung announcing new Webex Meetings (Cisco’s video collaboration app) features for Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S23 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 at 2023 MWC in Barcelona was met with excitement in organizations across the globe.
New features include Mobile Camera Share for Samsung’s Galaxy S23 and optimized collaboration experiences for the Galaxy Z Fold 4. By combining Samsung’s interactive capabilities with the advanced features of Webex Meetings — including mobile camera sharing, multi-sharing methods, picture-in-picture, and whiteboards, users get what they want and need most: flexibility.
Webex Meetings Mobile Phone Share – How It Works
Webex Meetings Mobile Phone Share allows an attendee to share their phone’s camera feed in a meeting so participants can not only view a livestream of the feed, but also write, draw, and add shapes in real-time. I think this is pretty cool – and will no doubt afford participants a more interactive, engaging, and productive discussion.
For folks in industries like marketing, IT, construction, or healthcare, to name a few, this should be beneficial in myriad ways. For example, for someone working in the construction industry, team members (or clients) can review a job site’s progress in real-time instead of relying on static images or screenshots. This could also be useful for healthcare providers as virtual patient consults are rapidly becoming more popular. It could also be useful in providing home healthcare assistance, virtually, to elderly patients or patients recovering at home alone.
For those who use the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Webex Meetings attendees can use the S Pen to annotate others’ camera feeds for the meeting discussions.
How it Works on the Galaxy Z Fold 4
On the Galaxy Z Fold 4, when using Webex Meetings, attendees can use the Flex mode on their phone to select a portion of the screen to display a grid of people’s videos, while the other half of the folded screen can display a presentation or other material. When laid out flat, Webex Meetings can display a grid containing up to 12 video feeds from attendees. These flexible modes of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 eliminate the need for multiple mobile devices, which I’m guessing will make users who have been resorting to that very happy.
Wrapping up, these new features are great news for hybrid workers using Webex Meetings on their Samsung Galaxy S23 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 devices. Being able to share and annotate a live feed in a meeting makes the meeting more engaging, interactive, and productive, which is exactly what organizations and their employees need. And the good news is that Webex Meetings and Mobile Camera Share for Samsung Galaxy Smartphones is available today.
Disclosure: Futurum Research is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of Futurum Research as a whole.
Other insights from Futurum Research:
Cisco Extends Webex Go, its Native Mobile Calling Capability, to the UK
Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 Recap
Image Credit: Webex
Author Information
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years' experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging development, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly's coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”
