Anymeeting vs WebEx

May 28, 2023 | Author: Sandeep Sharma
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Anymeeting
AnyMeeting offers free and low-cost web conferencing, video conferencing, phone conferencing and webinar services for small business, with all the features and capacity of expensive services.
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WebEx
Cisco Webex is your one place to call, message, meet. Build stronger relationships with face-to-face meetings and real-time collaboration using whiteboarding, screen sharing and more. Showcase the best you with video conferencing that is simple but powerful.
Anymeeting and WebEx are both web conferencing platforms that facilitate online meetings, collaboration, and communication, but they differ in terms of their features, pricing, and target audience.

Anymeeting is a user-friendly and affordable web conferencing solution that offers features such as video conferencing, screen sharing, recording, chat, and file sharing. It is designed for small and medium-sized businesses and individuals who need a simple and cost-effective way to host online meetings, webinars, and virtual events. Anymeeting provides an intuitive interface and focuses on essential features to ensure a seamless meeting experience.

WebEx, on the other hand, is a robust and feature-rich web conferencing platform offered by Cisco. It caters to the needs of enterprises and large organizations, providing advanced capabilities like high-definition video and audio, advanced screen sharing options, virtual whiteboards, breakout rooms, and integration with other Cisco collaboration tools. WebEx offers comprehensive meeting controls, security features, and scalability to accommodate large-scale meetings and webinars.

See also: Top 10 Webinar services
Anymeeting vs WebEx in our news:

2021. Cisco to acquire startup Socio to bring hybrid events to Webex



Cisco has made an acquisition by purchasing the startup Socio, a company specializing in planning hybrid events that combine both in-person and virtual elements. Socio offers a crucial hybrid event management component that will complement Cisco's existing Webex platform. The objective behind this acquisition seems to be integrating Socio's capabilities with the recently acquired Slido, thereby transforming Webex from a primarily video meeting application into a comprehensive event platform. Socio, established in 2016, has received approximately $7 million in investment capital, as reported by Crunchbase. The company boasts an impressive roster of enterprise clients, including Microsoft, Google, Jet Blue, Greenpeace, PepsiCo, and Hyundai.


2020. Cisco is buying Slido to improve Q&A, polls and engagement in WebEx



While Zoom continues to dominate the videoconferencing landscape, Cisco's WebEx division has demonstrated its commitment to staying competitive by announcing an acquisition. WebEx is acquiring Slido, a company renowned for its platform that enables moderators to manage questions and interactions from a large audience during virtual conferences and live events. Slido's innovative solution allows participants to ask questions in a separate space, and other attendees can upvote the questions they find most valuable, prioritizing them for discussion. Additionally, moderators can conduct polls and receive real-time feedback, fostering better engagement and audience interaction. This approach helps minimize unnecessary disruptions on the main video screen while still giving the audience a voice and the opportunity to actively participate in the conversation. The acquisition of Slido by WebEx strengthens its offerings and showcases its determination to stay at the forefront of the videoconferencing industry.


2018. Webex Teams gets BroadCloud Calling integration



Webex Teams, a collaboration service that facilitates continuous teamwork through video meetings, group messaging, file sharing, and whiteboarding, has enhanced its capabilities with the integration of cloud calling using the enterprise-grade cloud-based PBX phone system, BroadCloud Calling. This integration enables Webex Teams to become a comprehensive unified communications (UC) application, aligning with the original vision of UC. Webex Teams was introduced earlier this year as a result of Cisco merging its two collaboration platforms, Webex and Spark, into a unified platform. With the addition of calling functionality to its existing content sharing and messaging features, Webex Teams offers a seamless and all-encompassing collaboration solution.


2018. Cisco morphed Spark into Webex



Cisco has announced that its team messaging app, Spark, will undergo a rebranding and integration into its Webex platform. The decision entails discontinuing the Cisco Spark brand and introducing Webex Teams as its successor. Webex Teams will incorporate all the collaborative functionalities of Spark, such as persistent messaging, whiteboarding, easy guest access, and content sharing. Additionally, Cisco has introduced a new videoconferencing app called Webex Meetings, which will replace Spark's existing meeting app. Previously, Spark video meetings operated separately in the public cloud, rather than within Webex data centers. Consequently, both Webex Meetings and Webex Teams will now operate on the Webex infrastructure backbone.


2018. Cisco acquired Accompany to add AI to Webex



Cisco has made an agreement to purchase the startup Accompany, known for its utilization of artificial intelligence to create comprehensive databases containing information on individuals and their professional relationships within organizations. This technology functions as a personal assistant, equipping executives with the necessary context prior to conversations and meetings. Cisco intends to integrate Accompany's technology into its collaboration products, such as incorporating company and individual profiles into Webex meetings. The acquisition will involve a payment of $270 million in cash and stock, as confirmed by Cisco.


2018. Cisco Spark & Webex combine into single collaboration platform



Cisco has taken a step towards streamlining its collaboration offerings by merging its two separate packages, Spark and WebEx, into a unified platform. This decision was driven by Cisco's development of these similar packages independently, which resulted in market and sales channel confusion. With the introduction of Webex Teams, Cisco has combined the collaboration features from Spark and WebEx, including whiteboarding, persistent messaging, roster management, meeting controls, and content sharing. Previously, Cisco Spark utilized the Control Hub as its management tool with basic analytics capabilities, while WebEx customers relied on the separate Site Admin tool for analytics. Now, the Control Hub supports both WebEx Meetings and WebEx Teams, providing comprehensive analytics functions for WebEx users.


2015. Cisco to acquire video conferencing provider Acano



Cisco announced that it will buy video conferencing service Acano for $700 million. While Cisco already provides a similar service called WebEx, which it acquired in 2007 for $3.2 billion, Acano offers a more advanced solution. In addition to WebEx, Cisco launched Project Squared, a modern alternative, last year. However, Acano significantly enhances Cisco's video portfolio by offering sophisticated capabilities that fill important gaps. With Acano, Cisco will be better equipped to establish connections in diverse environments, even when multiple vendor tools are involved and across various devices, from mobile devices to large screens in boardrooms. Acano's portfolio includes video and audio bridging technology and gateways that enable customers to connect different collaboration solutions from various vendors in both cloud and hybrid environments.


2012. Free Webex is already available



As Cisco promised, its web-conferencing service WebEx is becoming free. True, the number of free conference hosts (i.e. users that can create and manage online meetings) was reduced from 3 to 1. But the free disk space was increased up to 1 GB. The free online meeting can support up to 25 people simultaneously and provide the variety of tools: screen-sharing, whiteboard, remote control, file sharing, presentations, VoIP, video in HD-format, recording. You might be surprised that the service is currently in Beta status (after all, WebEx has been the web-conferencing market leader  for many years). The fact that it's not just the free version. It's a new version of WebEx, which in addition to web-conferencing adds a workspace for collaboration before and after online meeting. ***


2011. WebEx adds free version, online office workspace



Finally, the most popular Web-conferencing service Cisco WebEx is getting closer to small business. At the Collaboration Summit in Miami Cisco has introduced the new version of Webex and the subscription free plan for 3 people and 250 MB of space. In addition to basic functions (screen-sharing, whiteboard, online presentations, document collaboration, VoIP and instant messaging) the free version also provides video conferencing (but not in HD-quality). Of course, there are several other web-conferencing services that offer free version, but WebEx differs by high quality and extensive functionality. According to the Cisco representatives the free version is already available, but we couldn't find it on the WebEx site. So, let's wait. We also have to wait till Q1 2012 for the new version of WebEx, which includes the very interesting feature - online workspace. ***


2009. Cisco announced upgrades to its WebEx SaaS meeting portfolio

The recent upgrades offered by the company bring several advancements to their applications, catering to e-training, virtual events, and remote support. These updates aim to provide users with an improved experience, expanded device compatibility, and broader global reach. One notable introduction is the WebEx Node for ASR 1000 Series, which is built upon the ASR 1000 Series aggregation services routing platforms. This innovative solution enables the edge router to function as a point of presence (PoP) within an enterprise network, specifically designed to serve meeting attendees on that network. By doing so, it reduces bandwidth requirements, enhances video and voice over IP (VoIP) performance, and leverages the WebEx Collaboration Cloud's global load balancing and availability features to ensure optimal performance for customers within the enterprise network.

Author: Sandeep Sharma
Sandeep is a marketing expert with a wealth of knowledge in various domains: customer relationship management, social media management, advertising, search engine optimization, website building, Sandeep has established himself as a multifaceted professional. He honed his skills while working at Salesforce and Hubspot, where he gained invaluable insights into the industry. Now, as the proud owner of a small advertising consulting agency, Sandeep continues to provide innovative and effective strategies to businesses, helping them thrive in the competitive landscape of digital marketing. You can contact Sandeep via email sandeep@liventerprise.com