Zoom rival clocks a staggering 600 million users in September

(Image credit: Cisco)

Cisco’s video-conferencing solution Webex clocked up a huge 590 million users in September and is on target to break the 600 million-mark for October, the company has revealed.

Ever since coronavirus restrictions began to be implemented in countries all over the world, business software that enables remote working and virtual meetings has seen a huge uptick in use. Webex’s user figures are nearly twice as high as those the software recorded back in March.

In the spring, when COVID-19 was just beginning to take hold in the West, Webex was able to boast 324 million daily meeting participants, while Zoom had 300 million and Microsoft Teams recorded 200 million. More recent figures for both Zoom and Teams were not available.

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Videoconferencing growth

With the pandemic still with us, Cisco believes that there remains plenty of market potential still to be exploited. The majority of Webex users are still based in the enterprise space, but the coronavirus has seen video-conferencing tools employed in educational and leisure environments too. Cisco recently added a breakout rooms feature that has proven popular within schools by allowing classes to be split up into smaller groups.

Back in August, Cisco also announced its intention to buy software firm BabbleLabs for an undisclosed fee. The purchase should help Cisco incorporate a new audio feature that filters out background noise during calls.

“A great meeting experience starts with great audio,” said Jeetu Patel, senior vice president and general manager, of Cisco's Security and Applications Business Unit.

“We’re thrilled to welcome BabbleLabs’ team of highly skilled engineers. Their technology is going to provide our customers with yet another important innovation – automatically removing unwanted noise - to continue enabling exceptional Webex meeting experiences.”

With the competition heating up between the leading providers of video-conferencing tools, more innovation is sure to emerge within the market.

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Via Reuters

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Barclay has been writing about technology for a decade, starting out as a freelancer with ITProPortal covering everything from London’s start-up scene to comparisons of the best cloud storage services. After that, he spent some time as the managing editor of an online outlet focusing on cloud computing, furthering his interest in virtualization, Big Data, and the Internet of Things.