Cisco Sees Demand Surge for Webex, Zoom’s Larger Rival

Cisco Systems Inc., the biggest maker of gear that directs internet traffic, said its Webex collaboration service is experiencing a staggering jump in use as companies look to find a way to securely connect workers confined to their homes.

Webex daily meeting volume has more than doubled since the beginning of March and expanded 2 1/2 times from February. At peak hours, volume is up 24 times where it would be normally, the company said.

Cisco’s conferencing business is the biggest provider of such services to companies with revenue many times the size of newer rivals such as Zoom Video Communications Inc. Demand for these services from home-bound employees during the Covid-19 pandemic indicates that work practices will probably change permanently, said Sri Srinivasan, who heads the company’s collaboration unit.

“We will never go back,” he said. “The way we work is going to change forever. Employers are going to be able to hire workers from wider geographic areas because staff won’t have to come to the office as much, he added.

While dropped connections and delays getting into meetings has increased, so far Cisco’s technology has just about kept up with the volume, Srinivasan said. The company was able to learn from the steep increase in traffic in Asia early this year and apply those lessons to the U.S., where volume is still increasing.

The peak volume for traffic is at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Monday through Friday. Internally, Cisco has started a process scheduling calls to begin outside of standard times -- not the top of the hour or 30 minutes past the hour -- and is recommending users do the same.