Cisco to acquire Voicea for AI voice transcription in Webex
Through its planned acquisition of Voicea, Cisco will add an AI voice transcription engine to the Webex cloud while also undercutting competing for video conferencing providers that support integrations with the startup. The deal, announced Tuesday, is expected to close by the end of October.
Cisco will use Voicea's platform to provide real-time transcription throughout the Webex suite -- first in Webex Meetings and later in Webex Calling and Webex Contact Center. The startup's AI assistant, known as EVA, also generates meeting summaries and highlights items that require follow-up.
Cisco has sought to make "cognitive collaboration" -- a term for AI features ranging from facial recognition to computer-generated profiles of meeting attendees -- the main selling point of its collaboration products. But the vendor still relies on third parties for voice transcription, a gap the Voicea acquisition will fill.
Cisco plans to offer voice transcription and other basic services at no additional charge to Webex subscribers, but customers will need to pay a premium to access some of Voicea's more advanced features. That's as much detail as the company is prepared to share at this point, Sri Srinivasan, the general manager of Webex, said.
Voicea, formerly known as Voicera, currently runs on the infrastructure of one of the leading public cloud providers. Cisco will move the startup's technology to the Webex cloud, a global network of more than two dozen data centers that Srinivasan said would be able to better secure the meeting records generated by Voicea.
Cisco expects to use its existing AI capabilities to improve Voicea. For example, Webex added facial recognition earlier this year; that feature could be paired with Voicea to help identify who is speaking in meeting transcripts.
Voicea also integrates with roughly 20 task management and collaboration products, including Slack, Microsoft Teams, Confluence, Zendesk, Trello and Zapier. Users can command EVA to create tasks, set reminders and share links into those third-party apps.
"It's reasonable to think that other applications integrated into Cisco, whether they be a workflow or office suites, will also be able to benefit with the Voicea features … turning the acquisition into a significant differentiator for Cisco's user base," said Wayne Kurtzman, an analyst at IDC.
Voicea to sever ties with other video apps
Srinivasan confirmed that Cisco plans to eventually end Voicea's support for competing online meetings apps. "We will be happy to shrink-wrap a free license to those customers to Webex," he said.
Voicea is available to users of all major video conferencing apps as an optional add-on. Many of those vendors, including Microsoft and Zoom, provide their own transcription services. But others, such as BlueJeans and Lifesize, rely exclusively on partnerships with third parties, including Voicea, Fireflies.ai and Reason8.
Voicea is the only transcription service available to BlueJeans customers. The company is in the early stages of testing Google and other third-party services, a company spokesperson said.
The ability to derive insights from meetings using AI will become a significant differentiator in the collaboration market over the next few years, said Adam Preset, analyst at Gartner.
"Webex customers won't have to scramble around looking to add extra AI tools to win in the struggle with meetings," Preset said. "The help will be baked into the platform they'll already be using."
Founded in 2016, Voicea has received more than $20 million in startup funding, led by the venture capital firm e.ventures, according to Crunchbase. The investment arms of Cisco, Microsoft and Salesforce were all early financial backers of the company, incorporated as Rizio Inc.
Voicea's CEO and co-founder, Omar Tawakol, previously founded the marketing data platform BlueKai, which was acquired by Oracle in 2014. The company declined an interview request, referring questions to Cisco.
source searchunifiedcommunications
Industry: Unified Communications & Artificial Intelligence

Latest Jobs
-
- IAM Product/ Project Manager
- Belgium
- Upto €80,000 plus benefits
-
IAM product/project manager is need for this expanding service provider to help develop their IAM (CIAM) strategy roadmap. This role will have two main functions, to work between the front end digital team and the backend IAM development team to ensure that the current deployment of the solution runs smoothly and is fit for purpose, the Second function is to look at the business’ future digital offerings and to understand how the IAM/CIAM solution will develop with the new digital strategy, you will be looking at the future technology and the ensuring the IAM solution is fit for purpose. The business is an agile environment and you will require agile experience. This is a great opportunity to help shape a key product within the future digital strategy of this expanding service provider. We are looking for someone with both IAM and strong product management experience Project management experience would be beneficial. If you are interested speak to Robert Anderton on 0044 (0) 7957 493501 and he will be able to discuss the role in more details IAM product/project manager is needed for this expanding service provider to help develop their IAM (CIAM) strategy roadmap. This role will have two main functions, to work between the front end digital team and the backend IAM development team to ensure that the current deployment of the solution runs smoothly and is fit for purpose, the second function is to look at the business’ future digital offerings and to understand how the IAM/CIAM solution will develop with the new digital strategy, you will be looking at the future technology and the ensuring the IAM solution is fit for purpose. The business is an agile environment and you will require agile experience. This is a great opportunity to help shape a key product within the future digital strategy of this expanding service provider. We are looking for someone with both IAM and strong product management experience Project management experience would be beneficial. If you are interested then speak to Robert Anderton on 0044 (0) 7957 493501 and he will be able to discuss the role in more details
-
- Cyber Incident Manager, Proactive planning and management. SC
- London
- N/A
-
Cyber Incident Manager, Proactive planning and management. Cyber incident Manager needed to join a large and complex business to help them prepare for a cyber related incidents. SC clearance will be required. Current or the ability to achieve. This role does not require specific current hands on technical Incident response experience, but this background would give a distinct advantage. The role has two key functions: to help the business prepare for an event and to steer them through when / if that happens. The Cyber Incident response managers role will include, but not be limited to; working with internal stakeholders to develop a security incident management plan along with its and supporting policies. Developing plans and implementing strategies on how incidents are detected, reported, assessed and responded to. Engaging with leadership teams both internal and external, proactively mapping out this large business to identify and engage the various other stakeholders and their teams. Build out and document incident scenarios and their processes, ensure incident management procedures are updated, playbooks and key training etc. You should have experience working with both internal teams and external suppliers. The role will also focus on liaising with the various teams to ensure the security incident response plan is delivered effectively. CCIM, GCIH, CIPR (NCSC-Certified Cyber Incident Planning & Response) Looking to interview immediately.
-
- SOC Manager. SC Clearance. Immediate opportunity.
- Unknown
- N/A
-
Permanent SOC Manager. SC cleared / clearable, London / Birmingham. SOC Manager needed to replace a SOC contractor I placed into a client who is due to complete their assignment at the end of March. The ability to achieve SC clearance is essential. Looking for someone that is a blend of strategic stakeholder engagement with strong technical skills. The role will sit in a relatively new SOC environment. The position is to setup, implementation and management of resources to help with the initial and on-going stages of a new SOC. Experience engaging with and managing client stakeholder relationships as well as 3rd party relationships is critical. The role will involve; setting up, implementing and fine tuning the various initial stages of a SOC environment. Experience establishing and building out technical process / operational capability, managing of technical teams (analysts, engineers and architects, creation of policy / playbooks, fine turning is key. SPLUNK is the tooling of choice… Interviewing immediately. Set up a call with me today on https://calendly.com/chris-holt/arranged-call-with-chris-holt-soc-manager-role Direct contact details Chris.Holt@dclsearch.com or 07884666351
-
- Security engineer. Financial Services. UK. Permanent
- Unknown
- N/A
-
CH7863 Security engineer. End User . Financial Services Security Engineer needed to monitor and manage a security suite of tools within an End User environment. The Security Engiener will be responsible monitoring, configuring, fine tuning, incident management and generally improving the security tool capability. Specific experience with CyberArk, Tripwire Log Center and Tripwire Enterprise is highly desirable). Current experience with Vulnerability management and penetration testing is highly desirable. Specifically the ability to effectively manage 3rd party pen tests. You will be working within a specialist security team reporting to the CISO. Experience working within an end user environment within financial services is highly desirable. Flexible location. This is an exclusive role to DCL Search & Selection. To book a call please use my Calendy link https://calendly.com/chris-holt/arranged-call-with-chris-holt-soc-role-