Saudi Telecom becomes first Cisco WebEx authorised partner in Middle East

This agreement aims to have a major impact on improving productivity, lowering cost and further reducing boundaries that facilitate business and education.

As part of the agreement, STC joins the Cisco Channel Program as a Cisco Authorized WebEx Resale Partner. The organisation is the first company in the Middle East to join the program and marks another key milestone in the strong relationship between the two companies.

STC recently supplied WebEx technology to the First International Conference of e-Learning and Distance Learning held in Saudi Arabia, with the event encouraging partnership and cooperation between public and private sectors in the areas of e-learning and e-training development.

Ismael Hassa, Director WebEx Operations at Cisco, says that the new technology will have a major impact within the country.

"This agreement with STC marks a key milestone for enhancing collaboration and productivity within business throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,"

he said.

"With more than 10 million people throughout the world now using WebEx every month, it is becoming an integral tool in daily business operations and services. It is important that businesses in Saudi Arabia are able to utilise the latest collaborative technologies to enhance business growth and development - WebEx is a tool that can help businesses achieve these goals," he added.

Cisco's WebEx has been designed to facilitate the easy exchange of ideas and information by connecting people around the world by combining real-time desktop sharing with phone conferencing. As a result, this technology is often referred to as 'web conferencing,' due to its combining of the web with phone interaction. It is also commonly known as an 'online meeting,' as everyone participating can see a shared desktop presentation, giving the interaction the same feeling as in-person contacts.

WebEx can be described as 'software as a service.' The user simply subscribes to it and can then log in and use WebEx from any computer with an Internet connection or from the majority of smartphones.

Subscribers can invite participants to attend a WebEx meeting via e-mail, instant message, or text message. Participants do not themselves have to be subscribers; they simply click a link in the invitation for the online meeting where they will then receive easy step-by-step prompts to join the web conference.

Once the conference has started, the meeting organiser and participants can share documents, presentations, applications and even open a blank document and start creating together. Audio and video sessions are both possible and recording the meeting is an option so that the exchange of information can be shared later with those who were unable to join at the time.

The STC WebEx program is a first for a company in the Middle East and marks another key milestone for its strengthening relationship with Cisco, as both concerns announced their collaboration to offer networking solutions to businesses throughout Saudi Arabia in January last year.

Eng. Samir Matbouly, Vice President for Enterprise Business Unit, STC, is convinced that the new partnership will be a considerable asset for his organisation's customers.

"We are the leading provider for telecommunications services and fully integrated solutions in Saudi Arabia," he revealed. "It is therefore vital that we remain at the forefront of technology, so that we can always offer our customers the latest enhancements in the market. Cisco's WebEx solution will help our customers accelerate business processes and speed innovation," he added.