If your business spends a good portion of the working day on the move, there’s a high chance you’ve become reliant on your mobile phone for business communications.
On the face of it, there’s no problem with this. You’ve got access to the Webex app, you can check your email, and after all, it’s a mobile phone so you can make phone calls.
Only, that combination doesn’t quite meet all the criteria some businesses need.
But what happens when you need to record a call? What’s the consequence of calling a customer from your personal number? What happens if you’re on a Webex call and the 4G disappears?
These, and more, are the questions Webex Go provides answers to.
What is Webex Go?
Webex Go is the fixed mobile convergence solution that allows you to make calls using your mobile while using the Webex Calling platform.
You get a single Webex business number across all your devices (desk phone, Webex collaboration app, mobile phone, etc).
This means you can:
- Use your native mobile dialer but present your Webex number
- Dial internal Webex extensions from your native dialer
- Share mobile presence with colleagues on Webex
- Manage connected devices via the Webex Control Hub
- Make calls using cellular data like a regular mobile call
- Use bundled minutes from your existing Webex Calling plan
- Report on all calls—not just the ones that happen in-office
- Make mobile calls with access to all your Webex enterprise grade features (like call recording)
If keeping your business and personal numbers separate when you want users to bring their own device (BYOD), Webex Go provides the middleware to enable this.
Getting started is simple. Once you’ve selected your Webex Go partner, it’s an eSIM installation just like you may have used when going abroad. You just need to scan a QR code and follow the instructions to install.
Webex Go mobile operators
Before you start using Webex Go, there are a couple of pre-requisites.
First, your mobile user must already be licensed for Webex Calling. Then, when adding Webex Go, your mobile operator must also support the integration.
As of November 2024, the supported Webex Go mobile operators are:
- AT&T
- Audiocodes
- CallTower
- NTT
- NuWave
- Pure IP
- Tata Communications
- Read the announcement: Pure IP Unveils Mobile Connect for Webex Go, Enabling Secure Mobile Communications for Webex Calling
Webex Go features
When you enable Webex Go for your users, they can:
- Leverage Webex mid-call features: Hold, transfer, invite, etc.
- Simultaneous ring: Across your Webex Go line and other Webex devices.
- Transfer mobile calls to Webex devices: Desk phones, meeting rooms phones, etc.
- Increase call quality: Using 5G signal in supported locations.
- Transform a mobile call into a video meeting: Without the need for redialling.
- Access enterprise phone systems features on their mobile: Extension dialing, business voicemail, call recording, etc.
- Choose their primary line or their Webex line: Tailored for all calling needs.
For the administrators, you get central management via the Webex Control Hub. Here, you get an overview of all calls, regardless of the device they’re made on.
All call logs and behavior gets captured as if it had taken place in your office location. For example, you get analytics on call duration, media quality, users with the best/worst calling quality, etc.
Webex Go supported devices
Webex Go requires the use of eSIM. So, as of November 2024, supported devices include:
- Apple iPhone XR or later: iPhone 12, iPhone 13, iPhone SE 3, iPhone 14, iPhone 15, iPhone 16)
- Samsung Galaxy S21 or later: Galaxy S21+, Galaxy S21 Ultra, Galaxy S20 FE, Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, Galaxy S22 Ultra, Galaxy S21 FE, Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, Galaxy S24 Ultra, Galaxy S24 FE
- Google Pixel support coming soon
Benefits of using Webex Go
When you enable Webex Go, you’re signing up for true enterprise mobility. Users can roam free, safe in the knowledge that all calls are compliant, recorded when they need to be, and that they’re not giving out their personal number.
Sure, you can record calls on the move and you no longer have to give clients your personal number. But the real benefit is what gets removed …
There’s no more, “I’ll call you when I get back to the office.” All calls, except for ones where you might need a private, quiet space, can happen via your mobile now.
The major knock-on benefit is the increase in productivity and cost savings.
It’s long been the case that time disappeared when salespeople or technicians were traveling. For reasons of usability, compliance, or even just not knowing if they were allowed, employees couldn’t use their personal mobile for calls.
The alternative, an expensive one, was always to provide non-office-based users with company mobiles. Of course, these come with minute bundles, long-term contracts, and extra security fees like mobile device management.
Freeing users from the shackles of the office without investing in another mobile handset (and the corresponding cost) is a surefire way to boost productivity, having a positive impact on your bottom line.
Webex Go use cases
There’s no right or wrong way to implement Webex Go. You might be a casual office attendee who sometimes works from home or sometimes likes to break up their day walking to the coffee shop. As Webex Go is included in Webex Calling, there’s no harm in enabling it for this type of user.
Not only do these users enable business calling, they benefit from your local cellular network. Instead of relying on 4G to make (sometimes patchy) calls via the Webex app, they can piggyback off the core mobile network. Calls are higher quality and there’s no latency or dropouts—just like a regular mobile call, only with your business number.
But for the biggest bang for your buck, we’ve highlighted some use cases where Webex Go really starts to make sense:
- Frontline workers: For users who don’t necessarily have a “place” of work and are always on the move, stay connected without needing to seek WiFi or 4G connectivity.
- Healthcare voicemail retention: When policy is to store patient data and records, consultants and nurses can now answer calls on the go, instead of delaying while they’re paged to the nearest physical phone.
- Call center training: Use real world calls for compliance, monitoring, and training—even when agents are working from home.
- Finance recorded calls: When giving financial advice, calls get securely recorded and stored without the need for being in-office or at an authorized workstation.
How to set up Webex Go
Cisco has now made Webex Go free if you’re subscribed to Webex Calling.
“Just purchase the Webex Calling Professional License, select a calling plan from a Webex Go provider, and you’re ready to go!”
- Teney Takahashi, Product Marketing Manager, Webex Calling
For businesses new to Webex, you must first subscribe to core Webex licenses. The next step (or the first step for existing Webex users) is to purchase and enable Webex Calling.
Here, you have a choice of three licenses, depending on your business requirements. For Webex Go to be included, you must select the Webex Enterprise option.
If you’re not already a Webex Calling customer, you’ll be prompted to complete a contact form so the Webex team can tailor your needs and create the right solution for you. This is standard practice in the case of large business phone deployment.
For existing Webex Calling customers, you now need to select a mobile partner. Cisco doesn’t operate a mobile network, hence the need for a partner.
📱📱 (You can get started with Pure IP here)
Once you’ve chosen your Webex Go mobile partner, you can start provisioning your Webex Go numbers using the 'Add mobile number flow in the Webex Control Hub.
Once provisioned, users follow an eSIM installation process and can start using Webex Go in minutes!
Get started with Webex Go
Pure IP has further extended its status as a Cloud Connect for Webex Certified Calling Provider.
Mobile Connect for Webex Go, powered by Tango Networks, allows Webex Calling users to extend their existing Pure IP fixed PSTN numbers to business or personal mobile phones.
Pure IP is one of only a few providers designated as a Certified Mobile Calling Provider, a recognition announced at WebexOne 2024.
“As a Certified Mobile Calling Provider for Webex Go, Pure IP will provide Webex customers with more choice and flexibility for mobile compliant calling.”
- Amey Parandekar, VP of Product Management at Cisco.
Pure IP stands out thanks to its secure and resilient cloud-based global voice network, which tightly integrates with the Webex Calling Service.
Each Webex Go provider offers unique geographic coverage and roaming capabilities, allowing you to choose the best fit for your needs. If you need to enable truly global calling, with Webex as your collaboration platform of choice, look no further.
