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Alphabet (GOOGL) & Cisco Join Forces for Interoperations

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Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) division Google has collaborated with Cisco Systems (CSCO - Free Report) for supporting interoperability.

Customers using a Cisco device can log into a Google meeting, while those using a Google device can log into a Cisco Webex meeting.

The partnership will help those business organizations that use different hosting platforms or have switched from one platform to another.

With the recent move, Google is expected to expand its reach to customers using Cisco devices and vice versa.

Further, the move is expected to boost the adoption rate of Google Meet.

Efforts to Bolster Google Meet

Google has been consistently adding advanced features to its video conferencing software for providing an enhanced experience to users.

Apart from the latest move, the company has made a major advancement in Google Meet, through which the software will notify users in case of echo on video calls.

In addition, it launched features like adding up to 25 co-hosts for meetings, moderation tactics, and safety measures along with an updated Quick Access setting to provide a better experience to users.

Further, Google Meet introduced a web app named Progressive Web Application for streamlining workflows by eliminating the need to switch between tabs.

Additionally, Google is looking to sign contracts with other video conferencing providers in the near term.

These initiatives are expected to benefit Google in expanding its presence in the booming video conferencing market, which is witnessing significant growth amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Growing work from home and online learning trends due to social distancing norms amid the pandemic are creating demand for visual communication software. This is propelling growth in this market.

A report by Fortune Business Insights indicates that this market is expected to hit $6.28 billion in 2021 and reach $12.99 billion by 2028 by registering a CAGR of 10.9% during the forecast period of 2021-2028.

Competitive Scenario

The upbeat scenario in the video conferencing market is not only driving Google but also other companies such as Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , Zoom Video Communications (ZM - Free Report) , LogMeIn and Salesforce to take strong initiatives for bolstering their presence therein.

Recently, Microsoft announced that it will introduce a new feature in Microsoft Teams for auto-suggesting the most relevant search results across chats, files, people and other content stored or shared in the app.

Meanwhile, Zoom’s growing initiatives to provide an improved user experience by offering seamless training, technical support, meetings, cross-platform messaging and file sharing features remain noteworthy.

LogMeIn’s subsidiary GoToMeeting offers a real-time virtual communication and collaboration platform. It’s worth mentioning that the platform can let employees work effectively anytime and anywhere on any device.

Further, Salesforce’s subsidiary Slack Technologies provides a workplace communication platform named Slack, in which chat rooms can be organized based on various topics, private groups or direct messaging.

Nevertheless, Google’s growing momentum across organizations that require software applications to seamlessly connect with employees via innovative features of Google Meet is expected to aid it in gaining a competitive edge against peers.

Currently, Google’s parent Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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