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My laptop PC recently took on a new role: As a tool for centrally managing the different phones that I use in my work. The new Cisco Jabber for Windows client allows me to control the Cisco 9971 desk phone that’s in my Cisco office and the Cisco 7961 phone I have in my home office. But I can also use the Jabber client as a soft phone on my laptop, both answering and dialing calls as if I was at my hardware phone.

This flexibility means that I’m easier to reach and I can use the best phone that’s available to me at any given moment. Even better, I can use the Jabber client for more than just phone calls because it integrates features for instant messaging (IM), presence, audio and web conferencing, and visual voicemail.

I find the client’s IM and presence capabilities especially helpful. These features often allow me to answer those “got a second?” information requests from a customer, partner, or member of my team without needing to make a return call or play phone tag. It also means I don’t have to wait until I’m back in my office or at home to take care of it.

And with the video calling features in Cisco Jabber, I get the communications benefits of a video call when I’m away from the EX90 TelePresence video endpoint system in my office.

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I have configured the Jabber for Windows client to start automatically when I turn on my laptop and I use it multiple times throughout the day. The client is popular with other Cisco users, too. In a 2012 survey on the Advanced Cisco Experience (ACE) network, 67 percent of respondents indicated they use Cisco Jabber for Windows every hour and another 22 percent use it daily!

What would my work be like without this client? A lot slower for me and for my colleagues. Not only does it increase my team’s productivity by gaining results faster, but it also gives me back precious time for my personal and family life – which is priceless. Cisco Jabber for Windows really is the one client I can run my business on.

This post is part of a series about the Cisco IT ACE Service Introduction Network. You’ll find more information in these related posts: