Mercedes-Benz offered closer look In the interior of the new E-Class sedan and luxury dashboard earlier this month. The car looks nice so far! It features an electric powertrain, tons of tech, including Level 3 self-driving support, and plenty of apps you’ll need to pay more to use. The car feels like a comfortable way to get around, too. Maybe it’s so convenient that you might just want to turn your car into a mobile office.
If so, you are in luck. Mercedes-Benz has partnered with Cisco to equip the new E-Class with Webex Meetings and Calling and Webex AI voice capabilities – everything a busy worker needs to never miss a moment of peace. They announced the collaboration at the E-Class event last week and revealed more details at Mobile World Congress. “This partnership will help people get work done safely, securely and in the comfort of their cars,” the companies said in a press release. This definitely sounds better than getting things done in the office, home or coffee shop.
In case you desperately need to jump into a meeting while you’re driving, which hopefully is a very rare occasion, the companies claim to offer “best-in-class noise cancellation” thanks to Webex’s voice intelligence technology. Meetings and calls are audio-only unless they’re off, in which case you’ll have access to video meetings, AI-powered transcription, content-sharing functionality, and emoji reactions. There will be a Webex app in the Mercedes Benz Cars app store, while the built-in WiFi and cellular data connection mean you don’t need your phone at all to jump into a meeting. At least for someone, I’m sure this is the embodiment of living the dream.
In fairness, there are some use cases where Webex in the car might make sense. Mercedes and Cisco have suggested that an architect might need to check in with colleagues immediately after leaving the job site, while someone might have to jump into a meeting right after dropping the kids off at school. Conference calls definitely happen in cars.
This isn’t exactly the first time the car meeting app has invaded. Webex already supports CarPlay, as does Microsoft Teams. Webex is also available on some Ford models. If you really want to experience the Webex meetings at the wheel of the 2023 E-Class, you might be pleased to know you’ll get a chance when the sedans hit dealerships in the spring.
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