Design and Implementation of the Cisco Webex System Based on Self-service Sign-up Using G Suite for Rapid Deployment

Abstract

Following the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19), there is a growing requirement for online class at universities and other educational institutions. Information Media Center (IMC) at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), provides Google G Suite for Education, which can be used by all faculty members and students of our university. G Suite provides a service called Google Meet, which can be used for remote meetings. However, since Meet is somewhat inferior in terms of functionality as a web conferencing system, it is expected to have some barriers for the smooth class management by faculty members. Therefore, IMC considered that Cisco Webex Training could be a choice for effective online class use. First of all we discuss the functionality of Cisco Webex Training in this paper. A product version of some web conferencing systems such as Webex can be easily implemented for a large-scale environment by working together with a university’s integrated authentication system. However, in order to do this, it is necessary to renovate the existing authentication system. It also coincides with the end of the fiscal year in Japan’s budget period. In this situation, online classes are also an important issue that needs to be implemented quickly for COVID-19 measures. From these situations, renovations and cost incurrence for coordination should be kept to a minimum. Therefore, IMC starts preparations for a small-start implementation of the system. First, we built a system that allows users to open an account for the Webex system by signing up, and then users can start the service by self-service when they need it. This system consists of a combination of the Webex system and the various services included in G Suite, and is ready for use when both services are available. In this paper, we also provide a brief description of the process of building the system and the details of the system. By proposing an introduction method that is different from the linking the authentication system normally used to deploy the Webex system, we can propose a new use case for the university community.