Certain Cisco WebEx Telepresence devices support the MultiSite feature. With MultiSite, these devices can host multipoint video conferences with up to three remote parties, for a four-way conference including the initiating device. The MultiSite feature is a device-specific, optional paid feature.
The WebEx Telepresence bridge service offers the following differences when compared to the MultiSite feature:
- A dedicated WebEx Telepresence bridge has greater capacity than a MultiSite device, which can host only four multipoint calls. For WebEx Telepresence bridge service, customers can choose between 6-port and 12-port configurations.
- When using the WebEx Telepresence bridge, each participant sends and receives a single media stream, which balances the bandwidth needs across participants instead of concentrating on the MultiSite device, which manages all media streams. If any bandwidth constraints exist at the site where a MultiSite-capable device is located, this can limit the video quality of the experience for all parties.
- The WebEx Telepresence bridge allows two or more participants to continue the conference without needing a connection to a MultiSite-enabled device. Because MultiSite is device-dependent, the MultiSite-enabled device must be available to host the multipoint conference for the entire scheduled duration of the meeting.
