Email signature link to WebEx chat / call

[Andrew Nathanson]

Hi,

I want to encourage people to contact me via Cisco Webex Teams rather than my desk phone (which, especially during corona has been ignored for months!) or email. 

I have not be able to find a way to make a url/link to directly chat or phone me via the app.

Is there a way to do this? If so, how? If not, can I put in a request for it to be developed please.

Note, I am not taking about creating a meeting.

Thanks,

Andrew

[pheaney]

try this url format, ciscospark://im?email=your@email.address

[Stoyan Stoitsev]

Hi,

you can check this doc https://help.webex.com/en-US/article/n5yzg8y/-Webex-%7C-Add-Links-for-Meetings-or-Spaces-with-webexteams-Protocol

[Andrew Nathanson]

Hi @Fritz_H ,

Re your first point, I'm only talking about internally within the company. Everyone has WebEx, so no issues with access.

Sorry but your answer is precisely what I said I don't want. I use the chat feature to both people and groups extensively. I know how to set up a meeting, but I want to direct people to the chat. 

I've obscured that data and names, but you can see I have hundreds of chats, and can have multiple ones open at the same time. If you use meetings it does not always let you have more than one open, and the chat feature is secondary to call/video, and requires multiple steps to save the chat.

[Fritz_H]

@Andrew Nathanson

Sorry, I did not know that you refer to your colleagues/co-workers as you wrote "people".

I think, you look for something similar to "mailto:xxx@abcde.com" where a click on this link automatically opens your default eMail-Application and creates a new message to this email-address

As far as I know, this is called URI.
A google-search did not show me useful results.
Also: on my PC (Windows 8.1) Webex(-Teams) did not register itself as application for any document- or protocol-type.
This makes me think, that this feature is possibly not (yet?) available.

My explanation:
there are 2 options:
- the space between you and the other person already exists or
- it does not.

1) If the space already exists, such a link may lead into this existing chat-space - fine.
2) If this space does not yet exist, the link may
a) do nothing.
b) automatically create a new space for you and the other person who clicked the link

...and this (2b) may cause a security-issue:
Since this approach does not verify if the other person uses a valid email-address and has an active webex account
a malware-bot may create and call such links automatically, flooding you with dummy-spaces.

(I already suggested, that Webex(-Teams) may need a black-/white - list - feature:
every new space triggered from the other end needs to be confirmed by the invitee; including options to whitelist whole domains etc...)

[Fritz_H]

@Andrew Nathanson 

Well, a "call" is in fact some kind of "meeting" - just a spontaneous one.

As far as I know, every instant-messaging-solution requires both parties to use to same (client-) software (which also requires both parties to have an account on the specifix platform.. e.g. Slack, WhatsAPP, Telegram, Signal etc..)

I am not aware of any way how someone may contact you via webex-chat without using a Webex-Account and either the Webex-Client or the Webex-Web-Interface...

In Webex-Teams (which has been renamed to "Webex" recently) you have Spaces and Teams which also contain Spaces (Team-Spaces?).

Each space shows tabs for "Messages", "People", "Content" and "Schedule".  Click on "Schedule".
Now you see a big black disc with a "+" -sign.
To the right of that is some text, something like "meeting-information for this space". (?)
Click on this text.
A small windows will pop open showing the Web-URL of this space.
Click on "copy" to transfer the whole, long) URL to your Clipboard to paste it somewhere...

(since webex still is not multilingual, I can provide screenshots only in german, sorry.)

Via this URL someone ("guest") may trigger a spontaneous meeting (with or without Video) with you in that specific space.
AFAIK this guest has no access to any information or content which has been shared in this space before.

If configured properly you should receive a notification, as soon as someone is waiting for you in any of your spaces.

You may test this yourself with a webbrowser.

Plan B may be to use your personal meeting room (PMR):
While scheduled or spontaneous meetings have a meeting-specific, unique URL the PMR has a fixed URL
(much like a real room has an address: Country, City, Street, Floor, Room-Number ).
You may also share the URL of your PMR and (if configured properly) you will receive notifiaction, as soon as a guest is waiting in your virtual lobby.

Problem with this solution:
like with a real room - even if its "your" room - as soon as someone knows the address (URL) an un-invited guest may try to join a meeting thats in progress right now...

Note: It may perhaps be necessary to check and configure some lobby- and notification - settings in the Webex Control Hub.