When first looking at the Cisco CIUS, it’s easy to be underwhelmed. Contrasted with the lightweight Samsung Galaxy Tab, the CIUS is small, chunky, and heavy. But after getting connected to our back end systems and operating it for a week, I am very impressed.
The email, calendar, and contact applications are excellent. I have mine hooked into our Exchange server, and everything works perfectly. Emails are simple to read, and the interface layout is superior. All the meetings on my calendar show up the same as they do on my Outlook client, with no additional meetings, no deleted meetings, and no puzzling design.
Contacts are great. There is a fast search feature and all my Google contacts are sitting right there alongside my Exchange contacts. What is really cool is that the contacts are incorporated into the phone application, which is where the Cisco CIUS really starts to differentiate itself from other Android gadgets.
The Cisco CIUS is a complete Cisco phone. I have mine connected to a Plantronics bluetooth headset, and have been using it from home. I just validated the built-in Cisco AnyConnect client to our VPN service, and it pulled its profile from the Cisco Communications Manager server. The voice quality is also really good – Cisco must have set some kind of processing precedence on the phone application.
It is of course a full 720p HD video conferencing endpoint as well. Outside callers, EX90 users, and Movi client users can reach me by dialing either my internal extension, or my URI, which is just my telephone number at my domain. I have also tried video calls over a 4G Verizon mobile hotspot connection. When utilizing that, the video codec adapts to the lesser bandwidth Standard Definition immediately. Even when the video pixellates slightly, the voice stream on the video call is smooth without distortion.
The Jabber and Webex clients come installed on the Cisco CIUS. They pulled up my accounts without any problem. The Jabber client is great for Instant Messaging and Presence now, and since everyone at my workplace uses Webex Connect, it is enjoyable to have this alternate communications path. Both clients are pretty basic for now, and I am excited for the improvements that are coming that will integrate voice and video into them.
The VMware View virtual desktop client is unexpectedly good. I anticipated that it would be hard to use on a 7″ tablet, but it’s as easy to use as the same client on the Samsung Galaxy Tab. I think the touchscreen is more sensitive or accurate on the CIUS, but I was able to simply review a couple different applications for information that I desired.
I have not used any games on this tablet yet, merely because this tablet is relevant to business. The Cisco design team evidently put some time and effort into programming the business applications to work well. I know there is a lot of security stuff and app store control as well, but that has no affect on usability.
The improvements I would prefer to see involve charging and battery life. The battery life is insufficient, but part of that is because the tablet seems to be running all the time! If I don’t physically push the power button it will gladly chug away and drain the battery in a few hours. I would also like to see some little LED light up when the tablet is being charged.
The Cisco CIUS tablet is a great device. Although the specs are basic, those don’t represent the true story about this tablet. What really sets this device above and beyond any other tablet on the market is the rock solid implementation of the Cisco phone and the Cisco TelePresence video. All those applications put together have made this my preferred choice for the device that I reach for in my bag when I need to take care of business.
Get more information and the Cisco CIUS price from specialists in Cisco voice, video, mobility, and virtualization.
