8.4 Configuring Webex Cloud Meetings
Key Takeaways
Webex Meetings are delivered from sites managed in Control Hub under Services > Meeting > Sites, where Common Settings control security, Personal Rooms, session types, and site options.
The site setting 'All meetings must have a password' is enabled by default and Cisco strongly recommends keeping it, alongside options such as requiring sign-in and keeping meetings unlisted.
Personal Rooms are enabled per site and per user and can lock automatically a chosen number of minutes after the meeting starts, with 0 locking the room at the start.
The lobby, enabled by default, holds participants such as unverified guests until the host admits them, and Cisco recommends scheduled meetings for sensitive content.
Hosts need a meeting license on the site; SIP video devices registered to Unified CM join by dialing the meeting's SIP URI through Expressway, and Hybrid Calendar can push a one-button join.
8.4 Configuring Webex Cloud Meetings
Blueprint objective 5.5 is Configure cloud meetings. Webex Meetings are delivered from a Webex site, such as company.webex.com, and the site's settings decide how secure meetings are, which features hosts get, and how people and video devices join. In current organizations these settings live in Control Hub, so learn where they are and what the important defaults mean.
1. Sites, Licenses, and Administrators
- Sites: A site is the meeting service URL. Large organizations may run several sites, for example one per region. Sites are managed in Control Hub under Services > Meeting > Sites; Cisco has moved most controls from the older Site Administration tool into Control Hub, including license assignment, session types, tracking codes, and site configuration.
- Host licenses: A user needs a meeting license on a site to host meetings there. Attendees need no license. License templates (Section 8.1) can assign meeting licenses automatically.
- Administrators: Full administrators automatically have site administrator rights. Large organizations can delegate per site by assigning Webex site full, user, or read-only administrator roles.
2. Site-Wide Settings
Open a site and select Settings. The Common Settings area holds the controls most often tested:
| Setting area | Important options | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Security | All meetings must have a password; exclude the password from invitations; all meetings must be unlisted; require sign-in before site access; automatically end inactive meetings | All meetings must have a password is enabled by default, and Cisco strongly recommends leaving it on |
| Personal Meeting Room | Enable Personal Room (then on or off per user); allow hosts to start Personal Room meetings from the phone; let hosts change their Personal Room URL; how Personal Room IDs are generated | Personal Room security can automatically lock the room a chosen number of minutes after the meeting starts (0 locks it at the start) |
| Session types | Feature sets (for example, attendee limits and allowed features) assigned to hosts | Used to give different groups different capabilities |
| Site options | Default landing page; pages shown to hosts and attendees when a meeting ends | Cosmetic but often configured at rollout |
The lobby: The lobby is enabled by default. When a meeting is locked, or when the site's rules say a user must wait, participants wait in the lobby until the host admits them. Guests who have not signed in (unverified users) are the group most often kept in the lobby, so this setting is the main defense against uninvited attendees. Cisco's secure-meeting guidance recommends scheduled meetings (one-time meeting numbers with passwords) for sensitive content, and automatic locking for Personal Rooms, which keep the same address for every meeting.
3. Per-User Settings
Under Management > Users, select a user and open Meetings to:
- Choose the site and assign the host license.
- Grant user privileges such as a Personal Room.
- Use the advanced settings for items such as the user's Personal Room URL.
A Personal Room is convenient (the same link every time) but less private than a scheduled meeting, so many organizations enable automatic locking and lobby rules for Personal Rooms while leaving scheduled meetings for confidential sessions.
4. Joining from Video Devices and Calendars
- Webex-registered devices (Room, Desk, and Board Series) join Webex meetings natively.
- SIP video devices registered to Unified CM join by dialing the meeting's SIP URI, for example
123456789@company.webex.com. Unified CM sends the call to Expressway-C, and Expressway-E reaches Webex across the internet (Business-to-Business calling, Section 2.1). - Hybrid Calendar (Section 10.2) reads meeting invitations and pushes a One Button to Push join button to room devices five minutes before the meeting.
- Audio: Site audio settings control call-in numbers and callback; Webex Edge Audio can route call-in and callback traffic through the customer's own Unified CM and Expressway instead of the public telephone network.
5. Recordings and Data
Site and user settings control whether hosts can record meetings to the Webex cloud and how long recordings are kept. Meeting transcripts and recordings are subject to the same compliance tools as messaging content (retention, legal hold, and eDiscovery in Section 8.1), so check those policies before turning recording on for everyone.
6. Troubleshooting Common Meeting Issues
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Attendees wait in the lobby even when the host is present | The meeting is locked, or site rules keep unverified users in the lobby | Personal Room auto-lock minutes and the site's lobby and security settings |
| A user cannot schedule meetings | No host license on that site, or the wrong site selected | The user's Meetings page in Control Hub |
| A Unified CM room system cannot join by SIP URI | No route from Unified CM to Expressway for the webex.com domain, or Expressway-E cannot reach Webex | SIP route pattern for the domain, Expressway search rules and DNS zone |
| Participants report poor quality | Network loss or jitter on the participant's path | Control Hub Troubleshooting for the meeting (Section 8.1) |
A Webex site administrator wants every Personal Room meeting to lock automatically five minutes after it starts, so that late arrivals wait in the lobby. Where is this configured?
In Organization Settings > External Communication, by blocking unverified domains.
On each user's Calling page in Control Hub, under call forwarding and call handling.
In Control Hub, in the Webex site's Personal Meeting Room settings under Common Settings.
In the Hybrid Calendar service settings that apply to each user's calendar mailbox.
Which Webex site security setting is enabled by default, and which does Cisco strongly recommend leaving enabled?
Display all meetings on the site calendar
Allow attendees to bypass the lobby
Join before host for all meetings
All meetings must have a password
A Cisco Room Kit registered to Unified CM must join a Webex meeting that has the meeting number 123456789 on the company.webex.com site. How does it join?
It dials 123456789@company.webex.com; Unified CM routes the URI to Expressway-C, and Expressway-E connects it to Webex.
It joins through Directory Connector, which forwards the meeting number to the registered device.
It must first be re-registered to Webex Calling, because devices registered to Unified CM can never join Webex meetings.
It dials the meeting number through the PSTN gateway as an audio-only call to the site's call-in number.
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