• by Thom Forbes  @tforbes, September 1, 2015

Apple and Cisco are working together to pave a “fast lane” for iOS devices in the corporate world — an announcement sure to be hailed by those looking to improve the integration of “seamless” video-conferencing with their bosses into the daypart formerly known as “down time.”

“Cisco networks and iOS devices will be optimized so that they work together more efficiently and reliably with the goal of providing users with even greater performance,” according to a joint news release yesterday. Cisco executive chairman John Chambers made the announcement during a “surprise” appearance with Apple CEO Tim Cook at Cisco’s annual sales meeting in Las Vegas. 

The collaboration “is aimed at helping Apple’s mobile devices communicate more effectively on corporate networks where Cisco gear is widely used, the companies said,” write Don Clark and Daisuke Wakabayashi for the Wall Street Journal. “They also plan to jointly work on technology to help workers with iPhones and iPads better exploit Cisco’s collaboration products, including its video- and web-conferencing services.”

Chambers points out in the release that “95% of companies in the Fortune 500 count on Cisco Collaboration and Cisco networks to help their teams be more productive,” while Apple has, of course, built its devoted following on the consumer side.

“The deal reflects a recognition that mobile devices and apps are replacing traditional IT in many enterprises. About 30% of voice calls in business today are mobile, Cisco says,” writes Stephen Lawson for IDG News Service.

“An Apple partnership is one way Cisco could try to convince more businesses to buy its other products. For Apple, it’s just another way to make a bigger push into businesses,” writesFortune’s Jonathan Vanian, pointing out that Apple has partnered with IBM to market mobile devices and business apps. “Since then, the two companies have been rolling out a steady stream of apps that target specific industries, like an Apple Watch app for nurses and another for police officers,” Vanian reports.

Apple and Cisco engineers have been collaborating for 10 months, and salespeople will go on sales calls together, according to Rowan Trollope, SVP and GM of Cisco's collaboration technology group. “This is a major strategic partnership, something that neither
company has done before. We have a shared vision of a completely seamless experience,” he said, according to Bloomberg’s Peter Burrows.

“For example, iPhone users could click on a calendar appointment, and immediately start a videoconference on Cisco’s Spark chat application, instead of having to pull up each separately,” Burrows writes. “IPhone users’ personal contacts can be integrated with directories on their desk phones. And since workers are increasingly mobile, calls from work colleagues would automatically ring on both the desk phone and iPhone.”

USA Today’s Jon Swartz points out that “one impetus” for Apple to network with Cisco is the decline in iPad sales over six straight quarters — and it’s not getting better on its own. “Revenue from iPads has plummeted 24% in the nine months, ended June 27,” he writes. “Worldwide smartphone sales, meanwhile, have saturated, resulting in the slowest rate of growth since 2013, according to market researcher Gartner.”

“A key part of the companies' plan is to bring iPhone business calls onto corporate networks, where they can be tracked and logged the way calls from desk phones are now for purposes like security and regulatory compliance. This kind of integration hasn't been possible before,” according to Trollope, IDG’s Lawson reports. “Users can better count on good connections over a private network than on a typical cellular network, too, he said, though the companies also plan to bring benefits to carrier networks.”

“It's unclear how much either company will benefit from the agreement, in part because the two released few details about their arrangement,” observes Troy Wolverton in the San Jose Mercury News. “They didn't disclose how long the partnership will last, whether there will be any kind of financial arrangement between them, or any sales goals.”

“Everyone has these partnerships,” IDC analyst Will Stofega tells Wolverton. “Whether they are material is up for debate.”

What’s not up for debate is that they be seamless.