Cisco has announced that its WebEx mobile collaboration portfolio has been expanded to a wider range of 3G smartphones. Users of BlackBerry, Nokia and Samsung devices will soon be able to use the audio and video conferencing platform.

As well as the conferencing capabilities, users of the BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8900, and BlackBerry Storm from RIM, the Nokia E71, Nokia E75, Nokia N97, and other Nokia Eseries and Nseries, and the Samsung Blackjack II will now be able to attend scheduled meetings and view presentations, applications and desktops with live annotations.

Users will need a 3G or combination of 2G and Wi-Fi connection to take advantage of the features and will be able to launch Cisco WebEx Meeting Center through the browser on their smartphones to receive integrated audio and web conferencing.

Cisco has also announced a new method for meeting hosts to invite attendees to meetings. By sending an SMS message, meeting hosts will now be able to invite a mobile attendee on any SMS-capable mobile phone to a meeting in progress and the attendee will simply reply 1 to easily join the audio portion of a meeting with Cisco WebEx Meeting Center, Training Center, and Event Center, the company said.

Waldemar Sakalus, vice president, Nokia, said: Both companies are focused on making mobile working as efficient as possible, which is especially important in the current climate. Cisco WebEx Meeting Center extends our joint solution portfolio in mobile collaboration, and we are delighted to make mobile meetings available for millions of people using Nokia smartphones.”