Microsoft Teams And Cisco



Arraya Insights | November 19, 2020

  1. Though Cisco Webex also offers a free version, in comparison, Microsoft Teams offers far more generous features in the free version. Cisco Webex’s cheapest plan starts with $13.50 per user per month and calling service add-ons would be priced extra. When you must decide between Teams vs Webex with cost as a factor, Microsoft Teams wins hands.
  2. Microsoft Teams Microsoft partners with selected Session Border Controllers (SBC) vendors to certify that their SBCs work with Direct Routing. Microsoft works with each vendor to: Jointly work on the SIP interconnection protocols.
  3. See how you can use Cisco Webex Meetings within Microsoft Teams. Easily start or join your Webex Meetings directly from Microsoft Teams. See your full meeting list and schedule meetings on your.

Bring rich messaging and collaboration into your files with Cisco Webex Teams. Message in Cisco Webex Teams group and 1:1 spaces directly from your Microsoft Word, Excel, or Powerpoint file. The Cisco Webex Teams add-in allows you to create a group space or join your existing spaces. The Webex Teams add-in also provides an easy way to link a relevant space to a document. To use Microsoft Teams on Cisco room kit like the SX10, follow these instructions: Dial the SIP address provided in the Join with a video conferencing device section of the Teams meeting Enter the VTC conference ID when prompted Join the Teams meeting.

Are you a Cisco shop or a Microsoft shop? When it comes to collaboration, many organizations – Arraya included – reside somewhere in the middle. The appeal of a diversified, multi-vendor collaboration footprint isn’t lost on Cisco and Microsoft. Even though they are competitors at heart, the tech giants have a history of making their solutions play nicely together in order to help keep their customers connected and productive. That partnership was on full display earlier this year, although it may have gone overlooked due to coronavirus-necessitated lockdowns.

Late last year, Cisco and Microsoft pledged to move toward a new era of interoperability between their Webex and Teams solutions. Specifically, that idea would materialize in a couple of different forms. The companies planned to release a Microsoft Cloud Video Interop (CVI) certified solution that would allow Cisco Webex Room and SIP video conferencing devices to join Microsoft Teams meetings. Additionally, they also proposed creating a direct guest join pathway connecting their respective video conferencing devices with their meeting web apps. This pledge of greater interoperability has started coming to fruition with the release of a pair of solutions: the aforementioned CVI offering and another option called WebRTC.

Let’s take a closer look at these offerings and what they could mean for organizations pursuing reopening their facilities.

Microsoft CVI

First up is the Cloud Video Gateway (CVI-enabled) option. Those looking to connect to a Microsoft Teams meeting hosted internally, by their own company could do so using this pathway. It delivers a Cisco Webex-based experience to those making the connection, including multi-screen capabilities, flexible layouts, and wired/wireless bi-directional content sharing. In terms of devices supported, this route is travelable by all Cisco and SIP-capable video devices, registered either on premises or in the cloud. Users can connect via this path through one-button-to-push (OBTP) join which includes calendar service, direct dial-in complete with an interactive voice response (IVR) experience. Lastly, it is worth noting that this service will require additional licensing to make it operable.

WebRTC

Then, there’s the WebRTC application. This allows users to connect to any other type of Microsoft Teams meeting. Connecting via this method delivers a Microsoft Teams-oriented meeting experience, including a single-screen Teams layout with only the ability to be on the receiving end of shares. This pathway is accessible from Cisco Room Kits, Room series, Boards, and Desk Pro devices. These devices can be cloud connected. Once again, this method offers OBTP join with calendar service. Webex Room registration, which is part of Flex licensing, is required. As of right now, WebRTC is one way only as Microsoft Teams doesn’t support any browsers compatible with the tool. User can, however, add the Webex bot to their Teams client, which, in turn, will enable them to access a Webex Meeting.

Microsoft Teams And Cisco Meeting

Next Steps: Put the joint power of Microsoft and Cisco together for you

Hopefully, we’ll all be able to dust off our Cisco Room devices sooner rather than later and start putting these new abilities to work. In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about how your organization can benefit from the above advances or from Cisco and Microsoft’s ongoing partnership in general, our collaboration experts can help. Reach out any time to get the conversation started.

Visithttps://www.arrayasolutions.com/contact-us/ to connect with our team now.

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Use your Cisco Webex Rooms or other SIP devices to join CVI-enabled Microsoft Teams (typically your own company’s meetings). Table 1 outlines the features and benefits of the Webex Video Integration for Microsoft Teams within an organization.

Many modern workplaces today have a mix of different vendors across their collaboration and extended productivity portfolios, making interoperability and integrations crucial to enable and retain work productivity. Cisco Webex® Video Integration for Microsoft Teams is designed for customers that standardized on Cisco® Webex Rooms and other Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standard video devices and use Microsoft Teams for a meeting solution. It enables customers to connect these devices to Microsoft Teams without having to deploy a third-party interoperability solution.

Cisco Webex Video Integration for Microsoft Teams is a Microsoft Certified third-party solution based on Cloud Video Interop (CVI) for Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams And Cisco Integration

Table 1.Features and benefits

Microsoft Teams And Cisco Phone

Feature

Benefit

One-Button-To-Push (OBTP) join experience with Webex Calendar Service

The optimal user experience is provided with OBTP provided by Cisco Webex Hybrid Calendar Service. Easily and quickly join meetings by pressing a join button when it’s time to attend the meeting.

Direct dial or Interactive Voice Response (IVR) when OBTP is not available

If a device has not been OBTP-enabled, users can still join from their SIP device of choice via direct dial-in or IVR.

Webex supported layouts

Users enjoy an optimized user experience, with the ability to focus on what’s important to them by taking full advantage of multi-screen systems and flexible layout options.

Bi-directional content sharing (via physical connection or wireless for on-premises device(s)

Users can connect their laptop to a Webex Room device in order to share content during their meeting. With flexible screen layouts, users can decide on the best user experience to view someone else’s sharing.

Full roster list

Attendees gain full visibility into who joined the meeting, including any other Cisco Webex Rooms as well as Microsoft Teams devices.

Lobby management

Cisco Webex Video Integration for Microsoft Teams follows the Microsoft Teams lobby policy, simplifying management and increasing meeting security.

Webex Control Hub-based configuration

Streamline the admin experience via a centralized configuration.

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