Why Microsoft and Cisco is a great combination. Here’s why Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex make for a perfect interoperability combination. With Microsoft Teams, the users can avail Microsoft Licenses, Skype for Business features, and integrate natively with Office 365 features; Given Cisco’s legacy, users get access to hardware like Cisco Webex boards, VoIP handsets, and telepresence. Microsoft Teams - Chat-based workspace in Office 365. Webex - Connect with anyone, anywhere, any time.

Sign in to Webex Teams for group chat, video calling, and sharing documents with your team. It's all backed by Cisco security and reliability. By enabling WebRTC in Control Hub, Webex devices and participants with devices in personal mode invited to a Microsoft Teams meeting can join the meeting directly from their devices with One Button to Push (OBTP). How to enable Microsoft Teams WebRTC Calling: The Hybrid Calendar needs to be on. This function will be turned on when you register. User can, however, add the Webex bot to their Teams client, which, in turn, will enable them to access a Webex 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.

Arraya Insights | November 19, 2020

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.

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.

Comment on this and all of our posts on: LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

Follow us to stay up to date on our industry insights and unique IT learning opportunities.

Collaboration, efficiency, and transparency are essential to the modern workplace experience. And since working from home has become the new normal in today’s business landscape, technology is bridging the gap to ensure employees stay more connected and engaged than ever.

Thankfully, there are plenty of collaboration platforms to choose from, whether you’re focused on communication or project management. However, the ones that have stood the test of time come from two of the world’s top tech heavyweights—Cisco and Microsoft.

From large feature sets to tiered pricing plans, each tool has something to bring to the table. In this article, we will explore how both platforms compare based on key features, what the future of these tools holds in store, and how to select the right one for your business.

Cisco Webex In Microsoft Teams

Get ready for the ultimate showdown of Microsoft Teams vs. Cisco Webex.

Microsoft Teams vs. Cisco Webex Teams Features and Capabilities

When searching for a new digital workspace solution, you want it to be robust and feature-rich. The more benefits you can derive from a single application, the better. Let’s take a look at some of the basic features that Cisco Webex and Microsoft Teams offer.

Microsoft Teams

Group Conversation: In Microsoft Teams, users can organize chats according to groups of people or topics. These conversations live in the application and are not automatically deleted once you log out. You can access your history from the previous day, week, or month, plus images, files, links, emojis, and GIFs will be retained as well.

Webex In Microsoft Teams Meeting

Meetings: The consensus regarding Microsoft’s meetings is that they’re simple and intuitive. You can either instantly launch meetings or schedule them out for a later time. Microsoft Teams also lets you customize your backgroundand add live captions during meetings.

Webex Tab In Microsoft Teams

File-Sharing: Microsoft Teams allows you to share, save, and organize files your way. Users can even work collaboratively on Word documents or PowerPoint presentations right from inside the application. What’s more, you can share files in several locations like Chat, Teams, and Meetings.

Integrations: By supporting more than 250 third-party integrations like ServiceNow, Trello, Polly, and Jira, Microsoft Teams can help boost your staff’s productivity and simplify workflows.

Video Conferencing: Microsoft offers video conferencing for both mobile and desktop users, supporting up to 250 participants. However, integrating Microsoft Teams with non-Teams room systems does require installing additional software from partners such as BlueJeans, Pexip, or Poly.

Audio Conferencing: With Microsoft Teams’ audio conferencing services, attendees can join meetings using their smartphones instead of the Teams app on desktop or mobile. These meetings also include a dial-in number, making it easier for mobile users and those with spotty internet connections.

Cisco Webex

Group Conversation: Similar to Microsoft Teams, you can have ongoing conversations categorized under various topics or agendas in Cisco Webex. These conversations are saved in the application and can be referred to later.

Meetings: With Webex Meetings, you can either communicate one-on-one or in groups, with users inside or outside