Cisco & Microsoft Announce Cloud Video Interop
Written by Iqbal Javaid, Cisilion’s Head of Collaboration
There’s been a lot of buzz in the collaboration space in recent weeks and the news that Microsoft and Cisco have worked together to simplify the interoperability between their leading collaboration platforms could not be more welcome.
This partnership will see Cisco Webex introduce an interop solution that will be certified as a Microsoft Cloud Video Interop (CVI), allowing Cisco Webex Room devices and SIP video conferencing devices to join Microsoft Teams meetings with a reliable interop experience.
So, what does this mean for you?
To put it simply: Choice. You are now completely free to choose a vendor for meeting room solutions without worrying about interoperability issues between Cisco and Microsoft.
Why is this interoperability important?
Regardless of whether you have invested in a Cisco or Microsoft solutions, you will now benefit from a reliable interop solution using your existing Cisco video conferencing devices to seamlessly join a Microsoft Teams meeting, or using Cisco Webex Meetings to join a Microsoft Teams Room.
Four Game-Changing Highlights:
1) Evolving the User Experience
Digital workplaces are more innovative and agile than ever before. People are at the forefront of shaping the way work is performed and they need the right collaboration technologies to get work done even faster. These tools can now work seamlessly together to enable teamwork that leads to better results, higher productivity and engaged employees.
2) Cloud Video Interop (CVI)
This partnership enables Cisco Webex video devices to connect to the Microsoft Teams meeting services. Cisco Webex will introduce an interop solution that will be certified as a Microsoft Cloud Video Interop (CVI) solution. This offer will allow Cisco Webex Room devices and SIP video conferencing devices to join Microsoft Teams meetings with a reliable interop experience.
3) Direct guest join for meeting room devices
Microsoft and Cisco will be enabling a direct guest join capability from their respective video conferencing device to the web app for the video meeting service. This capability will be supported on the latest generations of meeting room devices like Microsoft Teams Rooms and Cisco Webex Room devices, which can run embedded web technologies.
4) Direct Routing for Phone Systems
Direct Routing, a feature of Microsoft Phone System, allows clients to choose and then directly connect their telecom provider to Teams. At the heart of this solution is an essential component known as the Session Border Controller (SBC). It provides a wide variety of services which improve the experiences and security for users making calls.
Many clients also use Cisco Networking technology including SBCs and want both companies to provide joint solutions that do not require replacement of key infrastructure. Cisco has joined Microsoft’s certification program for Session Border Controllers, clients who already have a telecom provider and use Cisco SBCs will soon be able to deploy Direct Routing for dial tone in Teams without replacing infrastructure.
Essentially this gives you the freedom and flexibility of managing users simply across both platforms without having the requirement to invest in new infrastructure or even look at replacing the current telco provider.
Our interoperability Experience
As a systems-integrator with Cisco Gold Partner status with Master Collaboration Specialisation and Microsoft Gold Partner status with Gold Communications Competencies, Cisilion is perfectly positioned to help you integrate between these collaboration solutions.
Find out our experience deploying hybrid collaboration solutions with Lockton, Lewisham Southwark Collage and Bird & Bird.
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Your Next Steps:
I hope you’ve found this useful, if you’d like to get in touch to discuss any of the four key areas above, or have a wider conversation about Cisco and Microsoft integration, please fill in the form below and we’ll get back in touch.