A common misconception is that Cisco WebEx Room Kits don’t work with Microsoft Teams. But this isn’t true at all. In fact, Cisco WebEx Room Kits work great on the Microsoft Teams platform and should be seriously considered as an option for your conference rooms, regardless of your preferred conferencing software. 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.
If you’re in the situation where you’re using Microsoft Teams meetings at home but have Cisco video conferencing devices in the office, you’re probably looking for a way to make these work together.
In this post, we run through all your options for Microsoft Teams integration with Cisco video conferencing.
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Cisco Webex Meetings for Microsoft Teams
You can use the Cisco Webex Meetings app to schedule, start, or join a Cisco Webex meeting or Webex Personal Room right from within Microsoft Teams.
All you need to do is install the Cisco Webex Meetings app into Microsoft Teams. If you don’t have admin access, you’ll need to ask your Microsoft 365 administrator to add this for you.
Once you have the app, you will get a Webex tab in Microsoft Teams.
Once installed, you can view your upcoming meetings and join straight from the list.
You can also join meeting rooms or start a new meeting with a recent contact - all without leaving Teams.
When a meeting is about to start, you can even get a Webex notification in Teams.
This integration is great for getting the most of virtual meetings when you’re working away from the office.
How to join a Microsoft Teams meeting from a Cisco device
If you’re phasing out legacy Cisco equipment because you now use Teams, the process probably isn’t big bang.
If you’re migrating users and rooms from one platform to another, there will be an overlap period where both are in play.
At this point, it’s important to ensure your new Microsoft 365 software integrates with your existing Cisco equipment.
The below endpoints can't join Teams meetings without native cloud video interop to bridge the connection.
OneMeeting provides just that.
Once installed, here’s how you can join a Microsoft Teams meeting from Cisco devices:
Using the Cisco DX80 with Microsoft Teams
To use Microsoft Teams on Cisco room kit like the DX80, 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
Using the Cisco SX10 with Microsoft Teams
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
Joining Microsoft Teams meetings from any Cisco device
In fact, for OneMeeting customers, joining a Teams meeting from any Cisco devices is as simple as the two examples above.
- 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
Can Webex Teams communicate with Microsoft Teams?
The Webex portfolio used to be split to include Webex Teams and Webex Meetings. Cisco has now combined the two apps to make a single Webex app for both meetings and messaging.
Webex users who choose to stay in Webex for their messaging will likely be using Webex Teams instead of Webex Meetings.
If you’re a Teams user and you need to communicate with a colleague or external contact in Webex, you have a few options.
Microsoft Teams and Webex message interop
If you have one department that uses Webex and another who uses Microsoft Teams, you can enable message interop between the two platforms.
This means you can send messages from Webex to Microsoft Teams.
All you need to do is install Mio in the background to get this set up.
For example, if your sales team uses Webex because they always used Webex Meetings in the past, they can now chat with your customer service team who use Microsoft Teams.
You can use message interop internally for both direct messaging and working in channels.
Microsoft Teams and Webex external federation
If you need to message from Microsoft Teams to an external contact - like a contractor or partner - you can do this by installing a universal channel.
You’ll need to be a Microsoft admin - or get your Microsoft admin to authorise the app - so you can install the universal channels app in the background.
Once installed, you create a new channel in Microsoft Teams and send a link to your external contact who uses Webex.
Once they join, you’ve created a channel across platform for you both to collaborate in.
Webex Calling in Microsoft Teams
Cisco Webex also provides a calling platform since its acquisition of BroadSoft in 2018.
While adding a calling platform to Cisco’s portfolio, it also means any BroadSoft customers who want to use Microsoft Teams must integrate the two.
If you want to use Webex Calling from Microsoft Teams, you need to download the Webex call app for Microsoft Teams.
Once installed, when your users start an external call from Microsoft Teams, it will use the Webex calling platform.
To start this process:
- Check all users who need this integration are verified in the Webex Control Hub
- Make sure they are registered to Cisco Webex Calling or in your Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM)
- Install the Webex app for each user you need to use Webex Calling
- Update phone numbers for users in the Azure Active Directory (AD)
- If you don’t already, change your permission policies to allow third-party apps
- Then, in the Microsoft Teams Admin Center, click Teams Apps then Manage Apps
- Search for Webex Call and change to Allow
Next time your users log in, they will be using the Webex Calling platform even when they start an external call from Microsoft Teams.
While this sounds great on the surface, it does open up a new window when you dial.
If you’ve moved to Microsoft Teams to have all your communications in one place, this is a little beside the point.
Meetings between Webex and Microsoft Teams
To facilitate meetings between Webex users and Microsoft Teams users, OneMeeting provides a one-touch join experience regardless of the platform you’re using.
When you configure OneMeeting in the background, meeting participants on either Webex or Microsoft Teams can join the same meeting using a unique URL.
When you click the meeting URL, you can join from whichever meeting app you prefer - Webex or Microsoft Teams.
Joining Webex meetings from Microsoft Teams in the office
OneMeeting works for both remote meetings and in-person meetings. You don’t even have to change video devices. OneMeeting allows you to join any meeting from any device.
Picture the scene:
- You’ve rolled out virtual meeting rooms to your users so they could all work from home during the pandemic.
- You already had video conferencing equipment installed in your meeting rooms and boardrooms.
- Because you needed the quickest solution to work from home, your virtual meeting rooms and existing video conferencing system in your office aren’t the same.
- People are starting to use the office again but your video platforms don’t work with each other.
If your scenario is something like this, you’re not alone.
Sandwiched between the millions of Microsoft Teams users are millions of users with other video conferencing services.
In your company, this could be hundreds or thousands. Even if it’s a handful, it’s an issue you shouldn’t have to deal with.
And with OneMeeting, you don’t need to.
Video interoperability
OneMeeting uses Pexip’s video interoperability service to connect your legacy kit in the office with Microsoft Teams at home.
By connecting your video platforms together, you create one-click join experience for your meeting participants.
Pexip apps and APIs creates a bridge between any SIP or H323 video conferencing system and the Microsoft cloud.
Taking Pexip apps one step further, OneMeeting is unique in that it takes the Microsoft Teams Cloud Video Interop (CVI) and makes your experience Microsoft Teams first.
In addition, you benefit from OneMeeting providing:
- A vendor-agnostic approach
- Full customisation of the native Microsoft Teams meeting invitation
- Full customisation and branding of the OneMeeting service from your video conferencing rooms
- Reporting via PowerBI
This means your users get a consistent experience regardless of the meeting room they join from. Less switching between meeting apps means happier users, less administration, and a slicker experience.
OneMeeting enables users to share and collaborate from any in-room video conferencing system, as well as from their desktop or smartphone.
Once installed, you remove the scheduling conflicts, awkward user experiences, and integration issues.
You can view the OneMeeting technical documentation here.
The remote working trend is shifting companies’ digital work hub from email to team collaboration applications. Increasingly employees rely on them as their primary means of engaging with their co-workers to manage tasks and workflows.
Team collaboration is rapidly extending beyond enterprise boundaries as companies look to embrace team apps to improve engagement with partners, suppliers, and customers.
In April 2020, Cisco announced a new Call App for Microsoft Teams. The app launches call through the Cisco voice and video services, even when you click-to-call in Microsoft Teams. As a result, users can join a Microsoft Teams meeting from a Cisco Webex Room Device and join a Cisco Webex Meeting from a Microsoft Teams Room.
Below is a list of frequently asked questions about Cisco Webex Meetings within Microsoft Teams.
Q: How can I use the Cisco Webex Meetings for a Team Meeting?
You can hold meetings with your team on Microsoft Teams with Cisco Webex Meetings after you or a member of your team has installed the Webex bot on your Microsoft Team. For a team meeting, only one member of the team needs to install the app. To install the Cisco Webex app, go to Teams on your Microsoft Teams then click on Manage Teams. Search for Cisco Webex Meetings App in the app store and then install it.
However, before you can set up Microsoft Teams for Cisco Webex Meetings, your Cisco Webex site administrator must first configure Cisco Webex either from the Control Hub or site administration as the case may be. As an administrator, you must link the users matching the Webex account with that of their Office 365 account. Similarly, the Microsoft Office 365 administrator must accept or decline permission to add the Cisco Webex Meeting.
Q: What are the permissions needed to use Cisco Webex Meetings in Microsoft Teams?
To have a seamless integration of Cisco Webex Meetings into Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Office 365 will require you to accept or decline some of the following permissions from Cisco Webex :
- Read user calendar
- Read and write calendar in all mailboxes
- Maintain access to data you have given it access to
- Read all groups
- Read all users’ full profiles
- Read contacts in all mailboxes
- Read directory data
Q: How can I join the Cisco Webex Meetings from Microsoft Teams?
You can join a Cisco Webex Meetings from the Command Box in the Webex Tab and accepting the join prompt sent via message extension.
To join a Cisco Webex Meetings through Webex Tab, simply click on the Upcoming Meetings and join the scheduled meeting. You can also use both the meeting number from the email invitation sent to you or Personal room ID from the Personal Room URL to join a meeting.
On the Command Box located at the top of Microsoft Teams, enter @Cisco Webex Meeting and then enter the meeting number and then select join.
Q: What is the maximum number of participants that Cisco Webex Meetings in Microsoft Teams can hold?
Microsoft Teams can currently accommodate 250 participants in a meeting. However, it plans to expand the maximum number of attendees to 1000, while Webex already has a ceiling of 1000 attendees.
Q: How do I schedule Cisco Webex Meetings in Microsoft Teams?
Webex Microsoft Teams Zoom
You can schedule a meeting directly from your Microsoft Teams workspace with Webex Tab. You can also schedule a meeting on a channel or a private chat with Webex Tab.
To schedule a meeting in a channel, select Webex Tab from the channel and choose the schedule. Choose the meeting type which is between Cisco Webex Meetings and Webex personal Room meeting. A channel meeting is open to everyone in the channel.
Webex Meeting Vs Microsoft Teams
For a private meeting, select the Webex Tab in a private chat with the Cisco Webex Meetings bot. Private meetings are only for invited individuals and not all the team members.
For both private and channel meetings, you can select the frequency of your meeting when scheduling. You can choose whether you want a daily, weekly, monthly, or annual meeting.
You can also use a command @Cisco Webex Meetings on the Cisco Webex meeting App to share a meeting link from your Personal Room with your participants or the join button if you do not have a Personal Room. Use the help command on your app if you are not sure of the appropriate command.
Q: How do I add participants to a meeting?
You can add attendees as you schedule your meeting by adding the email address of the participants. Simply select “invite all channel members” in the Attendees box if you want to invite everyone in your Team. To invite only some participants, enter the email address of the people you want to invite.
To make it easy to add participants’ email addresses, the ‘look ahead’ feature of Cisco Webex lets you add attendees by typing the first three letters of their email addresses and the rest will auto-fill. If more than one person’s email address starts with the same first three letters, you will find the suggestion of all the participants.
Q: Will I know if a scheduled meeting has started?
Webex Teams Microsoft Outlook Integration
Yes. You will get notified five minutes before your scheduled meeting will start from your Cisco Webex app. You can also check the ‘Upcoming Meetings’ list to know if a scheduled meeting has started, how long it has been going on, and the number of participants who have joined.
Q: What do I do if I am not ready to join a meeting?
When notified of a meeting from your Cisco Webex device, you can hit snooze or join the meeting immediately. If you are not ready to join a meeting, you can simply continue to snooze it until you are ready.
Q: How do I record a meeting?
You can record your meeting to listen to it later in case you miss any part of the meeting. As a participant in an ongoing video meeting, you can record a meeting by tapping the ellipses (…) menu on the screen.
Q: Will others know if I record a meeting?
The meeting participants will be notified of the recording when the meeting ends with the topic of the meeting, date, time, duration, and a play button. At the end of the meeting, you can play and share your recordings with other participants in the channel or private chat. You can go back and listen to the recordings from the last ten days on the Webex sites on the right side of the Webex Tab as saved on the cloud.
Q: Can I share content from Microsoft Teams with Cisco Webex Meetings participants?
Both the Cisco Webex Meeting and Microsoft Teams support content sharing in a meeting. As an active speaker in a meeting, you can share your screen and use digital whiteboarding to buttress your point in a meeting. Using a dual-screen solution, you can see the active speaker on one side and the shared content on the other. You can share content bi-directionally from Microsoft Teams to Webex Meeting during a meeting.
However, you cannot chat or share direct messages from the native app.
Q: Can I use Microsoft Team’s feature in Cisco Webex Meetings?
You can also use some of the Microsoft Teams features in Cisco Webex Meetings, like screen sharing, digital whiteboard, and virtual background during video conferences. However, the Cisco Webex Meetings app for Microsoft Teams does not support hybrid Microsoft Exchange mailboxes.
The interoperability between the Cisco Webex Meeting and Microsoft Teams allows users to join Cisco Webex Meetings from Microsoft Teams if invited. Cisco Webex users can also join Microsoft Teams room’s meeting through their Cisco Webex devices.
Q: Can I use my mobile device for Cisco – Microsoft meetings?
Yes, you can use any mobile device that supports the Webex Meeting app to start, schedule, and join Microsoft Teams meetings. Cisco Webex Meetings supports mobile devices such as Touch 10, iPads, iPhones, Huawei, Xiaomi, and the new Samsung series. You can download and install the Cisco Webex Meetings app, accept the permission, and join a scheduled meeting chat with a Microsoft Team user. Your mobile device must be at least 3G compatible to support Webex -Teams meetings.
Q: How secure is the Cisco Webex Meetings within Microsoft Teams?
Microsoft Teams has end-to-end encryption. Cisco Webex Meetings in Microsoft Teams can take advantage of the Azure AD integration in Microsoft Teams.
Q: Which is better, Cisco Webex Meetings or Microsoft Teams?
The choice between Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex Meetings is a difficult one. Although the two collaboration platforms have similar features, they also have distinct differences. It depends on the need of your organization.
The app integrations built into the Microsoft Teams makes it the best choice for collaboration. But Cisco Webex Meetings offers better conferencing solutions if your company uses Cisco voice and video devices & services. Microsoft Teams has more extensive features in its free plan than Cisco Webex Meetings. Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex Meetings have different levels of security but Webex provides better end-users control when it comes to management than Microsoft Teams.
You need to consider what your company prioritizes. You can compare the cost, security, and telephony extensions as well as the main features of both platforms to determine your choice.
Q: Can Microsoft Teams replace Cisco Webex Meetings?
Choosing Microsoft Teams or Cisco Webex depends on your enterprise needs. Both Microsoft and Cisco are focused on bringing enterprise solutions. However, while Cisco Cisco Webex Meetings can take advantage of Cisco’s hardware solution to deliver superior video conferencing experience to its users, Microsoft can build on its Office 365 with Teams to ensure users have seamless communication and collaboration.
Q: What is the difference between Cisco Webex Meetings and Cisco Webex Teams?
Webex Microsoft Teams Integration
Cisco Webex Meetings is a cloud-based solution for online video-conferencing and meeting while Cisco Webex Teams is a cloud-based collaboration app for teamwork. Features like meetings, group messaging, file sharing, and screen sharing are inclusive in Cisco Webex Teams.
Q: How can I use Microsoft Teams to call into a Cisco Webex Meeting?
Webex Microsoft Teams Comparison
The integration of Microsoft Teams within the Cisco Webex Meeting does not allow Microsoft Teams users to call directly into a Cisco Webex Meetings session unless invited to join the meeting.