Microsoft Announces Cisco as a Certified Device Partner for Microsoft Teams Rooms

During Microsoft Ignite, CEO Satya Nadella announced that select Cisco devices are now certified for Microsoft Teams Rooms. This means users can join meetings from Cisco video endpoints while enjoying the native Microsoft Teams experience they know and love.

We've already covered the importance of video conferencing interoperability and the significant progress made in this area during the past few years. The shift to hybrid work forced meeting platform providers to welcome new integrations and capabilities, so employees could seamlessly join any meeting within a single interface. However, this latest announcement from Microsoft is the most significant breakthrough in video conferencing interoperability we've seen to date.  

Here's what you need to know.

Benefits of Microsoft-certified Cisco devices

Microsoft-certified Cisco devices unlock greater flexibility and improved experiences for the business, IT staff and employees. 

We see these three key advantages of this newly released interoperability: 

• Organizations can leverage their existing Cisco devices. For organizations considering implementing Microsoft Teams Rooms or standardizing on Microsoft Teams as their meeting platform, they can now leverage some of their existing Cisco devices to do so. This can result in significant cost and time savings from not having to purchase, implement and deploy new devices. According to the announcement, six of Cisco's most popular meeting devices and peripherals will be certified for Teams, with more to come. These include the Cisco Room Bar, Cisco Board Pro and Cisco Room Kit Pro in early 2023, followed by the Cisco Desk Pro and Cisco Room Navigator. The first certified peripheral is the Cisco Desk Camera 4K which will be available by the end of October 2022.
• Device management remains the same. IT staff will be relieved to hear that Microsoft-certified Cisco devices are managed and registered the same as they were before the announcement. Certified devices can be managed in the Teams Admin Center and the new Teams Rooms Pro Management Portal, as well as through the Cisco Control Hub.
• End users enjoy a streamlined experience. A key benefit of video conferencing interoperability is the ability for end users to collaborate within familiar meeting platforms. Users can now join Webex or Teams meetings on Cisco devices, reducing platform learning curves so employees can stay productive.

What does this mean for customers?

For years, customers have been asking for a simpler way to achieve interoperability between Cisco and Microsoft Teams Rooms. Finally, their requests have been answered. 

While there is still a lot to learn about Microsoft's announcement, it's important that customers start to think about how this may impact their business and collaboration roadmaps. For example, if you're evaluating compatible devices for Microsoft Teams Rooms, you can now add Cisco video endpoints to that list for a more simplified approach than cloud video interoperability (CVI).  

We anticipate more details to become available over the next few months as these two market leaders continue to collaborate. In the meantime, be sure to connect with WWT to understand this change and how you can potentially leverage Cisco and Microsoft in your meeting strategy.   

Connect with WWT today or watch this playlist to learn more about your options for video conferencing interoperability.