Tech giants Microsoft, Cisco and Zoom are furthering their partnership to improve network connectivity to cloud-based applications and interoperability that enables Cisco’s Webex video devices and Zoom video conferencing users to connect to Microsoft Teams meeting services.
Cisco said Webex will introduce an interop solution that will be certified as a Microsoft Cloud Video Interop offering to allow Webex Room devices and SIP video conferencing devices to join Teams meeting with a reliable interop experience.
The companies said they’re working on a new approach that would allow a direct guest join capability from one another’s video conferencing device to their respective meeting service web app. In other words, someone would be able to join a Teams meeting from a Webex Room Device and join a Cisco Webex Meeting from a Microsoft Teams Room.
The latest generations of meeting room devices that can run on embedded web technologies will support the new capabilities, Cisco said. The solutions are expected to be available in early 2020.
Both companies have a large customer base using each company’s products.
“We are listening and are working together to build these bridges to provide the best user experiences with the tools desired to get the job done,” Cisco said in an announcement.
The companies also said they’re partnering on an initiative to develop new capabilities to allow IT to seamlessly connect branch offices to Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN directly using Cisco’s SD-WAN hosted in Azure.
Cisco said its CD-WAN will also integrate more deeply with Microsoft Office 365 and be infused with application insights to enable it to manage optimal network paths more effectively and improve user experience.
“As organizations modernize their network with software-defined WAN to support cloud-based digital transformation, Microsoft is excited to announce a deeper partnership with Cisco to integrate Cisco SD-WAN, Azure Virtual WAN and Office 365,” said Yousef Khalidi, the corporate vice president of Microsoft Azure Networking, in a statement.
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Microsoft and Zoom also announced a similar integration which will allow Zoom Rooms to join Microsoft Teams meetings and vice versa, all without the purchase of additional licenses or third-party services.
“We believe in prioritizing the customer experience,” Zoom Chief Product Officer Oded Gal said it a statement. “By working with industry leaders such as Microsoft, Zoom is able to provide a simple meeting experience from any room or device and further deliver happiness to our customers and anyone else using Zoom solutions.”
Both partnerships will help eliminate the frustration companies often face when trying to interact with another company that’s using a different platform or service and the need to spend money on other programs.
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