Webex Calling Microsoft Teams

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Microsoft Teams and Webex Teams also utilize AI and machine learning to enable more intelligent, contextual collaboration that includes features like language translation and the ability to easily learn about meeting participants. Cisco Calling integrations for Webex and Jabber in the Microsoft Teams app store When you have added the Cisco calling integration, you can launch a Webex Teams or Cisco Jabber call directly from your messaging app. Cisco Webex Teams vs. Microsoft Teams What is Cisco Webex Teams. Cisco Webex Teams packs messaging, file sharing, video meetings, white boarding, calling, and other tools to help increase workplace productivity. Webex Teams provides a complete collaboration experience by allowing teams to create, meet, message, make calls, and share in one.

  1. Webex Calling is a complete enterprise-grade cloud calling and team collaboration solution offered through a flexible subscription model. With centralized administration, security, and reliability you can trust, we keep the Webex Cloud always on and always up to date so you can focus on your business.
  2. Figuring out how to use Microsoft Teams with Cisco Webex can be complicated. To begin to combat this, Cisco introduced integration between Webex and Office 365. While this means you can access tools like PowerPoint and Word from your Cisco stack, there is no support available for Teams. You can, however, use Webex Meetings in Microsoft Teams.
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Microsoft Teams Rooms devices support a one-touch experience for joining third-party online meetings, also referred to as Direct guest join. When enabled, you can use a Teams Rooms device to join meetings hosted on Cisco WebEx and Zoom just as easily as you can join meetings hosted in Microsoft Teams.

Before you can join third-party meetings from a Teams Rooms device, you need to do the following:

  1. Configure the Teams Rooms device's Exchange Online room mailbox to process invites for third-party meetings.
  2. Make sure your organization doesn't have any policies that would prevent you from connecting to third-party meeting services.
  3. Configure your Teams Rooms devices to allow third-party meetings.

The following sections show you how to do each of these steps.

Step 1: Allow calendar invite processing for third-party meetings

The first thing you need to do to enable a one-touch join experience from a Team Rooms device is set the calendar processing rules for the device's Exchange Online room mailbox. The room mailbox needs to allow external meetings and keep the message body and subject so it can see the URL needed to join the third-party meeting. To set these room mailbox options using the Set-CalendarProcessing cmdlet, do the following:

  1. Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell. For more information, see Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell with Basic authentication or Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell using multi-factor authentication, depending on your authentication method.

  2. Get the User Principal Name (UPN) of the room mailbox if you don't know it by running the following command:

  3. Find the name of the room mailbox associated with your Teams Rooms device and make note of its UPN.

  4. After you find the room mailbox's UPN, run the following command. Replace with the room mailbox's UPN:

Learn more about Exchange Online PowerShell.

Step 2: Configure Office 365 Threat Protection and link rewrite

To enable the one-touch join experience, meeting join link information from the third-party meeting needs to be present and readable in the meeting invite. If your organization uses the Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection Safe Links feature, or if you use a third-party solution that scans all incoming and outgoing URLs for threats, it may change the meeting join URLs and make the meeting unrecognizable by the Teams Rooms device. To make sure this doesn't happen, you need to add the third-party meeting service's URLs to the ATP Safe Links 'do not rewrite' list or the third-party URL rewrite exception list.

To add third-party meeting service URLs to the ATP Safe Links 'do not rewrite' list, follow the steps in Set up a custom do-not-rewrite URLs list using ATP Safe Links. If you use a third-party solution, refer to the instructions for that solution to add URLs to its URL rewrite exception list.

Here are some example entries that you may need to add to your ATP Safe Links 'do not rewrite' list or third-party URL rewrite exception list:

  • Cisco WebEx*.webex.com*
  • Zoom*.zoom.us*, *.zoom.com*, *.zoomgov.com*

For a complete list of URLs to add to your ATP Safe Links 'do not rewrite' list or third-party URL rewrite exception list, contact the third-party meeting service provider you want to accept meeting invites from.

Caution

Only add URLs that you trust to your ATP Safe Links 'do not rewrite' list or third-party URL rewrite exception list.

Teams

Step 3: Enable third-party meetings on device

The last step you need to do is allow each Teams Rooms device to join third-party meetings. Third-party meetings require a username and email address to join them. If the username and email address that you need to use is different than the device's room mailbox, you need to add them to your device. You can do this in the device settings or in the XML config file.

Use device settings

To configure the Teams Rooms device using its touchscreen, do the following:

  1. On the Microsoft Teams Rooms device, select More ....
  2. Select Settings, and then enter the device administrator username and password.
  3. Go to the Meetings tab and select Cisco WebEx, Zoom, or both.
  4. If you want to join meetings with the username and email address associated with the room mailbox, select Join with room info.
  5. If you want to join meetings with an alternate username and email address, select Join with custom info and enter username and email address you'd like to use.
  6. Select Save and exit. Your device will restart.

Use the SkypeSettings.xml configuration file

The following settings can be added to the SkypeSettings.xml file located in C:UsersSkypeAppDataLocalPackagesMicrosoft.SkypeRoomSystem_8wekyb3d8bbweLocalState. For more information about the SkypeSettings.xml file, see Manage a Microsoft Teams Rooms console settings remotely with an XML configuration file.

To enable Cisco WebEx meetings, set the WebExMeetingsEnabled XML element to True, as follows.

To enable Zoom meetings, set the ZoomMeetingsEnabled XML element to True, as follows.

You can optionally specify a custom username and email address to join third-party meetings using the following XML elements. If the values you provide aren't valid, the Teams Rooms device will default to use room mailbox username and email address.

Note

To join Cisco WebEx meeting from a Teams Rooms device, the Cisco meeting needs to be hosted using Cisco WebEx web application version WBS 40.7 or later.

In the pre-COVID era, the collaboration software market was only growing at a decent pace. In 2020, it grew exponentially when the world was put under lockdown. While stuck in the quarantine, we all diligently used collaboration platforms, more than ever before. It took a pandemic to realize the vital importance of collaboration technology. It has allowed everyone to stay connected in testing times. Be it professional communication or personal ones, it has helped conversations get going. A crop of collaboration platforms became popular overnight including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, and more.

All these products were lying under the radar under the gamut of products from their parent companies. Today, these collaboration software drive maximum attention and are flagship products for them.

Webex Calling Microsoft Teams Integration

Interestingly, the two big brands Cisco and Microsoft coming with reputed products: Teams and Webex. How will you determine the best collaboration platform for your organization?

We have already compared Microsoft Teams vs Zoom in our previous posts. In this article, we look to provide a feature comparison of Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex.

Let us compare the basic features of Teams vs Webex:

Basic Features

Microsoft TeamsCisco Webex

One-to-one chats

Yes

Yes

Group chats

YesYes

Guest Access

YesYes

Online Meetings

YesYes
Video callingYes

Yes

Screen sharingYes

Yes

File sharingYes

Yes

Scheduling meetingsYes

Yes

Looking at the table above, it seems that both Teams and Webex have all basic features. In other words, no important feature for a smooth collaboration is missing in either of the platforms. Now, we must compare enhanced features by digging deeper into the products to find differentiation.

Teams vs Webex: Telephony feature comparison

One of the standout features in the comparison between Teams vs WebEx is the way telephony solutions are offered on either platform. Microsoft offers Teams with Phone System, a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) solution for businesses with Microsoft 365 for an integrated cloud solution.

Cisco takes a different approach to fit every type of customer requirement: on-premises or one-tenant platforms hosted by a partner, and Webex calling for small and midsize organizations. Cisco's partners including West, IntelePeer, and ThinkTel offer the PSTN access for Webex.

Teams vs Webex Pricing Comparison

Determining pricing as per the licensing requirements can be a bit perplexing for Teams vs Webex comparison. When we look at the bare minimum pricing to get started with the platform, Microsoft Teams has a clear advantage. Microsoft Teams is also available for free with limited features, allowing anyone to get a taste of it without paying anything. If one gets the bare minimum Microsoft Office 365 subscription (Microsoft 365 Business Basic at $5/user), the features unavailable in the free version can be unlocked. Higher the Office 365 plan, the better the features with Microsoft Teams. Though Cisco Webex also offers a free version, in comparison, Microsoft Teams offers far more generous features in the free version. Cisco Webex's cheapest plan starts with $13.50 per user per month and calling service add-ons would be priced extra. When you must decide between Teams vs Webex with cost as a factor, Microsoft Teams wins hands down.

Teams vs Webex Security Comparison

When it came to comparing Zoom with Teams, security was a pertinent problem in Zoom. This is the reason many large organizations shied away from using Zoom. But what is the case when comparing Teams vs Webex for security?

Webex Calling Microsoft Teams Login

Both Teams and Webex are products of the behemoth companies, Microsoft and Cisco, which has zero tolerance for compromise in security. Both Microsoft and Cisco have taken respective steps to strengthen security for Teams and Webex, respectively.

Microsoft Teams comes with Office 365 platform. It enjoys high-level encryption and enterprise-grade security built for the rest of Office 365. Office 365 Enterprise comes with premium security features (eDiscovery, Archiving, Legal Hold, Retention) which will be required for compliance such as HIPAA, GDPR, and more. Overall, Microsoft invests $1 billion every year in its bid for robust security.

Similarly, Cisco Webex Teams has a huge number of certifications that attest to their security promise. Like Microsoft Teams, it has compliance features such as eDiscovery, unique device PINs, idle time, content retention flexibility, and more. Marginally more control for the end-users is available in Webex, while it may be troublesome for uninitiated or IT admins if they have a strict organizational policy as compared to the end-users.

Calling

Step 3: Enable third-party meetings on device

The last step you need to do is allow each Teams Rooms device to join third-party meetings. Third-party meetings require a username and email address to join them. If the username and email address that you need to use is different than the device's room mailbox, you need to add them to your device. You can do this in the device settings or in the XML config file.

Use device settings

To configure the Teams Rooms device using its touchscreen, do the following:

  1. On the Microsoft Teams Rooms device, select More ....
  2. Select Settings, and then enter the device administrator username and password.
  3. Go to the Meetings tab and select Cisco WebEx, Zoom, or both.
  4. If you want to join meetings with the username and email address associated with the room mailbox, select Join with room info.
  5. If you want to join meetings with an alternate username and email address, select Join with custom info and enter username and email address you'd like to use.
  6. Select Save and exit. Your device will restart.

Use the SkypeSettings.xml configuration file

The following settings can be added to the SkypeSettings.xml file located in C:UsersSkypeAppDataLocalPackagesMicrosoft.SkypeRoomSystem_8wekyb3d8bbweLocalState. For more information about the SkypeSettings.xml file, see Manage a Microsoft Teams Rooms console settings remotely with an XML configuration file.

To enable Cisco WebEx meetings, set the WebExMeetingsEnabled XML element to True, as follows.

To enable Zoom meetings, set the ZoomMeetingsEnabled XML element to True, as follows.

You can optionally specify a custom username and email address to join third-party meetings using the following XML elements. If the values you provide aren't valid, the Teams Rooms device will default to use room mailbox username and email address.

Note

To join Cisco WebEx meeting from a Teams Rooms device, the Cisco meeting needs to be hosted using Cisco WebEx web application version WBS 40.7 or later.

In the pre-COVID era, the collaboration software market was only growing at a decent pace. In 2020, it grew exponentially when the world was put under lockdown. While stuck in the quarantine, we all diligently used collaboration platforms, more than ever before. It took a pandemic to realize the vital importance of collaboration technology. It has allowed everyone to stay connected in testing times. Be it professional communication or personal ones, it has helped conversations get going. A crop of collaboration platforms became popular overnight including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, and more.

All these products were lying under the radar under the gamut of products from their parent companies. Today, these collaboration software drive maximum attention and are flagship products for them.

Webex Calling Microsoft Teams Integration

Interestingly, the two big brands Cisco and Microsoft coming with reputed products: Teams and Webex. How will you determine the best collaboration platform for your organization?

We have already compared Microsoft Teams vs Zoom in our previous posts. In this article, we look to provide a feature comparison of Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex.

Let us compare the basic features of Teams vs Webex:

Basic Features

Microsoft TeamsCisco Webex

One-to-one chats

Yes

Yes

Group chats

YesYes

Guest Access

YesYes

Online Meetings

YesYes
Video callingYes

Yes

Screen sharingYes

Yes

File sharingYes

Yes

Scheduling meetingsYes

Yes

Looking at the table above, it seems that both Teams and Webex have all basic features. In other words, no important feature for a smooth collaboration is missing in either of the platforms. Now, we must compare enhanced features by digging deeper into the products to find differentiation.

Teams vs Webex: Telephony feature comparison

One of the standout features in the comparison between Teams vs WebEx is the way telephony solutions are offered on either platform. Microsoft offers Teams with Phone System, a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) solution for businesses with Microsoft 365 for an integrated cloud solution.

Cisco takes a different approach to fit every type of customer requirement: on-premises or one-tenant platforms hosted by a partner, and Webex calling for small and midsize organizations. Cisco's partners including West, IntelePeer, and ThinkTel offer the PSTN access for Webex.

Teams vs Webex Pricing Comparison

Determining pricing as per the licensing requirements can be a bit perplexing for Teams vs Webex comparison. When we look at the bare minimum pricing to get started with the platform, Microsoft Teams has a clear advantage. Microsoft Teams is also available for free with limited features, allowing anyone to get a taste of it without paying anything. If one gets the bare minimum Microsoft Office 365 subscription (Microsoft 365 Business Basic at $5/user), the features unavailable in the free version can be unlocked. Higher the Office 365 plan, the better the features with Microsoft Teams. Though Cisco Webex also offers a free version, in comparison, Microsoft Teams offers far more generous features in the free version. Cisco Webex's cheapest plan starts with $13.50 per user per month and calling service add-ons would be priced extra. When you must decide between Teams vs Webex with cost as a factor, Microsoft Teams wins hands down.

Teams vs Webex Security Comparison

When it came to comparing Zoom with Teams, security was a pertinent problem in Zoom. This is the reason many large organizations shied away from using Zoom. But what is the case when comparing Teams vs Webex for security?

Webex Calling Microsoft Teams Login

Both Teams and Webex are products of the behemoth companies, Microsoft and Cisco, which has zero tolerance for compromise in security. Both Microsoft and Cisco have taken respective steps to strengthen security for Teams and Webex, respectively.

Microsoft Teams comes with Office 365 platform. It enjoys high-level encryption and enterprise-grade security built for the rest of Office 365. Office 365 Enterprise comes with premium security features (eDiscovery, Archiving, Legal Hold, Retention) which will be required for compliance such as HIPAA, GDPR, and more. Overall, Microsoft invests $1 billion every year in its bid for robust security.

Similarly, Cisco Webex Teams has a huge number of certifications that attest to their security promise. Like Microsoft Teams, it has compliance features such as eDiscovery, unique device PINs, idle time, content retention flexibility, and more. Marginally more control for the end-users is available in Webex, while it may be troublesome for uninitiated or IT admins if they have a strict organizational policy as compared to the end-users.

Teams vs Webex Integration with Other Software

Microsoft Teams is tightly integrated with all other Microsoft products due to the Office 365 ecosystem. If you use Microsoft Office along with Teams, it would be smooth user experience. Though Cisco has a long list of applications that can be installed and integrated from the App Hub store, Microsoft Teams is built for better integration with third-party applications.

Enable Calling In Webex Teams

Microsoft Teams vs Webex: Suggestions or Recommendations?

If you are looking for a simple answer, there is obviously difficult to pick a firm winner because there are a number of factors in selecting the right collaboration platform. Just comparing the fundamental characteristics of Webex vs Teams would not provide a definitive answer. But if we dig deeper to compare the peripheral features such as telephony extensions, security, room format, integration with other software, and pricing would help you decide between Microsoft Teams vs Cisco Webex.

Both Teams and Webex are excellent products coming from technology giants Microsoft and Cisco, respectively. Therefore, it is a tough choice to make. Like all other platforms including Webex, Microsoft Teams caters to all the requirements of a Unified Communications (UC) platform. Microsoft has increasingly pushed for Teams to become the numero uno UC platform in the coming time. This means that it will keep on evolving the product until it gets way better than its competitors. Keeping this perspective in mind, we recommend you opt for Microsoft Teams for the promise of the future.

Get help to get started with Microsoft Teams

Webex Call App Microsoft Teams

Moreover, there are a plethora of Microsoft Partners who can assist you get started with Microsoft Teams with minimum disruptions. Apps4Rent is a Tier 1 CSP and Microsoft Gold Partner, which means we are handpicked by Microsoft itself for offering services and products of Microsoft. You can get started with a basic Office 365 subscription which will also include popular productivity suite such as MS Office along with Teams. Apps4Rent can help you get started with Microsoft Teams in no time. We offer 24/7 real-time support via phone, chat, and email if you have any issues on deployment, on-boarding, and operations.

Add Webex To Microsoft Teams

If you want any further clarifications or have any questions, feel free to contact us now!





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