5 Ways to Connect Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex in 2021
For many reasons and in many businesses, we regularly see organizations with instances of both Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex.
- Cisco Webex Teams Messaging This basic feature of the Webex Teams application and the Webex platform provides one-to-one and group messaging with file sharing. This feature delivers persistent instant messaging with Webex Teams spaces, where users can message and share files.
- DeploymentGuideforCallinginWebex(UnifiedCM) FirstPublished:2019-03-28 LastModified:2021-04-07 AmericasHeadquarters CiscoSystems,Inc. 170WestTasmanDrive SanJose.
This post addresses how businesses got to this situation and highlights the best ways to connect the two platforms together.
Why Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex?
Common reasons for instances of both Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex include:
Work remotely and take advantage of Cisco on-premise calling features (without a VPN) using Cisco Expressway with Mobile Remote Access (MRA) Supports calling via on-premise or cloud-based Cisco platforms. Microsoft Teams with Cisco Jabber Calling. Microsoft Teams with Cisco Webex Calling. Licensing and Administration. No additional licensing. Webex Teams is the leading team collaboration app. Get access to screensharing, group messaging, cross-collaboration tools, and app integrations.
- Legacy or current Cisco hardware like telepresence, VoIP handsets, and Cisco Spark boards
- Microsoft 365 packages offering free Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams licenses
- Mergers and acquisitions where one company uses Cisco Webex and the other uses Microsoft Teams
- A new CIO or IT Manager started and implemented their preferred
solution - You interact with guests from other organizations that use different messaging platforms
Can Microsoft Teams replace Webex?
Microsoft Teams has tons of great features, like grid videos and custom backgrounds. You can integrate your conversations with Microsoft 365 and access direct routing.
But Microsoft Teams isn’t the right solution for everyone.
If you try to shift everyone to Microsoft Teams, you risk isolating some of your team members who use Webex.
People who don’t want to stop using their preferred app won’t switch easily. This puts your team at risk of shadow IT and other security issues.
It’s always better to give your team the freedom to use the tools they prefer.
If you do need to connect the two together, the next section outline five ways to connect the two platforms together.
1- Webex call features in Microsoft Teams
If all you want to do is connect your Microsoft Teams account holders with Cisco Webex calling features, here’s how:
In April 2020, Cisco announced a new Call Appfor Microsoft Teams. The app launches calls through Webex technology, even when you click the call button in Microsoft Teams.
To access this functionality, follow these steps:
- Verify users have accounts activated in the Webex Control Hub
- Ensure users are registered to the Cisco Webex Calling or Unified Communications Manager
- Make sure users have the Webex app
- Ensure you have Administratorprivileges for Microsoft Teams
- Update phone numbers for users in the Azure Active Directory
With us so far? Great.
Head over to the Microsoft Teams Admin Center and click Teams Apps followed by Manage apps. You can search for the Webex Call function and toggle the app status to allowed.
Remember to update your permission policies to allow third-party apps too.
In the Teams apps menu, click on Setup policies and add the Cisco Webex Call app to your Microsoft setup. Users will now be able to click Webex Call at the bottom of a window when chatting in Microsoft Teams.
Or employees can click on the Webex Call function on the left-hand menu bar and just tap in the number of the person they want to call through Webex.
Pros:
- Simple way to connect Webex calling functionality with Microsoft Teams
- Embedded buttons in Teams make the function easy to use
Cons:
- Only works to connect two VoIP calling strategies. You can’t connect your chat messages or file sharing this way.
- Calling opens a new window, which means there are more tabs for users to keep track of.
- Only works to add Webex Calling to Microsoft Teams. You can’t add Microsoft calling to Webex instead.
2 – Cisco Webex and Microsoft 365 integration
Cisco recently announced integration between its Webex app and the Microsoft 365 suite.
How do I integrate Webex with Office 365?
Users can access files like apps like SharePoint and OneDrive from within the Webex app.
If your end goal is to use the Microsoft 365 suite within the Webex app, this integration will work just fine.
How do I integrate a Webex team with Outlook?
Go to your Cisco Webex admin Settings.
Click on Outlook then Outlook settings. You’ll have the option to Connect to Outlook. Choose Yes and hit the Save button.
Having more than one app integrated with Outlook sometimes causes problems with Webex. Before you integrate Webex and Outlook, you’ll have to unregister other tools. This includes removing Skype for Business connections.
Once your Outlook integration is ready, you can see the status of Webex contacts in Outlook.
Pros:
a. Users no longer have to leave their Webex app if they use Microsoft 365 for productivity tools like Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Word.
b. You can benefit from Microsoft Teams governance and data privacy from Microsoft 365 whilst never leaving your Webex app.
c. Share content created in Microsoft apps in Cisco Webex spaces.
Cons:
a. This integration is available for multiple Microsoft apps, but not Microsoft Teams.
b. If you’re a Webex for Web user, you can only view these types of files, but not make
The Cisco Webex and Microsoft 365 integration is great for users that are happy to live in Webex – but it doesn’t take into account users that prefer Microsoft Teams for collaboration.
3 – Bot integration for Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex
If This Then That (IFTTT) helps apps and devices work together.
There are examples of IFTTT working in homes and businesses alike.
When rules are set for one app or device to do something based on the behavior of another app of device, these are called recipes.
From common scenarios like turning up the heating in your home when the temperature drops below a certain threshold to syncing your Instagram and Dropbox account, recipes come in all shapes and sizes.
When setting recipes for both Microsoft and Cisco, this typically includes what happens on Microsoft Teams when a message is posted in Webex.
For this scenario, a Webex users sends a message and the bot in Microsoft Teams gets a notification.
Pros:
a. Bot integrations come with many pre-built recipes to choose from across a range of apps and devices.
b. Familiar look and feel to consumer IFTTT apps.
c. Options to add your own customized recipes.
Cons:
a. Administration time can be lengthy as scenarios have to be set up one-by-one.
b. When new users are added, administrators must build new recipes.
c. Functionality across platforms is limited.
d. Cross platform experience is not seamless. Notifications are received in a bot rather than native to a chat, space or direct message etc.
4 – Host Webex meetings in Microsoft Teams
For users that prefer Microsoft Teams for messaging and collaboration, but must use Cisco Webex for meetings, there is the Cisco Webex Meeting app.
This is perfect for running Cisco Webex meetings direct from Microsoft Teams.
The meeting app is also available for Slack, Workplace from Facebook, and Google Calendar.
Pros:
a. Schedule and join Cisco Webex meetings without leaving Microsoft Teams.
b. Microsoft Teams users just need to add the Webex Meetings app to their Microsoft Teams app.
c. Simple administration in the Cisco Webex Control Hub.
Cons:
a. The Cisco Webex Meetings app for Microsoft Teams doesn’t support accounts on webex.meetings.com, on meetingsln.webex.com, or on Cisco Webex Meetings Server sites.
b. Limited to Cisco Webex Meeting functionality.
c. Messages, chats, files etc cannot be exchanged via the Webex Meeting app for Microsoft Teams. A meeting must be launched to communicate across platform.
d. Jonathan Dame wrote on SearchUnifedCommunications that customers of both Cisco and Microsoft using the integration have labelled it clumsy, forcing them to consider back to working in silos.
5 – External federation for connecting with guests on different platforms
Do you communicate with people outside your organization?
Do they use apps other than Microsoft Teams?
If the answer is yes to both of these questions, according to research, Cisco Webex is one of the most favored.
When this is the case, it becomes extremely unproductive moving out of Teams, into your external contact’s choice of app, and starting the conversation again.
Or even worse, end up resorting to email like it’s the 90s. (Okay, email has a purpose but you get the point).
That’s why Mio has created universal channels for Microsoft Teams with Webex…
Cisco Webex Meetings Server
You can stay in Teams and send messages to your contractors, suppliers, or clients who use Webex.
They stay in their platform too and Mio translates the messages across platform.
And it’s not just messages that are supported! GIFs, emojis, channels, DMs, and message edits/deletes are all supported.
If this sounds like something you need, install Mio into either Microsoft Teams or Webex.
You choose which platform you use and your external contacts choose theirs.
If you’d like to learn more about enabling cross-platform messaging, you can watch our on-demand webinar with Mio CEO, Tom Hadfield, here.
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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.
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 Teams | Cisco Webex |
One-to-one chats | Yes | Yes |
Group chats | Yes | Yes |
Guest Access | Yes | Yes |
Online Meetings | Yes | Yes |
| Video calling | Yes | Yes |
| Screen sharing | Yes | Yes |
| File sharing | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduling meetings | Yes | 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?
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.
Cisco Webex Teams On Prem
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
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.
If you want any further clarifications or have any questions, feel free to contact us now!