News

News Summary: 

• To expand the interoperability of Cisco’s hardware and software portfolios, Cisco deepens Microsoft partnership with two new products Certified for Microsoft Teams.
• Customers will have increased choice and flexibility in how they work with the option to run Microsoft Teams Rooms on Cisco Board Pro devices.
• Customers will receive seamless live service experiences with Webex Contact Center for Microsoft Teams.

SAN JOSE, CA – March 27, 2023 – Cisco today delivered an update on its partnership with Microsoft originally announced at Microsoft Ignite 2022 in October. Furthering their joint vision of putting choice in the hands of customers by bringing Microsoft Teams to Cisco collaboration technology, Cisco announced two new certifications to help customers better communicate across platforms. Cisco Board Pro is now certified to run Microsoft Teams Rooms natively on the device and Webex Contact Center is tightly integrated with Microsoft Teams.

Extending the interoperability of Cisco’s hardware and software portfolios empowers customers with seamless, connected experiences that can be customized to best suit their needs. With customer expectations for flexible collaboration at an all-time high, this partnership delivers interoperable solutions that enhance hybrid collaboration happening from any workspace.

“In today’s era of hybrid work, it is essential to provide multiplatform experiences that offer more choice, flexibility and seamless customer engagement,” said Jeetu Patel, EVP and GM, Security & Collaboration, Cisco. “Our partnership with Microsoft does just that by empowering Cisco and Microsoft customers alike to engage in truly frictionless collaboration.”

“We’re committed to bringing leading collaboration hardware and software to market together to put choice in the hands of our customers,” said Albert Kooiman, Senior Director of Microsoft Teams Devices, Partner Engineering and Certification at Microsoft. “Today’s announcement marks a milestone in quickly bringing this to market together with Cisco.”

Microsoft Teams Rooms Certification for Board Pro

As people continue to embrace hybrid work, the experience matters more than ever. It’s challenging for IT to manage various meeting platforms and tools that can result in disjointed workflows. With end users, they seek simplicity and ease of use in their hybrid work experiences. Inclusivity is also crucial – every person deserves to feel they have a seat at the table regardless of location. Good technology and more streamlined collaboration experiences hold the key to all these challenges. Cisco Board Pro is the first Cisco Rooms device to be officially Certified for Microsoft Teams. With official certification, the 55-inch and 75-inch models can be configured at set up to run Teams Rooms as the default experience. This allows customers to experience Teams’ digital workplace with Cisco’s purpose-built video conferencing hardware.

Customer benefits include:

• Advanced, AI-powered collaboration features: Cisco’s AI capabilities can be used in Teams meetings for the first time. This includes supreme video quality, powerful camera intelligence and noise removal technologies.
• Fully-featured meetings: Customers can join feature-rich, back-to-back Teams and Webex meetings on the same device from the Teams Rooms home screen – with no reboot or reconfiguration required.
• Simplified device management: IT admins can manage Board Pro in Microsoft Teams Admin Center and the new Teams Rooms Pro Management Portal and take advantage of additional device management and workspace analytics capabilities in Cisco Control Hub and Cisco Spaces.

Webex Contact Center certified to integrate with Microsoft Teams

Increasing expectations for real-time, personalized customer experiences has created an even greater need to unite front-office and back-office communications. To address this, the new Webex Contact Center for Microsoft Teams simplifies agent to subject matter expert collaboration and unlocks knowledge across the organization to create a connected, seamless experience for customers.

Customer benefits include:

• Enhanced collaboration capabilities: Teams integration for Webex Contact Center provides agents with tools to quickly connect and collaborate with knowledge workers through the Teams app and route customers to knowledge workers using Teams. This lessens customer effort and helps them quickly get the answers they need.
• Centralized management features: This integration also provides calling interoperability, directory services, presence awareness, centralized management and administrative features and more.

Continued Progression of Cisco and Microsoft’s Partnership

A broader series of Cisco Collaboration devices are expected to receive Teams certification throughout 2023. The Cisco Room Bar and Room Kit Pro are planned to achieve certification in mid 2023. The Room Kit EQ as a native Teams Room solution, the Cisco Desk Pro, running the native Teams Display or the Teams Rooms experience, and the Cisco Room Navigator, supporting the native Teams Panel room scheduling app, will follow in mid-2023. Cisco has already obtained Teams certification for several popular hybrid work peripherals – the Cisco Desk Camera 4K USB webcam, Cisco Headset 720 Series Bluetooth® wireless headsets and the Cisco Headset 320 Series wired headsets.

As this partnership continues, we look forward to announcing additional certifications and integrations that empower customers with solutions to make collaboration happen on their terms.

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in technology that powers the Internet. Cisco inspires new possibilities by reimagining your applications, securing your data, transforming your infrastructure, and empowering your teams for a global and inclusive future. Discover more on The Newsroom.

About Webex by Cisco

Webex is a leading provider of cloud-based collaboration solutions which includes video meetings, calling, messaging, events, polling, asynchronous video and customer experience solutions like contact center and purpose-built collaboration devices. Webex’s focus on delivering inclusive collaboration experiences fuels our innovation, which leverages AI and Machine Learning, to remove the barriers of geography, language, personality and familiarity with technology. Its solutions are underpinned with security and privacy by design. Webex works with the world’s leading business and productivity apps – delivered through a single application and interface. Learn more at webex.com.