"In fact, GIFs and emojis get used at a tremendous rate in most collaborative enterprises," Kurtzman said. Because CIOs are unlikely to have requested the latter, the move demonstrates that Cisco is listening to users, Kurtzman said.
The January update to Webex Teams also expanded the app's search capabilities and gave users the ability to attach GIFs and emojis to their messages in the web-based client. What's more, Webex Teams users can now connect to meeting audio using the same Call Me and Call In features available in Webex Meetings.Ĭisco has been working to streamline its overlapping portfolio of communications apps, including Webex Teams, Webex Meetings, Cisco Jabber and the recently acquired BroadSoft UC-One. "The more content you have, the more beneficial AI and the Webex Teams environment will become for the average user." The Cisco Webex Teams messaging interface on iOS.Ĭisco updates UI, adds features to Webex Teamsīeyond the Webex Teams integrations, Cisco tweaked aspects of the Webex Teams video conferencing interface to more closely resemble the user experience in Webex Meetings. "Having Microsoft Office and G Suite take care of most of the document needs allows Webex to become the center of work, along with Webex Meetings," Kurtzman said. Webex Teams is still a young product, and Cisco must continue adding Webex Teams integrations to make the platform useful to customers, said Wayne Kurtzman, analyst at IDC. "This is why Cisco is enabling its Webex suite to work with 365." "Vendors will need to adapt their product strategy to focus on their customers' workflows, as opposed to a product- or vendor-centric strategy," Castañón-Martínez said.
The Microsoft-Cisco rivalry may be going through a particularly tough phase now, because interoperability among business apps has become more important, said Raúl Castañón-Martínez, analyst at 451 Research. The divergence is likely causing headaches for some businesses that rely on products from both vendors. Microsoft has said it sees no need to work directly with Cisco to build connections between the two vendors' collaboration portfolios. However, Cisco has had to rely on Microsoft's open APIs. And Microsoft has a near monopoly on those tools, seriously challenged only by Google's G Suite. While Cisco goes head-to-head with Microsoft in the unified communications and video conferencing markets, Cisco lacks the word processing and file storage apps that businesses need. For example, users can join Webex Meetings with one click in Microsoft Teams. Last year, the vendor took steps to make Webex Meetings work as seamlessly as possible with Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Teams.
Users can preview, share or edit the files without leaving the Cisco interface.Ĭisco has made interoperability with the productivity tools of Office 365 a priority. In the same way as Microsoft have their CVI partners creating gateways allowing other clients joining meetings hosted in Teams.The Webex Teams integrations with Microsoft's document storage apps let users upload files from those platforms to the Cisco app. So if you want to be able to join Zoom meetings with Teams client, then Zoom have to setup a Teams gateway. 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. Users will now be able to click Webex Call at the bottom of a window when chatting in Microsoft Teams. The gateway you are using today () is working cause webex created a gateway that supports Skype, it is not Microsoft that created that and supports Webex meetings with the Skype-client. In the Teams apps menu, click on Setup policies and add the Cisco Webex Call app to your Microsoft setup. If there is an update on server side the web application will also be updated and work for the users. But this only what I think.įor the user it better to click the Join link in the invite and then the web browser opens with the latest Zoom, Webex, Bluejeans, etc. If there is an update in Webex, Microsoft have to change the Teams-client and if it doesn't work they have to support it, can be a mess. Since it will be hard for Microsoft to support all changes in the different platforms they will not build in support into Teams. I doubt the Teams client will use SIP, and I if Microsoft build it SIP-support it will probably not be the same SIP dialect as Webex.