Microsoft Teams will soon run natively on Cisco Room and Desk devices

Microsoft and Cisco entered into a partnership to allow users to run Microsoft Teams by default on Cisco Room and Desk devices certified for Teams. In a blog post, Cisco announced its most popular meeting devices and three peripherals would run Teams software natively starting from the first quarter of 2023.

The partnership will give users more choices in how they want to communicate with their teammates, partners, and customers. Besides Microsoft Teams, Cisco will continue to offer its own video conferencing solution, Webex, to Cisco Room and Desk devices. This is significant for both companies: Teams will be available on more devices, while Cisco will become a partner in the Certified for Microsoft Teams program for the first time.

Cisco Room Bar, the Cisco Board Pro 55-inch and 75-inch, and the Cisco Room Kit Pro could be Teams certified by early 2023. Teams will also be available natively on Cisco Desk Camera 4K by the end of October 2022, while a dedicated Teams button will be available in two new headphones by early 2023.

“Interoperability has always been at the forefront of our hybrid work strategy, understanding that customers want collaboration to happen on their terms — regardless of device or meeting platform,” said Jeetu Patel, EVP and GM, Security & Collaboration, Cisco. “Our partnership with Microsoft brings together two collaboration leaders to completely reimagine the hybrid work experience.”

“Our vision to make Teams the best collaboration experience for physical spaces is brought to life by our incredible ecosystem of hardware partners,” said Jeff Teper, president, collaborative apps and platforms at Microsoft. “By welcoming Cisco as our newest partner building devices Certified for Microsoft Teams, we are excited to bring leading collaboration hardware and software to market together for our joint customers.”

All certified devices are manageable in the Teams Admin Center, the new Teams Rooms Pro Management Portal, and the Cisco Control Hub device management.