Cisco’s collaboration devices add support for Microsoft Teams

Cisco Systems Inc. announced today that it’s making a range of its enterprise collaboration devices compatible with Microsoft Teams, aiming to enable a more inclusive hybrid work experience.

The announcement came alongside the launch of the new Cisco Table Microphone Pro, which is a digital, multidirectional table microphone for collaborative workspaces.

With its new Cisco Devices for Microsoft Teams, Cisco is taking a group of existing communications devices and certifying them for Microsoft’s popular collaboration platform. It’s quite an extensive list, including the Cisco Board Pro 55 and 75, Cisco Room Bar, Cisco Room Kit Pro, Cisco Room Kit EQ, Cisco Room Navigator and Cisco Desk Pro, alongside remote work peripherals such as the Cisco Desk Camera 4K, the Cisco Headset 320 and the Headset 720.

According to Cisco, the new Cisco Devices for Microsoft Teams are all about giving customers more choice in how they perform hybrid work. Available in beta test mode now, with general availability slated for February, the idea is that these devices will support Teams meetings and calls in addition to the service they were originally built for — Webex, which is Cisco’s own collaboration platform.

Cisco says that with certification for Teams, its devices will be the first to support seamless switching between different meeting experiences, without any need to reboot or reconfigure the devices. They’re powered by Cisco’s RoomOS, which makes it possible for them to run both Teams and Webex meetings natively, with advanced device management and analytics handled by the Cisco Control Hub as normal.

Jeetu Patel, executive vice president and general manager of security and collaboration at Cisco, said he believes hybrid work requires a more inclusive experience that’s not confined by location, device or meeting platform. “Cisco is bringing true audio intelligence to its best-in-class devices and software with interoperability, flexibility and security,” he said.

As for the new Cisco Table Microphone Pro, it’s a new device that’s meant to enable multiple meeting room participants to be heard equally, regardless of their distance from the listening device or the level of any background noise. It’s a multidirectional device that leverages what Cisco calls “advanced audio intelligence capabilities” that help it to identify people’s voices and cancel out all other sounds to ensure every participant can be heard with clarity. Cisco said it’s suitable for a variety of different workspaces, including large conference rooms, huddle rooms, custom AV deployments and more.

Image: Cisco