Does Microsoft Teams have an equivalent to WebEx Personal Rooms My company is trying to decommission Webex in favor of using Microsoft Teams. Some of our Webex users use their 'personal room' feature in Webex. They then send out a link to their personal room so that recurring or one-off meetings always go to their room. 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.
With the Cisco Webex Video Integration for Microsoft Teams, users in your organization can join Microsoft Teams meetings from Cisco and SIP-capable video devices registered either in the cloud or on-premises.
With this integration, you get this enhanced experience on supported devices when they join Microsoft Teams meetings hosted by your organization:
Webex Teams Vs. Microsoft Teams
Multi-screen Cisco Webex experience with flexible layout options
Full roster list
Bi-directional content share
One Button to Push (OBTP) simplified meeting join experience
Permissions Granted
The Cisco Webex Video Integration for Microsoft Teams requires an explicit set of permissions in your Microsoft tenant. These permissions are not customizable and are based on the requirements for application media bots in Microsoft Teams. Completing the consent flow grants the integration the following required permissions:
Permission | Usage |
|---|---|
Read domains (Domain.Read.All) | Allows the service to read the tenant’s verified domain names. The domain names are used in Control Hub to identify the tenant that the service is linked to. |
Initiate outgoing 1 to 1 calls from the app (Calls.Initiate.All) | Reserved for future use. Allows creation of calls by the bot to Microsoft Teams users. |
Initiate outgoing group calls from the app (Calls.InitiateGroupCall.All) | Reserved for future use. Allows creation of calls by the bot to a group of Microsoft Teams users. |
Join group calls and meetings as an app (Calls.JoinGroupCall.All) | Allows the bot to join group calls and scheduled meetings in your organization with the privileges of a directory user. Used for joining participants who are authorized to bypass the Microsoft Teams lobby. |
Joint group calls and meetings as a guest (Calls.JoinGroupCallAsGuest.All) | Allows the bot to anonymously join group calls and scheduled meetings in your organization as a guest. Used for joining participants who are not authorized to bypass the Microsoft Teams lobby. |
Access media streams in a call as an app (Calls.AccessMedia.All) | Allows the bot to get direct access to media streams in a call, without a signed-in user. |
Read online meeting details (OnlineMeetings.Read.All) | Allows the service to read Online Meeting details in your organization. Used to look up and resolve VTC Conference IDs to Microsoft Teams meetings. |
Sign in and read user profile (User.read) | Required for the other permissions listed. The integration does not use it directly. |
Microsoft Graph Permissions Reference: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/permissions-reference
Microsoft Meeting Bots Overview: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/bots/calls-and-meetings/calls-meetings-bots-overview
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.
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
Microsoft Teams Vs Webex Teams Vs Zoom
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.
Webex Teams And Microsoft Teams
If you want any further clarifications or have any questions, feel free to contact us now!