Cisco is adding Microsoft Corp.'s Teams messaging app to its meeting devices, offering users an alternative to Cisco's own Webex video conferencing service.

Cisco's Jeetu Patel, head of Security & Collaboration, says Cisco aims to be the hardware platform for many conferencing software platforms.

In the first half of 2023, Cisco and Microsoft will offer the ability to run Microsoft Teams natively on Cisco Room and Desk devices Certified for Microsoft Teams, with the option of Teams as the default experience. Cisco will become a partner in the Certified for Microsoft Teams program for the first time.

"The partnership will enable Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android to natively run on certified Cisco Room and Desk devices," said Jeetu. 

The reason is that 85% of customers use two or more platforms for meetings. Yet today’s devices make it hard to switch from one meeting to the next and provide a sub-par in-meeting experience across platforms. The partnership helps solve for that, Jeetu said. 

“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 of 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.” 

During the covid pandemic, Zoom Video Communications, the company founded by a former Webex engineer, gained a large share of the market, replacing Webex as a popular conferencing platform.