Deploy the Webex video integration for Microsoft Teams
Overview
Through this collaboration, your video devices will be able to participate in meetings hosted by Microsoft Teams. The integration is applicable to Webex devices as well as other SIP-capable video devices, regardless of whether the devices subscribe to Webex or to the infrastructure you have on-premises.
The following are some of the ways in which the integration improves the experience of the device user when they attend meetings hosted by Microsoft Teams in your organization:
- Webex meeting experience, featuring multiple screens and configurable arrangement choices
- The participant roster includes those involved with video integration as well as Microsoft.
- The capability to share information in both directions between the device and Microsoft Teams
- An indicator that recording is taking place on the gadget
Video device join experience, from the meeting invitation
A typical email invitation to a meeting using Microsoft Teams includes meeting join details, one of which is a link that the recipient can select in order to join the meeting using the Microsoft Teams client. This section may also contain information on audio dial-in, such as an audio conference ID and phone numbers to call in order to participate in the call as an audio-only participant. When the video integration is turned on, the portion of the invitation that describes the join details expands to include a block that describes the video conferencing device join details.
Figure 1: Video join details in Microsoft Teams meeting invitation
When it is time for participants to attend the conference, users of video devices can do so by dialing the SIP video address that is supplied under the title “Join with a video conferencing device.” Users of audio devices can do so by dialing the audio address that is provided under the title “Join with an audio conferencing device.” After establishing a connection to the Webex interactive voice response (IVR) server, the system will request the caller to provide the VTC conference ID. (Video Teleconference ID). Please be aware that the Conference ID for the VTC is not the same as the Conference ID for the auditory component of the meeting, if there is such a component. The VTC Conference ID was developed to function in conjunction with video-only hardware and software.
The Webex SIP subdomain that is connected to your firm is used to create the one-of-a-kind SIP IVR video address for your business. This address is derived from the Webex SIP subdomain. The address takes the form subdomain>@m.webex.com when formatted properly.
The invitation includes a link to a web page that provides alternate calling instructions. This page demonstrates how to attend the meeting by phoning in directly to the conference line. This information can be seen just beneath the SIP IVR video address as well as the VTC Conference ID.
Alternative video device join method—direct dial
Video callers have the ability to participate in the meeting without first having to engage in conversation with an IVR agent if they enter a SIP address that has the format VTC Conference ID>.subdomain>@m.webex.com. This method is located at the very top of the web page that offers alternate dialing instructions for the VTC and to which the invitation provides a link. It can be accessed by clicking on the link provided in the invitation. In addition to this, the IVR prompt join details that are provided in the meeting invitation are also reproduced on the web website.
Figure 2: Alternate VTC dialing instructions (hyperlinked meeting-specific web page)
Alternative video device join method—Join button
If you additionally enable the Webex Hybrid Calendar Service, devices can get One Button to Push (OBTP) when schedulers invite them to Microsoft Teams meetings. This functionality is only available to users who have both services activated. This feature is not accessible to any other organizations besides those that have both services turned on. Participants who are using the device at the appropriate moment should just hit the Join button in order to successfully connect it to the conference. The proposal for the meeting contains a logo for Microsoft Teams as a way to indicate the kind of meeting in which the attendee would be taking part.
Requirements for video integration with Microsoft Teams
|
Requirement |
Notes |
|---|---|
|
An active Webex organization |
When you make the decision to buy the video integration, we will set up an operational Webex organization for you even if you haven’t already got one of your own. |
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A Microsoft 365 tenancy that provides users in the organization with accounts for Microsoft Teams. |
Both a Microsoft Teams administrator account for the tenant and a Global administrator account for the tenant that can sign in as a Global administrator to grant application permissions are required for the setup process. The Global administrator account must be able to perform PowerShell commands. |
|
Webex video integration licenses, one for each of the video devices that you plan to use with this integration. |
The subscription for this service must be provisioned to your Webex organization in Control Hub and set up as described in this article. During the Early Field Trial, you won’t need a license to participate. Either purchase licenses within the first 45 days after the service becomes generally available or begin a trial that is guided by a partner if you want to continue using the integration after the trial period is over. In that case, the application won’t be able to function properly. |
|
Both Webex devices that have been registered to your Webex organization and other SIP video devices that have the capability of making internet calls can be used in this scenario. |
|
|
Webex Hybrid Calendar Service (Optional, but highly recommended) |
It is required to offer video devices with a “One Button to Push” (OBTP) button. All meeting organizers and shared room mailboxes ought to have Hybrid Calendar activated in order to provide users with the optimal experience when utilizing Hybrid Calendar. Additional conditions must be met in order to use the Hybrid Calendar Service. In order to obtain directions, |
Ports and protocols for video integration traffic
Signaling
In order to send and receive signaling, video devices connect to the Webex data centers.
|
Video Device |
Protocol |
Port Number(s) |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Webex device associated with your company’s registration |
TCP |
443 |
For requirements, see Network requirements for Webex services |
|
Other SIP video device |
TCP |
5060/5061 |
For requirements, see How do I allow Webex Meetings traffic on my network? |
Media
The media flow for meetings involving video integration is distinct from the media flows used for other types of Webex Meetings calls because this call type is handled by specialized media clusters. These specialized media clusters are not included in the address ranges that have been published for Webex Meetings. Deployments need to make sure that traffic can access these additional IP networks in order to be successful.
The Webex registered devices will not test their devices’ capacity to communicate with specialized media clusters as part of their reachability testing. Calls may not go through properly if access is denied to any of the IP addresses associated with the media cluster. The integration makes an effort to use the most suitable media cluster for each contact by taking into consideration the location from which the call originates. However, you are required to grant access to any and all media clusters because the particular media cluster that is used during runtime can change depending on the conditions.
|
Video device |
Protocol |
Port number(s) |
Media cluster regions and IP ranges |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Webex device registered to your organization |
TCP |
443 5004 We only use these TCP ports as a fall back option for the preferred (UDP) media ports |
|
|
UDP |
5004 9000 |
||
|
Other SIP video device |
UDP |
36000-59999 |
Learn more about the network requirements for Webex services, as well as the protocols and ports that are needed for those services.
Create the video integration from Control Hub
Before you begin
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Make sure that all of the prerequisites listed in the section titled “Requirements for video integration with Microsoft Teams” have been satisfied.
- Establish your Webex organization if you haven’t done so already.
- Adding a subdirectory for Webex SIP addresses in your organization is something you should do if you haven’t already done so.
- You need access to the following areas of the administrator dashboard in order to configure the video integration:
-
- privileges to act as the Microsoft Tenant Global Administrator within your organization
- administrative permissions for use of Microsoft Teams within the tenancy
- You will need a web browser that supports access to Control Hub as well as full administrator capabilities for your own Webex organization. (For information on browser interoperability, see the System requirements for Webex services.)
Users from any other organization, including Partner Admins, who have access to your Control Hub do not qualify for this offer. Make sure that the Webex organization that you are configuring has a user account that has complete administrative privileges.
- In order to finish these setup steps, you will also need access to be able to execute commands using Microsoft PowerShell.
- Installation of the PowerShell script for Microsoft Teams. (Version 2.0 or newer recommended.) For further information, visit the Microsoft Documentation website and look for the article titled “Install Microsoft Teams PowerShell.”
- Using PowerShell on a Windows computer is recommended by both us and Microsoft at the time this article was written because Microsoft recommends using PowerShell version 5.1 when working with the MicrosoftTeams module. For further information, please see the PowerShell 5.1 system requirements page that can be found on the Microsoft Documentation website.
1. Log in to https://admin.webex.com using your credentials.
2. Be sure to check whether or not the subdirectory for Webex SIP addresses has been set: to configure your SIP address for Cisco Webex Calling, navigate to Organization Settings > SIP Address. Please refer to Change your Webex SIP address if the subdomain has not been specified.
3. Proceed to the Hybrid tab under Services. Click the Set Up button located on the Video Integration card for Microsoft Teams.
If the option to Set Up does not appear on the card, check to see that your license is currently valid.
4. On the screen for setting up the Video Integration, select the Authorize button.
You will now be taken to the permission prompts provided by Microsoft.
5. Choose the account for the user who has the privileges of the Microsoft Tenant Global Administrator, and input the credentials for that account.
On the permissions panel, look over the permissions that have been requested. After that, select the checkbox next to Accept in order to give permission for the Webex Video Integration application to access your Microsoft tenant.
After you have completed the permission processes, the browser should bring up the Control Hub Video Integration Setup screen for you to configure the integration. If it does not, try going through these instructions once more.
7. You will need to launch a window for PowerShell on your PC and then install the MicrosoftTeams PowerShell module if it has not previously been done so:
a. At the prompt for entering commands in PowerShell, type the following command:
Install-Module MicrosoftTeams -AllowClobberb. If you are asked whether or not you trust the PSGallery repository, you should respond with Y to indicate that you do trust it and then continue with the download and installation.
8. Import the MicrosoftTeams module, and then connect to your tenant of Teams:
a. You can either use the window that is now open on your computer or you can launch a new PowerShell 5.1 window.
b. In the text box provided by PowerShell, type the following command:
Import-Module MicrosoftTeams c. In the text box provided by PowerShell, type the following command:
Connect-MicrosoftTeams
A sign-in page for Microsoft comes on the screen.
d. In this field, enter the credentials for the user who has administrator privileges for the tenancy in Microsoft Teams.
You will receive feedback on the account and tenant you successfully signed into if the sign in was successful. In the event that you receive an error message, retry the command and consult the PowerShell documentation provided by Microsoft for any further guidance.
Before moving on to the further stages, you need to ensure that you have successfully logged into your Teams tenancy.
9. The text of the New-CsVideoInteropServiceProvider command can be copied from the first text field in Control Hub’s Video Integration Setup screen using the button labeled “clipboard,” and then it can be pasted into a PowerShell session using the “paste” button. The command should then be executed.
Your tenant is the only one who can use this command. If you have not imported the MicrosoftTeams PowerShell module and successfully signed in to your tenant as indicated in the previous step, the command will not work for you.
When copying the command to PowerShell, take extra precautions to ensure that the text that was copied is not altered in any manner when the text is being worked with. Sending the command by email, messaging clients, or any other processing may result in formatting being added, character substitutions being made, or additional characters being inserted, all of which will cause the configuration to become corrupted. There is no guarantee that PowerShell will reject the text because of its format. When it is possible to do so, we advise you to copy the command from Control Hub and then paste it directly into PowerShell. Alternatively, you can validate the text by using a plain text editor before copying it into PowerShell.
This command creates a new CVI provider of type Cisco and configures many integration parameters, including the tenantKey that was given to the user by Webex, the Alternate Instructions URL that was given to the user by Webex, and more.
10. Determine the method via which you will make the integration available to your users.
a. Copy the contents of the Grant-CsTeamsVideoInteropServicePolicy command from the second text box and paste it into the first text box to make the integration available to all of the users in your business.
11. After you have finished running the PowerShell scripts, you may finish configuring Control Hub by clicking the “Ok” button on the “Video Integration Setup” screen..
It may take some time for the PowerShell modifications that were made to the Microsoft tenancy to propagate in the Microsoft 365 environment. Although Microsoft advises that this process could take up to six hours, in practice it usually takes less than twenty minutes. You can verify that the modifications you made for an individual user have taken effect by requesting that the user create test meetings within their client instance of Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Teams. You should be able to view the specifics of the video integration join in the meeting invitation that was created, assuming the changes were correctly propagated. (as shown in Overview). If the join details are not currently available, you will need to wait longer and do the test once more.
What to do next
If, after completing the setup wizard, you find that you need access to the PowerShell command text, you can do so by selecting Hybrid from the Services category in the left-hand panel of the Control Hub. Click the Edit settings button located on the video interoperability card that features the Microsoft Teams logo.
Make sure that your Webex devices are either registered to the Webex cloud or linked to the cloud using Edge for devices so that you can get the most out of the Hybrid Calendar Service’s calendar and OBTP Join features. This will allow you to get the most out of the Hybrid Calendar Service.
If you want OBTP for devices, you will need to configure the Hybrid Calendar Service. Make it easier for video devices to attend meetings by reading the article “Make it easier for video devices to join meetings with OBTP.” This article will assist you in configuring OBTP to work with the Hybrid Calendar Service on Webex video devices.
Join button and Hybrid Calendar considerations
Alternative video device join method—Join button As was discussed in that section, if you enable the Hybrid Calendar Service, you can further improve the calling experience for your company by using One Button to Push. (OBTP).
With OBTP, Webex devices in your organization will automatically display a Join button just a few minutes before the start of the Microsoft Teams meeting, provided that they are a part of the meeting:
- If the user who is associated with the device accepts the meeting invitation, personal mode devices display the button on their screens. (The user must be enabled for the calendar service in Control Hub.)
- Shared mode devices only display the button in the event that the meeting invitation is accepted by the room mailbox email address associated with the device. (The workspace on the device needs to be activated in order for the calendar service in Control Hub to function.)
Exchange mailbox requirements for OBTP
If the meeting scheduler or at least one of the invitees has the Hybrid Calendar Service enabled, the service will only process a meeting invitation (to add the details needed for OBTP) if the meeting is scheduled using the service. It is possible that a device invitation will initiate the processing rather than the scheduler or a user in your business, particularly if your company does not have a large number of employees that utilize calendar services. When something like this occurs, it is absolutely necessary that the settings of your Exchange server keep all of the information that the service requires in the invitation.
You are now able to grant access to the Hybrid Calendar Service to users who do not have Webex licenses.
The Exchange Online settings are configured to, by default, remove the meeting details from invites that are delivered to room mailboxes. When you enable the Hybrid Calendar Service, you should apply the following PowerShell commands to the room mailboxes of all shared mode devices.
Set-CalendarProcessing -identity "room" -DeleteComments $false
Set-CalendarProcessing -identity "room" -DeleteSubject $false
Set-CalendarProcessing -identity "room" -AddOrganizerToSubject $false
Add the following command to the device if you wish to be able to send invites that have been planned from outside of your Microsoft company.
Set-CalendarProcessing -identity "room" -ProcessExternalMeetingMessages $True
Supported device types for OBTP
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Webex Board, Room, and Desk devices
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Webex Room Kit and Room Phone
-
Cisco MX, SX, and DX series
Either a Webex cloud account must be registered for the devices or an Edge for devices account must be used to link the devices to the cloud.
It is not possible for your devices to obtain the Join button for Microsoft Teams meetings if they are receiving the Join button from Cisco TMS or Cisco TMSXE.
As an alternative, you can simplify joining for the devices that are being affected by adding the SIP IVR video address of the Microsoft Teams conference as a speed dial or macro. This will allow you to join the meeting more quickly.
Features and limitations
This section will discuss the restrictions of the Video Integration for Microsoft Teams, as well as the behavior of its features.
Multiple organizations and tenants
- There is presently a one-to-one relationship supported between Webex organizations and Microsoft 365 tenants:
- Only one Webex organization at a time can communicate and collaborate with a given Microsoft 365 tenancy.
- Your Microsoft tenant may be configured to handle a variety of video integrations; for instance, the tenant may simultaneously interoperate with Cisco and Poly. However, the tenant is only permitted to have a single instance of each type of integration; for example, only one from Cisco and only one from Poly.
- If you have more than one Webex organization, you will need to select just one of them in order for the Webex video integration to work with your Microsoft tenant.
Availability
- Only the Worldwide configuration of Microsoft 365 is supported by our team. ( Other instances which we do not support include USGovDoD, USGovGCCHigh, China, and Germany.)
- We only provide help for commercial Webex organizations in nations and areas that have the option to purchase paid memberships to Webex. (We do not support any Webex offers that have been permitted by FedRAMP.)
Video device interoperability
- This integration only supports incoming SIP calls and does not handle calls made using H.323 or IP. Through the use of a Cisco Expressway implementation, it is possible to interwork these archaic protocols with SIP calls.
- Unfortunately, the integration does not support phoning into a conference hosted by Microsoft Teams using the Webex App. In addition, the integration is not compatible with features that call on pairing or connecting the Webex App to a device in order to function properly. This includes the ability to dial calls directly from the Webex app as well as control over incoming calls from within the Webex app.
- For meetings using Microsoft Teams, interactive white boarding via Webex devices is not available. Whiteboards can be shared as video material directly from the device by users. (BFCP support).
- Audio-only participants are not supported by the integration at this time. (Audio-only participants should call in using the PSTN gateway functionality for Microsoft Teams.)
Layouts
- By sending DTMF tones 2 and 8 from the device, participants in video integration have the ability to cycle through a variety of various layout alternatives.
- Changes to layouts can be made on devices that support ActiveControl by using the Cisco Touch interface, which is available to participants. (This works with both cloud calling and SIP.)
- Participants will be able to watch up to nine different video streams all at once. The amount of streams that are visible is also determined by the layout that is picked as well as the type of device being used. In the event that participants are not submitting video feeds to the meeting, the layouts will display letter avatars instead of video.
- The integration is capable of supporting a single monitor with content, a dual monitor with content, and a total of three monitors with content in TIP mode. Standard dual monitor configurations are used, and panorama-specific layouts and camera behaviors are not supported in this version of the software. Even though the service does not enable the iX immersive experience, those devices are nevertheless able to connect as TIP endpoints even though they do not have immersive-specific features. There may be variations in the layout families that are supported based on the type of device.
- While more than one participant monitor is active, dual screen devices that receive incoming participant video on two monitors will have a fixed, Focus+Grid two screen layout for VIMT calls. While incoming participant video is being displayed on two monitors, using the layout controls will not result in a change to the active layout. When content sharing is activated, dual monitor installations that do not have a dedicated presenter monitor will automatically switch to a single participant monitor. Additionally, layout controls will be operable for the participant monitor even when content sharing is activated. In three-monitor configurations with a dedicated presentation monitor, participant video is displayed on only two of the screens, thus the Focus+Grid structure is maintained regardless of whether or not participants share their content.
Calendars and cross-organization invitations
- Participants from outside of your organization are able to join your Microsoft Teams meetings from their video devices by dialing your IVR video address (yoursubdomain>@m.webex.com) and entering the VTC conference ID for the meeting at the prompt, or by using your direct dial alternative (VTC Conference ID>.yoursubdomain>@m.webex.com). Both of these methods can be used to access the meeting from the participant’s video device.
- Your Microsoft tenant’s video integration does not allow phoning into meetings hosted by other Microsoft customers. This limitation applies only to meetings hosted by Microsoft. You are required to utilize the video address of the video integration that is enabled for the Microsoft tenant that is hosting the Teams conference that you are phoning into.
- When it comes to meetings that contain join data provided by other (non-Cisco) video integrations, the Webex Hybrid Calendar Service will not generate OBTP join entries for those meetings. (For instance, a One Button to Push (OBTP) Join button for a Pexip invitation will not be displayed in a workspace that also has Hybrid Calendar enabled.)
- When processing OBTP for Microsoft Teams meetings, you will run into the same constraints that are known to apply to the Hybrid Calendar. These limits result from the absence of comments or body details or from organizer-based processing.
Meeting features
- Participants who use video integration do not have access to the controls necessary to begin or end meeting recordings. Meeting recordings need to be managed by users of Microsoft Teams.
- The BFCP is used for content sharing, which means it is subject to the limits of that protocol. These limitations include the inability to exchange apps and the refusal to provide remote control.
- Participants using video integration are required to have the “Presenter” role in order to be able to present content within a Teams meeting if the “Who Can Present?” meeting option is used to restrict who is allowed to share content during the meeting and the meeting organizer or meeting policies place such restrictions. A caller is considered a “attendee” by default if they join a meeting via the video integration. Callers who join the session as trusted callers will automatically be given the presenter role, regardless of the value that is selected in the Who Can Present? field. Using the participant list in their Teams client, meeting organizers have the ability to instantly change a participant’s role in the meeting.
- Participants in a video integration that just have the ‘attendee’ role in the meeting will not be able to share content as expected if the meeting option Who Can Present? is used to restrict who is allowed to share content in the Teams meeting. This restriction could be imposed by meeting policies or by an organizer of the meeting. The person who is calling in will have the ability to begin sharing on their device, but the other attendees of the meeting will not be able to see the content they are sharing. It’s also possible that sharing will prevent you from receiving stuff from another user.
- Chat on Microsoft Teams is not accessible to users who are participating in a video integration.
- White boarding in Microsoft Teams is not accessible to those that are participating in a video integration.
- Video integration participants are only able to see the options to share the Desktop or Windows when other participants in Microsoft Teams choose to share something. Participants in a video integration session are unable to view files, PowerPoint slides, or whiteboard choices that have been shared from a Microsoft Teams client.
- Participants on Microsoft Teams have the ability to muffle video integration participants, however for privacy concerns, they are unable to unmute them.
- Participants in video integration can mute and unmute themselves either on the device itself (using the local mute function) or by transmitting the DTMF code *6. (server-side mute). After sending *6, the participant will be presented with a confirmation message on the device.
You will only see a video integration participant’s mute indication turn on in the participant list if the participant mutes themselves using the *6 key combination or if other participants on Microsoft Teams mutes them. (The roster is not kept up to date by the local mute.)
If the mute indicator is activated, the manner in which the participant unmutes themselves can have a variety of effects on the indicator, depending on the sort of calling that the device is capable of:
-
- Cloud calling allows the user to unmute himself locally, which clears the mute indicator that appears in the list of participants.
- Only unmuting by dialing *6 will remove the mute indicator from the roster while using SIP or on-premise calling. (Unmuting a player locally will not remove the mute indicator from their profile in the roster.)
- The Webex interactive voice response (IVR) and splash screens of Webex devices connected through the video integration are localized to the language that is set in the device. In all other cases, the language used is United States English. Devices running Webex that make use of cloud calling or SIP calling are able to offer localization. (requires CE9.14.3 or newer.)
Microsoft Teams lobby
- The process of joining meetings on trusted devices from within your own organization can be streamlined by skipping straight past the lobby in Microsoft Teams. When either of the two following conditions are met, a gadget is regarded as reliable:
-
- It is a Webex device that makes use of cloud calling and has been registered to the Webex organization in which the video integration was deployed.
- It is a device that uses on-premises calling or SIP calling, uses SIP TLS, and offers a certificate that contains one of the validated SIP domains for the Webex organization where the video integration is deployed. This is the type of device.
-
If you use SIP calling to connect to Webex and enable TLS verification, your TLS verification should look for the subject name sip.webex.com. (rather than m.webex.com).
- Callers who try to join a Teams meeting as trusted callers will be directed to the meeting lobby if the Who can bypass the lobby? meeting option is set to ‘Organizers and me’ or ‘People I invite’ by the meeting organizer. Instead of the lobby splash screen that the caller is accustomed to seeing, they will encounter a screen that says “Waiting for others.”
- If you go into the tenant settings for Microsoft Teams and uncheck the option that allows Anonymous users to join a meeting, video integration participants won’t be able to join through the lobby. Participants in video integration who would typically go straight to the meeting room without going through the lobby will still be able to join Microsoft Teams sessions.
Networking
- Traffic is sent directly from the device to the cloud rather than going through any of the Webex Video Mesh nodes when the video integration is being called on.
- The reachability tests that are carried out on devices that have been registered with Webex do not include the specialized media clusters that are required for the video integration with Microsoft Teams. Calls may not go through properly if access is denied to any of the IP addresses associated with the media cluster. The integration makes an effort to use the most suitable media cluster for each contact by taking into consideration the location from which the call originates. However, you are required to grant access to any and all media clusters because the particular media cluster that is used during runtime can change depending on the conditions.