Webex Teams is one product within the Cisco Webex suite. It gives everyone one space for meeting, messaging, whiteboarding, and collaborating, no matter if you are in the office or at home. Leverage your WFU phone number when calling from within Webex Teams. Download the Desktop app, log in with your WFU credentials, and begin collaborating. The BusinessMessagingBot can create a new Webex Teams space where you can exchange 1-on-1 SMS messages with an SMS-enabled telephone number. This service is available for North American-based numbers without adjusting any voice trunking. To initiate a new messaging space with a mobile number, use the following command syntax. Contact Management in WebEx Teams and WebEx Calling. WebEx Calling currently provides an end-user with the ability to add individual contacts into the personal Directory, there appears to be no way to import. This is achieved through settings.webex.com. Furthermore these contacts can only be searched from within WebEx Calling or a desk phone. This platform allows you to call from Cisco IP phones or from a Webex Teams space. This cloud-based phone service is a great fit for small to mid-sized businesses. Cisco Webex Calling offers you all the advantages of a traditional phone system, coupled with the simplicity of the Webex platform. Meetings automatically become simpler with Cisco.
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 Sony vegas pro 11 keygen authentication code not working. |
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
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.
If you want any further clarifications or have any questions, feel free to contact us now!
The concept of team communication and collaboration has been in evolution for over a decade. There have been several players, but in reality it’s developed into pretty much a two-horse race—Microsoft Teams and Cisco WebEx Teams.
How Did We Get Here?
Cisco developed their Spark team platform in 2015. Their approach is to provide a platform that integrates a cloud-based voice and video suite that can serve as a customer’s primary communications solution. They have recently rebranded Spark and called it WebEx Teams. WebEx Teams brings together their Spark and WebEx technologies.
Microsoft introduced Microsoft Teams in 2017. It serves as the next evolution to their Skype for Business collaboration solution (and Microsoft Lync before that) and is intended to be their default unified communications solution. Microsoft Teams heavily leverages Microsoft Office 365 and other Microsoft solutions and provides a much tighter integration than before.
Feature Similarities between WebEx Teams and Microsoft Teams
Before we start to dissect the differences between the two offerings, it’s worth noting that Microsoft and Cisco have many features in common. There may be some nuance between the features as they are presented by the two solutions, but they’ll be similar. Both are cloud-only applications without an on-premises option, and neither can be single tenant hosted solutions.
Some of the more meaningful similarities include:
Even though the Microsoft and Cisco solutions are similar, there are also several fundamental differences. At the center of their respective approaches is the fact that they each steer the user towards their rest of their proprietary solutions. Microsoft has had the Skype for Business voice and meeting platform. Microsoft Teams includes a next generation voice platform that is even more tightly integrated with Microsoft Office 365. Whereas Skype for Business had both cloud and premises-based solutions, Teams will only offer cloud-based telephony. Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint and a host of other Microsoft tools provide the applications within Teams. The Microsoft Calling Plan provides the PSTN services within Teams should you wish to source these services directly from Microsoft. Cisco WebEx Teams leverages Jabber and Cisco’s Unified Communications Manager and Hosted Collaboration Suite platforms. Cisco provides end-to-end encryptions of all WebEx Teams data, and customers can control their own encryption keys. Cisco encryption addresses the transport of data, but not the storage of encrypted data on devices. Cisco also has federation between different organizations using WebEx Teams, while Microsoft doesn’t yet have intercompany federation. Microsoft relies on their Intune mobile device management and encryption at rest and in motion for device security. Microsoft has made the integration of Office 365 a primary mission within Microsoft Teams. The rich and tight integration has made collaboration, access, and storage within Teams a powerful tool when coupled with their messaging, voice, and meeting platforms. Cisco WebEx Teams leverages their meeting apps and a variety of apps and tools from their third-party partners. It’s important to note that Cisco users will still need productivity tools (i.e. Microsoft Office 365, Google, etc.) coupled with WebEx Teams. This is one area where Microsoft Teams is the clear winner. Microsoft Teams allows you to edit office files directly within the application, while in Cisco WebEx Teams you can only view files. If you already have an Office 365 for Business plan, Microsoft Teams is free. The cheapest plan including Microsoft Teams is $5/user/month (Business Essentials), though of course there are some limitations for add-on licensing with Business Premium. If you want to add PSTN voice services, then you’ll need an Office 365 Enterprise license (starting at $8/user/month). The PSTN voice services do add to the price and require other licenses. Cisco offers several different licensing bundles but know that you will be paying for the full features of WebEx Teams with each. You get WebEx Teams with a WebEx Meetings subscription, which start at 13.50/user/month. Calling services add-ons will also add onto this price, similarly to the Microsoft model. It’s also worth mentioning that both Microsoft Teams and Cisco WebEx Teams offer free versions of these services with limited—but still pretty impressive—functionality included. Microsoft is making Microsoft Teams the focus of their unified communications offering. They’ve made it clear that Skype for Business will eventually be phased out and telephony will be though Teams. At present, you can maintain your Skype for Business environment, but once true feature parity is achieved between Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams, they’ll expect all clients to migrate to Microsoft Teams. Cisco’s WebEx Teams is really designed as the next generation collaboration solution for those with an existing investment in Cisco voice and video endpoints. WebEx Teams is part of the Cisco portfolio. It’s a well-integrated solution with their existing WebEx Meetings offering and their on-premises voice technologies. There are a range of other differences I’ll mention that aren’t significant when it comes to comparing the collaboration features. Security – Cisco uses third-party telco and cloud services and doesn’t manage those locations directly. Microsoft has their own cloud and controls the physical security on their fibers. Service Availability – Based on what I could find, Microsoft offers Teams voice calling in approximately 181 countries. Cisco WebEx Teams calling is in roughly 70 countries. Both are clearly multinational solutions. Audio conferencing with WebEx is in 45 countries, and Microsoft conferencing is in over 90 countries. Federation – Another important note is that neither Cisco WebEx Teams nor Microsoft Teams will federate with one another. It is not currently possible for an organization to integrate a Microsoft Teams environment with a Cisco WebEx Teams environment. The two platforms will not work with one another. You can either run them in parallel (which isn’t practical) or choose one to standardize on. Both Cisco and Microsoft have excellent team collaboration applications. What it boils down to is a fundamental question of your current IT investments. Those organizations that have committed to Cisco voice will most likely want to focus on WebEx Teams. If your organization has focused on Microsoft Tools and Office 365, then Microsoft Teams is a natural fit. The high level of integration, coupled with Teams being free in most cases, makes it beyond compelling. If you don’t have a focus on either vendor and are looking to migrate from an old phone system, then you’ll want to conduct a needs analysis and compare the results to the features of each vendor’s offerings. Both vendors are represented by excellent partners. Find a Cisco and Microsoft partner that specializes in Voice and Collaboration in your geography and engage them to help with determining what’s best for you. Tim Krueger, PEIDifferences Between WebEx Teams and Microsoft Teams
Telephony
Security
Productivity
Price
Teams Free Version Feature Comparison Chart
Microsoft Teams FreeOffice 365 Business PlansOffice 365 Enterprise PlansPriceFreeStarts at $5/user/month annual commitmentWebex Teams Phone Services Disconnected
Starts at $8/user/month annual commitmentGuest Access✓✓✓User limit300300No User limit140+ integrated apps and services✓✓✓
File Storage2GB/user and 10 GB of Shared Storage1TB/user1TB – Unlimited storange per user (varies by plan)1:1 and group online audio and video calls✓✓✓Channel Meetings✓✓✓Screen Sharing✓Sign In Webex Teams
✓✓Scheduled Meetings✓✓Meeting Recordings✓✓Audio Conferencing and CallingAvailable with Add-onsAvailable in more than 150 countries and 44 languages✓✓vWebEx Teams Free Version Feature Comparison Chart
Direction
Other Differences
So…What to Do?
