Webex Meetings and Microsoft Teams: Working better together

Challenging transitions

Earlier this year, I was super lucky to have the opportunity to visit some of our very important financial and federal customers in Washington DC, and Baltimore. The goal was to conduct user research in order to understand their needs and challenges. It is always so valuable to hear customers’ motivations, opinions, and how they use our product firsthand! Webex Meetings and Microsoft Teams

Of course, as a product manager, it is rewarding to hear the things that our customers love about Webex: how easy it is to schedule and join a meeting and to easily share content. But, it’s also important to hear the things they would love to see in the future and how they would like to see the product evolve. The customers we interviewed have end-users that use Webex Meetings for all types of different interactions: one-on-one meetings, team meetings, workshops, training, quarterly reviews, and company all-hands. Most use multiple third-party applications before, during, and after their meetings, and the biggest pain points they shared were around those transitions.

Simplifying customers’ day in the life Webex Meetings and Microsoft Teams

We asked our customers to tell us about their typical workday and it was very interesting to see how many different applications they use to get their jobs done. For example, one manager told us that many of her meetings are impromptu as a result of a 1:1 or a group chat. So, for her, switching from her messaging app to starting a meeting on Webex happened many times a day. Everyone we talked to told us how important it is for them to be more efficient and ensure that the tools are simple to use and provide flexibility for their end-users.

Webex has one consistent and simple join meeting experience and the best mobile experience on the market, and now we are making sure that it is integrated with our customer’s preferred third-party collaboration tools. In my last blog, I shared how our integrations team has been building bridges for Webex and delighting our customers with a seamless end-user experience. Today, I would like to tell you about another great project that has been in the works: the Webex Meetings for Microsoft Teams integration.

Boost productivity by bringing the power of Webex Meetings into Microsoft Teams Webex Meetings and Microsoft Teams

If you use Microsoft Teams to chat with your colleagues, you will now be able to schedule, start or join your Webex Meetings without having to sign out of Microsoft Teams.

Watch the video:

Schedule, start, or join meetings with Webex Meetings and Microsoft Teams

We have created a Webex tab within Microsoft Teams that is super user-friendly. You can schedule a meeting for the channel by selecting ‘Schedule’, then you can fill in all the details in the dialog pop-up. You can even schedule recurring meetings with daily, weekly, monthly and yearly frequency.

You can also start a Webex personal room meeting or a Webex scheduled meeting from the Webex tab. To make it easy, you can invite all channel members by checking the box right under the ‘Start Meeting’ button.

Webex personal tab

To make it even more user-friendly, we also added your very own Webex personal tab, which you can quickly get to from the left rail in the Microsoft Teams app. From there, you can schedule meetings with anyone, whether they are in a channel or not.

Upcoming Webex Meetings list

From the ‘Upcoming Meetings’ list on the right side of the Webex tab, you can join your meeting by clicking on the ‘Join’ button, which will be visible once it’s time to join. If you are the host, then you will also be able to start your meeting from the list.

Notifications in your Webex Tab and in your Microsoft Teams channel

In the Webex tab, in the ‘Upcoming Meetings’ list, if a meeting has started, you can see the meeting time elapsed as well as how many people have already joined the meeting. And when you hover over the ‘People’ icon, you can see their names.

In the Microsoft Teams channel, when a meeting has started from the Webex tab, you get a notification so you can join directly from there.

And when the meeting has ended, you get an end-of-meeting notification in the channel.

If you have recorded your meeting, then you will receive a notification in the channel when the recording is available.

Streamlining your day with Webex

By walking in our customers’ shoes from the first coffee and checking that first message of the day until they are ready to call it a day, I learned that streamlining the various transitions that they need to make throughout their day is definitely key to increasing their productivity. That’s why I am so excited to be able to announce this integration! The Webex Meetings for Microsoft Teams integration and many other integrations that we have been working on are creating a cohesive ecosystem with the aim of enhancing our customers’ daily routines.