Microsoft and Cisco have long been rivals, but now a new collaboration points towards the thawing of their distaste. The two technology giants have collaborated to create Cisco Meeting Server.
The service takes meeting rooms and connects them to each other via Skype for Business. Though unusual, the combination of Cisco's solid reputation for long-distance calls and Microsoft's own expertise could create software that is hard to beat.
Benefits of Cisco Meeting Server
In its announcement blog post, Cisco mentions several benefits:
“A consistent, familiar meeting experience. No matter what you are joining from, you'll have a familiar look and feel. That's important as most users will join from a video room one day, and a mobile client the next.
Better bandwidth use. In the past, video conferences that connect multiple offices have sometimes led to high bandwidth bills. Cisco Meeting Server reduces these costs by optimizing bandwidth use between sites.
Lower costs. We intentionally built Cisco Meeting Server to work best with lower-cost, standard Cisco UCS® hardware. This gives you flexibility to add servers as needed and keep initial costs low.
Virtually limitless meetings. The product can support small organizations with only a few users to global enterprises with tens of thousands of users.
A simple user-based licensing model. Companies can buy the services they need now and add as the organization grows.
A focus on security you expect from Cisco. Cisco Meeting Server adheres to the most stringent security models.”
The collaboration between the two firms could mark a positive future going forward. It shows that by working together, companies can reach customers that were previously unobtainable. With hope, other companies will follow in their footsteps and begin to forge positive relationships that will benefit consumers.
Cisco Meeting Server is available to order now, and more information can be found on the official blog post.