Interoperability? What are the options?

In the age of the telephone, making a call was as simple as dialling the desired number and getting connected.

With the introduction of video calling 30 years ago, that telephony principle continued to be followed, as long as you had a set of ISDN lines, then it was extended into dialling via IP address or URI if you deployed video over IP using H.323 or SIP protocols governed by a global standards body known as the IEEE.

But then came along Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, GoTo Meeting, Webex and other platforms with a “meet-in-the-middle” principle. Each of these cloud platforms was developed without any real reference to international standards and became “islands” of interoperability in a race for global dominance.

The challenge became the abundance of incompatible systems! Users often imagine that they can naturally call someone using their video system, even if they are on another platform. Usually, they find that it doesn’t work at all, and even if it does, it comes with complications or limitations that inhibit communication, whether that be poor quality or reduced features.

In came CVI and CRC !!.

Microsoft Teams has become the dominant player, with over 300 million monthly users and room systems natively registered to the Teams platform are growing in popularity and outstripping all others. Zoom, however continues to be very popular in academic circles and amongst those smaller organisations who haven’t truly returned to the office after the pandemic. MS Teams Room systems (MTRs) and Zoom Rooms systems (ZRs) now co-exist alongside older standards-based video conferencing systems. Until the advent of gateway interoperability licences, all these systems lacked the basic capability to directly call each other.

Cloud Video Interoperability (CVI) licences hosted by Microsoft were introduced over 7 years ago allowing SIP systems to be invited inbound to a pre-scheduled Teams conference and likewise Zoom’s Conference Room Connect (CRC) licence allowed SIP invitations into a Zoom conference, with the added advantage that Zoom users could also call outbound to a SIP URL address.

The missing link!

More recently Microsoft relaxed its “meet-in-the middle” policy, allowing Teams Desktop and Room users to be directly called without having to schedule a meeting in advance. That feature has now been exploited by primary CVI licence provider, Pexip, who’s SIP and H.323 registered users can now simply dial into a Teams Room or receive a call from one.

With the latest Pexip licencing from VideoCentric, this seamless integration for all your legacy SIP and H.323 room systems, allows your migration to occur at your pace rather than being rushed into it through non-interoperability issues. The end-of-life announcement by Poly of its RealConnect CVI service in July 2023, is an additional opportunity to discuss Pexip alternatives through VideoCentric, Pexip’s first UK reseller back in 2014.

Contact us today and let’s chat about your interoperability options!!