Microsoft Teams on Android users will be able to join Zoom Meetings as early as June this year.
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The new capability will make it easier for companies using multiple platforms to initiate cross-platform video calls, according to Windows Report, an online publication that mainly covers Microsoft’s Windows platform.
By working together, these two titans of the video conferencing world can improve the user experience for Microsoft and Zoom customers.
Microsoft believes the integration will be a seamless experience for users: “Microsoft Teams Rooms devices support a one-touch experience for joining third-party online meetings, also referred to as Direct Guest Join.
When enabled, you can use Teams Rooms to join meetings hosted on Cisco Webex and Zoom just as easily as you can join meetings hosted in Microsoft Teams.”
“Keep in mind that in this case, the experience in Teams Rooms of the third-party online meeting is driven by the third-party online meeting provider.”
Direct Guest Join
The announcement was made via the Microsoft 365 roadmap, an online record of Microsoft’s upcoming updates to its productivity apps and intelligent cloud services.
In it, Microsoft reveals that Teams Rooms on Android users will be able to join Zoom meetings using an ID and a passcode.
It says the feature will only be available for those with the Teams Rooms Pro license, and the room must be configured to allow Direct Guest to join meetings.
Direct Guest Join is a feature that allows Teams Room users to join third-party online meetings, such as Zoom or Webex, in a single click.
It seems this capability has been in the pipeline for some time. In June 2022, Microsoft introduced the capability that Direct Guest Join would bring Microsoft Teams Rooms to Android users.
Matt Taylor, Director of Product Marketing – Teams Rooms and Devices at Microsoft, wrote in an official company blog post at the time: “Teams Rooms on Android will initially offer interoperability with Zoom meetings, while Cisco Webex and other third-party partners are coming soon to the Android platform.
“This experience began to rollout on May 25 [2022] for Poly Teams certified devices, with Logitech and Yealink fast following, and additional device manufactures coming soon.”
Taylor continues:
Third-party providers like Zoom provide an embedded web experience that temporarily allows Teams Rooms users to join third-party meetings and collaborate more freely.”
Benefits of Direct Guest Join
Time-saving: Direct Guest Join could save meeting participants five or ten minutes with this latest interoperability update. Users will no longer need to waste time setting up separate meetings or resolving connection issues, resulting in faster and more efficient collaboration.
Single-button remote access: Participants will no longer need to access partner platforms, such as Zoom, from their computer’s application if they switch from Teams Rooms. Equally, users will not need to open the Teams application from their computer if logged into Zoom. The changeover between applications can be enacted via a single button within Teams and other meeting providers to access the other.
Video conferencing experience: The new functionality makes it a more effortless and fluid collaboration experience for users, removing connectivity barriers between remote workers.
No extra costs: Users will not need to buy additional licenses or third-party services (provided you have a Teams Rooms Pro license).
