In the age of the telephone, it was simple. You just dialed the number of the person you want to speak to, as Alexander Graham Bell intended, and you were both connected. But now, with video thrown into our communications mix, calling video-to-video is a lot more complex.
Therein lies the challenge. Incompatible systems are everywhere. And users will need to find out if, or how, they can call someone directly from their video system.
When video conferencing (for business) initially was introduced, users of standards-based video conferencing systems (often called SIP and H.323 protocol-based systems in geek speak) could contact each other directly, just like we do daily with our phones.
Millions of these video conferencing systems are used everywhere, from board rooms to personal desktop systems. Recently, we've also seen the rise of new video meeting solutions, many reaching record levels of pervasiveness given the urgent need for video during the pandemic that has now become the new way of working, hybrid.
The undisputed winner among these players is Microsoft and Microsoft Teams. More than 300 million people use Teams monthly, and Microsoft has created a range of dedicated Teams Rooms system archetypes. It is easy for an organization to find a meeting room system that works in their rooms, small and large.
Subsequently, organizations now have a mix of Teams Rooms alongside other standards-based video conferencing systems. It's a mix of systems and standards across organizations, and until now, they have yet to be able to call each other directly.
The popularity of Teams and the continued growth of other video calling platforms has resulted in multiple ecosystems that can only connect through the use of unique technology designed to do so. This is where Pexip plays, as the worldwide leader in video conferencing interoperability. Simply put, we make video systems talk to each other. One enabling technology is Cloud Video Interop (CVI), which has existed for years. It provides a solution for users to join Teams meetings using traditional SIP or H.323 devices.
And now, finally, there is a solution that enables the most basic use case for Teams Rooms devices and SIP/H323 systems: calling someone without knowing what kind of system the other party uses. With Pexip, users can now simply go to a Teams Room, dial the address (“number”) of the person they want to call, and hit the call button. The opposite is also possible, meaning that anyone with a SIP or H.323 enabled device can call a Teams Room. You no longer need to schedule a meeting in advance to call your colleague, reseller, vendor, or friend.
You can call directly between Teams Rooms and SIP/H.323 devices; in both directions, you can also use a Teams Room to join a SIP-enabled meeting – such as Webex, Zoom, Goto, or a Pexip meeting. In fact, with Pexip, you can even join Google Meet meetings, so you get the best possible mileage out of your Teams Rooms.
With Pexip inside, there's a way for all your rooms and systems to work seamlessly together, so you can call whomever you want, whenever you want, on video too.