With video conferencing, platform flexibility is very important to help you maximize your investment and meet customers and collaborators where they are with the minimum friction.
Zoom Rooms is one of the most popular video conferencing platforms. Microsoft Teams is also one of the most popular video conferencing platforms. It’d be nice to have access to both without needing to invest in two separate systems.
Can you use Zoom Rooms video conferencing equipment in Microsoft Teams meetings? Yes.
This blog introduces Zoom Interop for Microsoft Teams, which lets you join Teams meetings from a Zoom Room on a wide variety of devices.
What is Zoom Interop for Microsoft Teams?
Zoom Interop for Microsoft Teams is a method of joining Teams meetings from Zoom Rooms for Windows/macOS and Android/iOS devices, as well as Zoom Rooms Appliances like video bars. You can also use Zoom Phone and Zoom Whiteboard for Microsoft Teams.
To get started, you need to download the Microsoft Teams app from the Zoom App Marketplace (external link). You’ll then accept the permissions and be redirected to your Microsoft Teams account, where you have to enable permissions and add the Zoom account to a Team.
You then have to enable third-party video conferencing for Zoom Rooms. For complete instructions, visit Using Zoom Interop for Microsoft Teams in Zoom Rooms on the Zoom Support site (external link).
You can invite a Zoom Room to a Teams meeting via calendar invitation. Once the Zoom end has been invited, the meeting will show up in the schedule. You can then join the meeting like any other meeting. You’ll be able do most in-meeting things like start/stop video and share content.
There are certain limitations. The Zoom Room can only use one camera, one microphone, and one speaker during a call. If you have multi-device system, the wrong camera, mic, or speaker might be automatically used and cannot be change. The Teams meeting won’t show on more than one display.
On the Teams end, you can’t use Zoom Interop with free or government Teams accounts. You’ll need to allow anonymous participants. You might also need to configure firewall settings.
For more information and troubleshooting tips, visit Using Zoom for Microsoft Teams (external link) on the Zoom Support site.
What Zoom Video Conferencing Equipment Can Be Used with Microsoft Teams?
Zoom Rooms devices that currently (April 2024) support joining Microsoft Teams meetings include models from Logitech, Poly, and Yealink. For an up-to-date list, visit Supported Zoom Rooms Appliance Devices on the Zoom Support site (external link).
Be aware: The device will need to be running the proper firmware version. Check the link to the Zoom Support above for up-to-date information.
One final thing: You can also do this in the opposite direction. You can join a Zoom Meeting from Microsoft Teams video conferencing equipment… but that’s a blog for another day.