Microsoft Teams Rooms will be available for Cisco video devices in the US Army in 2026. Here's what you need to do now.
By Brad Spellman, Solutions Architect, VQ Communications
Where are we today
US Army users wishing to join Microsoft Teams meetings on a Cisco video device today will most likely be using USB Passthrough. This is where the Teams call is hosted on a user's laptop, which is then connected to the Cisco device to utilize its camera, display, and speakers. While this is a workable solution, it isn't ideal. Needing to physically connect laptops to devices at the start of a meeting adds complexity that can detract from valuable call time and doesn't give a native Microsoft Teams experience on the Cisco device.
What's changing
Microsoft will soon add support for MTR on Cisco video devices in Microsoft 365 GCC, GCC High, and DoD environments. This will give the US Army the best of both worlds: access to the premium conferencing experience that users will get with Cisco's market-leading video devices, combined with a familiar Microsoft Teams interface for users. Simply sign in to Teams on the Cisco device and join the meeting from there.
What you need to know about MTR on Cisco devices in M365 DoD Environments
Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro Management portal will enable your admins to manage the Teams environment on your Cisco video devices. However, it isn't the only management tool you will need. The Microsoft portal can't, for example, perform the initial activation of MTR on Cisco devices. Nor is it designed to maintain the underlying Cisco RoomOS software or deploy and manage device certificates.
In non-DoD settings, these gaps are typically filled by Cisco's Webex Control Hub. However, this isn't authorized for use in IL5 situations. Army customers, therefore, need alternative solutions in their environments.
One solution is to administer the Cisco endpoints using manual API calls or command-line inputs. But this means managing each device individually. This can't scale the device deployment sizes that many Army customers have. Busy administrators won't have time to manually manage hundreds or even thousands of endpoints in this way.
Meet VQ Conference Manager DMA
This is where VQ Conference Manager comes in, and specifically its Device Management and Automation (DMA) capability. DMA is already available under the Army GEMSS Voice and Video enterprise agreement, and enables you to:
* Activate MTR on individual or groups of Cisco video devices
* Monitor device-specific status information for MTR in one place
* Maintain and upgrade the underlying RoomOS platform across large device deployments
* Manage device certificates at scale
* Run Cisco video devices in hybrid mode, offering both MTR and SIP Calls
At VQ Communications, we have developed a comprehensive roadmap that includes additional MTR and device management functionality in the pipeline. Each VQ knowledge worker license provides software-based solutions, such as self-hosted and air-gapped conferencing using Cisco Meeting Server (CMS), and hybrid platforms that combine CMS and Microsoft Teams.
What you need to do now
To find out more, please contact your Army GEMSS team and refer to your Army GEMSS community page digital library.