Cisco announces new Microsoft and Samsung conferencing partnership
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Key notes
- New integrated video collaboration solutions for Cisco Room series will feature Microsoft Teams Rooms with Front Row, and Samsung’s Smart Signage displays.
- The partnership will give all meeting participants—remote or in person—an inclusive hybrid meeting experience with the best view of each attendee.
- Purpose-built Cisco devices for Microsoft Teams combined with Cisco verified displays from Samsung make it simple for IT teams to deploy and manage at scale.
Earlier this week, networking manufacture Cisco announced a new partnership amongst itself, Samsung, and Microsoft that results in a new 105-inch conference monitor with Teams support.
Cisco provides its own collaborative platform titled Cisco Room which represents a ‘smart video conferencing’ solution for hybrid work environments. As part of its Cisco Room’s push, the company also provides a handful of CR authorized devices that include Room Bars, Kits, Digital Meeting boards, Integrated Room Systems, and other conferencing accessories.
However, Cisco announced that it will lean on a partnership with Samsung and Microsoft to help push some of its new collaborative efforts forward with the former providing new hardware and leveraging the latter’s broader user reach.
Samsung’s 105-inch screen
According to Cisco’s latest press release, the company is promoting Samsung’s new 105-inch Smart Signage monitor (QPD-5K) or its 4K Smart Signage screen paired with Microsoft Teams Rooms platform for a new solution called Front Row that utilizes new content layouts for video conferencing.
Samsung’s newly released 105” QPD-5K model comes with 5K4 resolution and a 21:9 aspect ratio. It provides an intuitive, yet natural video conferencing experience ideal for hybrid workspaces. The QPD-5K is compatible with the Cisco Room Bar and Room Kit Series, creating an efficient meeting environment by integrating camera, audio and all other capabilities required for video conferencing.
Samsung Newsroom
Cisco Front Row
With a 21:9 aspect ratio present on the Samsung monitors, Front Row will enable “immersive hybrid meeting experiences with vibrant colors, in an ultra-slim design.” In addition to enhanced image quality, Front Row will also enable advanced AI-powered collaborative features around camera, mics, and speech intelligence.
The main goal of Front Row is streamlining the often-cumbersome hybrid digital conferencing experience by giving IT admins fully managed solutions through Microsoft Teams Admin Center and Cisco Control Hub as well as new scalability enhancements, and greater interoperability between mixed devices and online platforms.
Many of the feature sets for Front Row are currently in general availability for Cisco Rooms, but support for specific 21:9 displays like Samsung’s Signage monitors will begin circulating March 2024. Cisco will also be showing off Cisco Room Kit EQ and Room Kit EQX features in the coming days.
