The Enterprise Guide to Connecting Cisco and Poly to Teams and Zoom

Synergy SKY CONNECT is a universal video gateway that enables Cisco and Poly devices to connect to Microsoft Teams and Zoom meetings without changing the user workflow or the room experience.

Unlike solutions that operate their own proprietary meeting platforms, a true universal gateway works invisibly between existing video devices and the meeting platforms users already rely on. It does not compete with Teams or Zoom, and it does not force users into a separate meeting experience.

Instead, CONNECT enables existing SIP video conferencing devices to participate in modern web meetings while preserving the familiar room workflow.

3 Steps to Achieving
Web Meeting Compatibility

Deploying CONNECT is flexible and designed to align with your organization's specific security and architecture requirements. To get started, the gateway simply needs to be configured to communicate with your enterprise calendar and your video devices.

Step 1: Choose Your Deployment Model

CONNECT supports flexible deployment options, enabling organizations to select a model that matches their exact operational, data sovereignty, and compliance requirements:

• Cloud: The fastest path to value—be up and running in a matter of hours.
• Hybrid: Balance local control with cloud scalability.
• On-Premises: Ideal for highly regulated industries requiring total data control.
• Microsoft Calendar: Exchange on-premises, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft 365 for US Government (L2, L4, and L5/DoD).
• Google Calendar: Both Commercial and Federal environments.
• Cisco: Full support for all legacy and modern devices, including the SX, MX, Room, and Board series.
• Poly (formerly Polycom): Full support for HDX, RealPresence Group-series, Trio, and Studio X-series.
• Zoom Rooms: Universal compatibility across major hardware brands running Zoom Room software, including DTEN, Lenovo, Logitech, HP Poly, Yealink, Crestron, Jabra, and Neat.

Step 2: Integrate Your Calendar Service

To ensure a seamless collaboration platform integration, CONNECT integrates directly with your enterprise calendar system. This native connection translates complex invite data into a clean, simplified user interface on the room controller.

Supported calendar ecosystems include:

Microsoft Calendar: Exchange on-premises, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft 365 for US Government (L2, L4, and L5/DoD).
Google Calendar: Both Commercial and Federal environments.

Note on Workflows: These integrations power both Easy JOIN (One-Button-To-Push) and JOIN by ID workflows. Scan to JOIN capabilities currently require Microsoft 365.

Step 3: Connect Your Video Conference Devices

CONNECT offers universal compatibility across legacy and modern hardware. It acts as a dedicated SIP to Teams gateway and Zoom bridge for an incredibly wide footprint:

The End-User Experience: How to Connect to Meetings

Once CONNECT is configured, the technology fades into the background. Users can interact with the room hardware exactly as they always have.

Scenario A: Creating and Joining Your Own Meetings

1. Schedule: Create a meeting as usual in Outlook or Google Calendar.
2. Book: Add the desired video room or device to the calendar invitation.
3. Start: Walk into the room and start the meeting your preferred way:
   • The Green Button: Press the single, one-click button on the scheduled room device.
   • Meeting ID: Enter the Teams or Zoom meeting ID directly on the keypad.
4. Ad-Hoc Joining: If the room wasn't booked in advance, users can still join instantly by dialing the go@joinggw.com and scan the on-screen QR code (Scan to JOIN) or entering the Meeting ID. Learn more on Scan to JOIN 

Scenario B: Receiving External/Incoming Invitations

When an employee receives a Teams or Zoom invite from an external vendor or partner, they don't need to join from their laptop. They can simply forward the meeting invitation to their preferred meeting room's calendar email. CONNECT instantly processes the invite, displaying the one-click join button on the room controller within seconds.

Protect Your Hardware,
Elevate Your UX

Achieving SIP video conferencing integration shouldn't mean compromising on user experience or security. With CONNECT, you retain the hardware you trust while giving users the frictionless Teams and Zoom access they demand.

Ready to see how CONNECT fits into your current network architecture? Contact our engineering team today for a technical deep-dive.

PS: CONNECT also support all other video SIP devices, Zoom Rooms and interop into Google Meet and FaceTime meetings