Compare and Contrast: Synergy SKY vs. the Competition
Synergy SKY has 3 solutions in 1: Interoperability, Meeting workflow & Management Suite
CONNECT vs CVI, CRC and Google gateway
CONNECT connects any SIP video endpoint to all Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet and FaceTime meetings, including meetings with external invitations without CVI info.
It is specifically engineered to seamlessly connect SIP video conferencing devices with all leading video web platforms, adhering to industry standards. This ensures compatibility not just for today, but for the evolving needs of tomorrow as well.
This Frost & Sullivan award-winning gateway is not another collaboration platform but it is the glue between platforms and different vendors for your SIP video devices. Synergy SKY is the only independent vendor focused on meeting interoperability and multi-vendor support.
CONNECT enables your SIP video devices to connect with one click to all major meeting platforms thereby optimizing workflow and saving costs for businesses. It supports Cisco Webex OBTP and Poly CTJ into Webex, Teams, Zoom, Cisco CMS, Pexip, Google Meet, BlueJeans, Zoom without CRC, and more. While we do not introduce any new plugins or workflows.
To support the nature of ad-hoc and hybrid work Synergy SKY pushes a green button to your video conference room in seconds either you forward an invitation or book a meeting in Outlook or Google calendar.
CONNECT contains a web and video meeting management suite that provides admins the tools needed to run a modern hybrid collaboration environment. Some of its key features include check-in functionality, no-show warnings, platform incompatibility pre-call notice, phonebooks, meeting reports, de-booking of no-show rooms, and more.
The SIP to Microsoft Teams video call interoperability is done by the CONNECT service which handles the real-time media. The Management Suite is easily implemented on your own network with a VM image that can be hosted within most virtualized environments. This way, all CDR and booking data remain safe within your premises.
This “dual implementation” ensures data privacy while providing the scale and flexibility of a cloud service. Please note that the Government solution has a different setup.
The users can continue using Outlook or Google calendar for all meeting scheduling, forwarding, editing, or cancellation of meetings, instead of being introduced to new tools and workflows. It’s as easy as in-person meetings. No training needed.
CONNECT supports all methods of presentation sharing. In meetings between videoconferencing devices and all supported web platforms.
From the Teams / web client to SIP device these methods are supported:
Screen sharing
PowerPoint Live
Whiteboarding
See demo video for presentation sharing
Presentation sharing from SIP video conference device supports both sharing through cable (HDMI, USB-C) and wireless with Webex app, Barco click-share or any other Cisco, Poly, Lifesize etc supported method for content sharing.
Raise / lower hand 🤚
Open participant list
Video lay out control
Chat control. Open or close chat pane
Ad-Hoc video meeting booking (Teams and Webex)
Open Live chat (CC)
CONNECT has a flat per room / SIP device pricing. And all features listed here is covered in one license.
Have as many concurrent calls as you like with no additional costs or overage charges.
CVI
"Cloud Video Interop [CVI] provides an intermediate service while you transition to a full native Microsoft Teams Solution, using Teams endpoints." (Source: Microsoft)
We see this as an one-way solution for full migration to Microsoft Teams.
Synergy SKY CONNECT
Synergy SKY CONNECT enables multi-platform collaboration and creates seamless meeting experiences by synergizing your existing setup. Giving you freedom to connect to all major platforms.
There was four CVI vendors: Webex, Pexip, Poly, and BlueJeans, today Poly and BlueJeans do no longer provide CVI. Their capabilities are somewhat different when it comes to feature parity.
Synergy SKY CONNECT is a new method for connecting SIP devices to Teams meetings, it is not CVI. It is the only solution that provides the same native experience on SIP devices as on web clients. The user will have the same experience from any client.
CONNECT is the only standards-based gateway allowing SIP devices to have back to back meetings across all web platforms.
| Feature | CVI | Synergy SKY CONNECT |
|
SIP to Zoom |
|
|
|
SIP to Google Meet |
|
|
|
SIP to Apple FaceTime |
|
|
|
BFCP Content Share, cable (from SIP video device) |
|
|
|
PowerPoint Live |
|
|
|
Whiteboarding |
|
|
|
Microsoft Exchange, on-prem |
! |
|
|
Cisco, One Button to Push, OBTP |
|
|
|
Poly, Click-to-Join, CTJ |
! |
|
|
Government Internal and External Microsoft Teams Meetings: GCC, GCC High, DoD |
! |
|
|
Fully Hosted Deployment Model (For Secure and Private Cloud installations) |
|
|
|
Native meeting interactions on SIP devices in Teams, Google and Zoom meetings: Raise / Lower Hand. Open Participant list and send emoji's 😀🤚👏 |
|
|
|
Ad-Hoc video meeting booking for both Teams and Webex meetings on Cisco devices |
|
|
|
Open / close chat pane and follow the the chat. |
|
|
|
Join with Meeting ID |
|
|
|
Join Microsoft Town Hall event from SIP device |
|
|
|
Live Captions or "CC" support in all web meetings from SIP |
|
|
|
Dual screen support |
|
|
| ! | Not supported by all CVI vendors, or limited functionality |
Result
CVI is a partial solution where SIP video devices are unable to join all MS Teams meetings. Not able to join Zoom, Google or FaceTime. They also cannot take part in advanced collaborative features such as PowerPoint Live and Whiteboard sharing. CVI is a one-way road into the Microsoft Teams silo.
Synergy SKY gives you the flexibility to join all Microsoft Teams, Google, Zoom or FaceTime meetings and to use both legacy and new video conferencing endpoints as well as meeting platforms from any vendor, today and into the future.
Disclaimer
Feature comparison charts can easily be favored by the author. You need to make the decision yourself and we encourage you to get a demo done today. Then you can make a fact-based decision – including the cost/benefit of your choices.