How To Migrate From Webex To Zoom Team Chat

Before you migrate from Webex to Zoom Team Chat, it’s important to work out whether that’s what you actually need.

Sure, your team is using Zoom for video calls already but connecting the chat experience is all too important to rush into changing.

Any migration needs a considerable amount of planning, time, and resources. So, you’ll want to get it right.

Aside from migrating from Webex to Zoom Team Chat, consider these possibilities:

1. Connecting Webex and Zoom
2. Message interoperability between Webex and Zoom Team Chat

If you’ve already reviewed these options, jump to: Migrating from Webex to Zoom Team Chat

Is Zoom compatible with Webex?

Yes, Zoom is compatible with Webex.

At Zoomtopia in 2020, Jeremy Justin, Sales Engineer at Zoom, hosted a session on bringing Zoom into your Cisco environment.

Jeremy walks through options to connect Webex to Zoom data centers, and how SIP Connected Audio links with Cisco CCA.

He goes on to explain how Zoom Rooms can connect with Webex equipment, and covers most of the compatibility use cases for in-room scenarios.

If your problem is outside of the meeting room, i.e. remote working, you might need a simpler integration option.

How do you integrate Webex with Zoom?

There are a number of ways you can integrate Webex with Zoom.

The four high-level options are:

1. Using API connectors
2. Launching Cisco meetings from Zoom Rooms
3. Setting triggers in third-party tools like Zapier

For a run-through of all these in detail, check out this post on how to connect Zoom and Webex.

If you’re looking to specifically connect Webex with Zoom Team Chat, syncing chats using message interoperability is the best option.

Mio’s message interoperability tool connects the messages you send in Webex to Zoom Team Chat.

This means that when you message someone from Webex, and they use Zoom, they still see that message.

The same is true vice versa. You can send messages from Zoom Team Chat to Webex.

And it’s not just messages. Message interoperability includes all parts of the messaging experience – like message threads, edits, files, GIFs, and reactions.

By installing Mio in the background, you can ensure you don’t need to switch between Webex and Zoom based on what each member of your business uses.

Employees can use the tools that they like most, without compromise.

Learn more about Zoom Team Chat interop here.

How to migrate from Webex to Zoom Team Chat

The migration process can be split into three key steps:

1. Data export
2. Transition of contacts
3. Transfer of files

1 – How do I export a Webex chat?

To export chat history from Webex, use the following method.

Assign an employee responsible for the transition at the Webex Control Hub. They will be able to download messages that have been published to Webex. Other than this option, there are no more methods to export and save messages.

Keep in mind that every message is downloaded as a separate .eml file. So you will need to convert them to CSV format later on.

To do this, you need the help of a developer. Here’s the usual sequence of the process:

First, use a PowerShell script to extract the following information from each message:

• time;
• sender;
• recipient;
• and the text itself.

Then save it in a .csv file.

Afterward, this file is opened in Excel and sorted by the date or time of the messages. This is needed so you can read them later in the proper order.

You can also try a handy Python tool called Webex Space Archiver to archive messages from Webex.

2 – Transition of contacts from Webex to Zoom Team Chat

To transfer the contacts from Webex, you need to go first to “My Contacts” in your profile for exporting contacts. This will open a page that looks like this.

Select your desired group of contacts: “Personal Contacts” or “Company Address Book”. Then press the “Export” button. The file with the .csv extension will be downloaded to your computer.

Keep in mind that this exporting method might not work for large companies with many contacts. Here, you could spend considerable time checking and editing the data on users. You also need to ensure that all the information has been exported successfully.

Before you import a contact file into Zoom, you must first make sure that all the necessary user information is in the correct order (email address, first name, last name, department, manager, job title, location, and so on).

Importing contacts into Zoom Team Chat

To import contacts into Zoom, perform the following actions.

1. Login to your Zoom account on the official portal.
2. Go to “User Management” in the menu on the left and select the “Users” subcategory.
3. Click on the “Import” button on the right.

You will see a window like the one in the screenshot below.

4. Check the “Basic” option in the “User Type” category. Then click “Upload CSV File” and import the file with the contacts you exported from Webex.
5. Once you’ve added the contacts, users will receive an email inviting them to join your organization at Zoom.
6. Send out an email to your employees asking them to click on the link provided in the email.
7. Create public channels to welcome employees to Zoom before creating any private channels.

Creating channels in Zoom Team Chat

It takes three steps to create channels in Zoom.

1. Open your Zoom app. In the menu on the left, find the “Channels” button.
2. Click the button, select the “Create a Channel” option, and enter your company name. Mark “Channel Type” as public so that all employees can join without a problem. You can also change the privacy settings and allow external users to be added to the channel.
3. Click the “Create Channel” button.

Team members can now easily join the channel you’ve created. They need to:

1. Open the Zoom app and log in to it.
2. Press the “+” button next to the “Channels” category in the left-hand menu and select the “Join a Channel” option.
3. In the company’s public channels list, press the “Join” button next to your organization’s channel to enter it.

During this period of migration, it’s important to keep users on one platform connected to the other. Failure to do so will lead to excess meetings and countless emails as the chat experience is taken away.

You can use Mio during the migration process to enable your new Zoom team Chat users to stay in touch with your existing Webex users.

By introducing message interop behind the scenes, you can ensure all Webex users can chat cross-platform with Zoom Team Chat users.

3 –  Transfer of Webex files

There is no way to transfer files from Webex to Zoom directly. But, you can do it by using a Zoom feature that integrates with cloud services like Google Calendar, Google Drive Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft SharePoint, and others.

You can manually transfer the files you want from Webex to a cloud service and then integrate it with Zoom. Let’s use SharePoint as an example.

Then the order of your actions will be as follows…

1. First, you need to connect the storage service. To do this, connect Zoom to the files in the SharePoint service. You will need to do the following:

• Open the Zoom portal and log in to your account as an administrator.
• Go to the “Advanced”-”Integration” section of the menu on the left.
• Enable the SharePoint option.

SharePoint is now connected to your company in your Zoom account.

2. Your team members now have access to files on the cloud storage. They can also share those in chats or channels.

All you need to do is:

• Sign in to the Zoom app.
• Log in to a chat room or channel.
• Select the “File” icon and pick “Microsoft SharePoint”.

• Click “Connect” and follow the suggested instructions to log into your team’s SharePoint.
• Specify one of the options in the settings: “Anyone in your organization” or “Anyone with the link”.
• Select the file you want to share and click the browser suggestion to switch to Zoom.

The link will be shared on the channel. Contacts can click the link and view the file in SharePoint.

Do you need to migrate from Webex to Zoom Team Chat?

As mentioned at the top of this article, there is an alternative to migration. Both Cisco and Zoom are committed to interoperability between platforms.

In fact, in December 2021, Cisco and Zoom invested $8.7m into Mio’s message interoperability.

Webex General Manager, Abhay Kulkarni, has said it himself on interview:

“From a competition perspective, if you make the end user’s life easier, competition takes care of itself.”

If migrating from Webex to Zoom Team Chat sounds like an arduous experience you’d rather not begin, embrace interoperability. Cisco and Zoom are. So, why shouldn’t you?

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