Unable to sync the Webex App application to Outlook 2016 Calendar

[MichaelHupe9889]

Would anyone be able to tell me where I can find the info needed to resolve the following issue? 

I can't seem to sync the Webex App application to my Outlook 2016 Calendar. This was working fine when I had the Webex Meeting and productivity plugins applications.

When I, open the Webex App, I do see an option to "connect my calendar" which then only gives me a Microsoft 365 option.

After researching, I was only able to find the following instructions on help.webex.com say:  "If you have a free account and you have administrator rights on your computer, in Webex App, click your profile picture, go to Settings > Outlook > Outlook Settings > Connect to Outlook. Choose Yes in the window that opens, then OK, Close, and Save."

Source for reference: https://help.webex.com/en-us/article/yf1gc7/Webex-App-%7C-Connect-Your-Microsoft-Outlook-Account

These options are not in the Version: 42.3.0.21576 that I currently have on my system.

If I do go under the "Settings" option, the" Connect to Microsoft Outlook" option is greyed out. Under the Webex "Meetings" section, the radio button for "Schedule meetings" option is on Microsoft Outlook.

- The system is rebooted daily, and no change.

- OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise. Version 10.0.19042 Build 19042

Any help is greatly appreciated. 

[MichaelHupe9889]

Thank you @Pando & @Igor Lukic  for your very valuable feedback. Yes, unfortunately, we're not in a position to install the 'Webex Hybrid Calendar Connector.' 

I am hoping that Cisco does in fact do further development on the Webex App, to include this functionality. 

Cheers, 

Michael.

[Igor Lukic]

Hi @Pando,

thanks for your reply. I am not a Cisco employee, but from what I have heard in a session regarding the migration, the main motivation for Cisco was to streamline the calendar integration for all kind of Webex App clients. In the past (i.e. with the old Webex Meetings Desktop App) there were distinct and custom integrations per platform type (e.g. MAPI for Windows), which were complex and it required (and still does as long as they exist) a lot of effort to maintain + the user experience was not the same on all clients in terms of calender integration.

So looking at that it makes sense, although I fully agree with you that deploying the Hybrid Calendar Connector for this sole purpose is too much. It only makes sense, if you want to use the other features, such as the @webex / @meet clientless booking or out-of-office status of other employees.

Here in Germany we are facing another issue with data privacy when deploying the Hybrid Calendar Connector, especially in the health care business, as the Hybrid Calendar Connector will push details from normal meetings to the Webex Cloud, which include patient PII. So as long as Webex is not fully GDPR compliant, this imposes a hurdle to implemt.

But let's look at this from a different angle. For example, I actually do not use the meeting list in the Webex App (but also not in the Webex Meetings Desktop App) at all, as Outlook is my main calendering / scheduling platform. In Outlook I can see all my meetings and Outlook will show reminders, when a meeting is about to start (both Webex and non-Webex). For Webex-based meetings I will also get the pop-up from Webex App, so I can easily join the meeting.

Based on this I am trying to consult my customers to also go for this way and so far I have not received any complaints.

But I fully understand that taking away or changing functionalies is always an intrusive approach with the risk of disappointing users.

I am sorry not have a better answer, but I hope it still helps.

Best regards,

Igor

[Pando · Accepted solution]

To my knowledge, Cisco has never implemented the integration with local Outlook Calendar to the new WebEx app. Currently the connection to Outlook only really works with presence information.

But this functionality is there in the Webex Meetings app where local calendar items show up there! I hope it can be implemented soon in the new WebEx app as well.

[Igor Lukic]

Hi @MichaelHupe9889,

as @Pando pointed out, the new Webex App does not support a direct connect to the local Outlook client via MAPI (as the old Webex Meetings Desktop App did).

In order to get the "old functionality" back, you could implement the Webex Hybrid Calendar Connector. The Webex Hybrid Calendar Connector functions like a broker between your Exchange on-premises environment and the Webex Cloud. It uses EWS to sync calender items from Exchange and push them to the Webex Cloud via HTTPS (the content itself is also end-to-end encrypted use a cloud KMS key).

Please find below the deployment guide:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/cloudCollaboration/spark/hybridservices/calendarservice/cmgt_b_deploy-spark-hybrid-calendar-service.html

The other option would be to use Exchange Online (O365), in that case the Webex App does not connect to your local Outlook client for calendar events, but Exchange Online in the cloud directly.

Best regards,

Igor

[Pando]

Thank you for your reply.

Deploying the Hybrid Calendar Connector is what I'm trying to avoid.

So my question is, why can't the direct connect to the local Outlook client via MAPI be implemented in the new WebEx app?