How to migrate from Cisco TMS to VQ Conference Manager

Discover our proven and highly automated TMS migration pathway that accelerates your move and minimizes risk.

With Cisco Telepresence Management Suite (TMS) going out of support in January 2027, the race is on for organizations to migrate to its successor.

Cisco recommends VQ Conference Manager as the on-premises replacement for TMS. Our product was built in close collaboration with Cisco, and has seen widespread adoption among security-conscious organizations that aren’t allowed to use cloud-connected services.

VQ Conference Manager replicates and modernizes the key TMS functionality, including:

• Scheduling
• OBTP
• Outlook integration
• Device management
• It does a whole lot more besides – learn more on our TMS migration page or explore the full VQ Conference Manager suite.

Proven migration pathway for peace of mind

The Cisco endorsement, large install base, and rich feature-set are just some of the reasons customers get peace of mind when upgrading from TMS to VQ Conference Manager. Another is the carefully refined migration process, which enables you to deliver your upgrade with minimal business impact.

To give you a sense of what your journey will look like, we’ve outlined the key steps in the process below.

Preparing for your TMS to VQ Conference Manager upgrade 

1. Plan your migration 

As with any major IT change, your transition from TMS to VQ Conference Manager will require robust planning to ensure it proceeds smoothly, and solid communication to ensure the relevant people know what’s happening and when. 

2. Check Cisco device compatibility 

Next, make sure your Cisco in-room devices are running software compatible with VQ Conference Manager. At the time of writing, that’s CE version 9.15+ or any version of RoomOS. 

Where necessary, use TMS to upgrade your devices to a supported version of the software. 

3. Get access to TMS, its database, and CUCM 

If you’ll be migrating devices, phone books, or meetings from TMS, you’ll need administrator access to TMS and read-only credentials for its database. You can find the database location using the TMS Tools app in your Windows Start menu. Your DBA or sysadmin will be able to provide login details for the database. 

If your Cisco in-room devices are set up in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM), you’ll need administrator access to this as well. 

4. Create a service account on your Cisco devices 

In line with modern security good practices, VQ Conference Manager requires a service account on each Cisco in-room device. If your devices are currently registered to TMS, you can set this account up in TMS. 

5. Deploy VQ Conference Manager 

Your next step is to deploy VQ Conference Manager. Our deployment considerations video walks you through how to prepare for this process, and you can also get one-to-one support through our Deployment Assist service. 

As part of the VQ Conference Manager installation, you’ll set up firewall access to allow bidirectional communication between VQ Conference Manager and your in-room devices – plus CUCM and Cisco Meeting Servers if applicable. And if you’ll be using VQ Conference Manager’s Outlook integration, then your users’ computers will require access to the VQ Conference Manager server. 

6. Train and certify your teams 

VQ Conference Manager is designed to be familiar for anyone who’s used TMS, so has minimal learning curve. Moreover, the software adds a range of capabilities that help your teams work more efficiently, including powerful device certificate management, and template modules. 

To make your transition even smoother, you can enrol your administrators and operators onto our training and certification programs, to ensure they’re up-to-speed with VQ Conference Manager ahead of go-live. 

Delivering the migration

With the groundwork laid, the next steps depend on what you’re migrating from TMS to VQ Conference Manager. Our team has built a number of tools and connectors to make the transition seamless. 

With the groundwork laid, the next steps depend on what you’re migrating from TMS to VQ Conference Manager. Our team has built a number of tools and connectors to make the transition seamless. 

1. Import your devices from TMS or CUCM 

Your Cisco in-room devices may be registered to CUCM, TMS, or both.  

If they’re registered to CUCM, then VQ Conference Manager’s CUCM Connector will set up a one-way sync from CUCM. This will import your devices, and keep them in sync with CUCM going forward. Lots of customers use both CUCM and VQ Conference Manager, with CUCM as their SIP registrar, and VQ Conference Manager for its powerful device management capabilities. 

If your devices are registered to TMS rather than CUCM, then simply point the VQ Conference Manager TMS migration tool at your TMS database. This will import your devices, including any hierarchy and location data you’ve set up in TMS.  

Once you’ve done your device import, switch off TMS’s ‘Enforce Management’ setting, to prevent it from conflicting with VQ Conference Manager. 

2. Migrate your phone books 

You may also want to bring your phone books from TMS to VQ Conference Manager. Here again, VQ Communications has an automated migration tool, which will maintain the hierarchies and locations you’ve configured in TMS. 

3. Migrate your meetings 

If you’ve been using TMS to schedule meetings, you’ll probably want to migrate all future meetings, to avoid disruption for your users and operators. 

Our meeting migration tool is your friend here. It will import meetings scheduled in TMS to your VQ Conference Manager calendar – no need for users to reschedule anything. 

4. Install the Outlook integration – and inform your users 

If you’ve been using TMS’s Outlook integration for meeting scheduling, VQ Conference Manager provides continuity by enabling this as well. 

Importantly, you have the choice of an Outlook plug-in or an add-in. Organizations that can’t use cloud services typically choose the plug-in, since this enables sophisticated booking operations without the need for Microsoft 365 or Exchange integration – perfect for self-hosted or air-gapped environments. 

Once you’ve installed the plug-in or add-in and are ready to go live, we recommend some internal comms for your end users, to let them know about the seamless integration they’ll enjoy in Outlook with VQ Conference Manager. 

Ongoing support is always available 

Once you’ve successfully moved from TMS to VQ Conference Manager, you’ll have our dedicated in-house support team available to answer any queries you have. This includes 24-hour cover for P1 incidents. You can raise a support ticket at any time by emailing support@vqcomms.com. 

You’ll also have regular check-ins with your VQ Communications Customer Success Manager. They’ll work with you to ensure you’re getting maximum value from your service, and can feed back feature requests to our product team. 

Ready to begin planning your move? Contact us to get started.