Still using Cisco TMS? Here’s what you need to do now

If you’re using Cisco TelePresence Management Suite (TMS), listen up.

Steve Holmes

• 18 November 2025
• 7min read

You probably know the product is end-of-life. Your final chance to renew is the end of January 2026, and the last day of support is 31st January 2027. That’s in just over 12 months’ time – a blink of an eye in enterprise technology terms.

If you’re able to use the cloud, then Webex Control Hub is your natural choice for device management. However, cloud-based solutions aren’t an option for everyone, particularly in high-security environments such as government and defense.

If this applies to you, do you have a plan for how you’ll replace TMS’s device management and/or operator-led call scheduling, while remaining fully self-hosted or air-gapped? More importantly, do you have genuine confidence in your plan, and the software you’re switching to?

If not, there’s still time to put things right, and ensure you sleep easy as you migrate away from TMS ahead of the deadline.

Let’s look at why this migration is so important, and the questions to ask of potential software vendors.

(And if you want the TL;DR version, then the natural and low-risk choice as you move away from TMS is VQ Conference Manager, the Cisco-recommended successor to TMS . Contact us today to discuss your needs and arrange a demo. To find out why, read on.)

Why you need to get this migration right

Whether you’re a large enterprise, government agency, or defence organization, TMS will be underpinning critical operations. Your teams will be holding vitally important meetings, discussing matters of commercial sensitivity, public safety, or even national security.

With these sorts of conferences, you need to be absolutely sure the replacement for TMS is proven in environments similar to yours. You also need something genuinely future-proofed, to ensure you’re not switching products again in the near future.

Right now, that means asking questions such as:

• Can the software scale to support your current and future needs?
• Who else is using the software, and how long have they been using it for?
• Is there a well-trodden migration pathway?
• Is the vendor committed to ongoing development, evidenced through a product roadmap and track record of regular releases?
• Does the vendor offer an enterprise-class support function, to deliver responsive help as soon as you need it?
• Is the vendor a Cisco Solutions Plus partner, for added assurance and ease of procurement?

Perhaps most importantly, is the product explicitly recommended by Cisco as a replacement for TMS?

The enterprise-grade TMS replacement – recommended by Cisco

The VQ Conference Manager platform has been used by large enterprises and government/defense organizations to manage large-scale, mission-critical, self-hosted conferencing for 15+ years. A single VQ Conference Manager server in a live customer environment has been proven to support more than 35 million call minutes in a single month.

Device Management and Automation (DMA) is the part of VQ Conference Manager for on-premises management of Cisco video devices. DMA also has a large install base and can scale to support tens of thousands of devices across multiple deployments . It empowers busy administrators and technicians to sustainably roll out and maintain Cisco video devices at enterprise scale.

Crucially for your peace of mind, Cisco has validated VQ Conference Manager and explicitly recommends it to customers who are replacing TMS on-premises (see the TMS end-of-life announcement on the Cisco website, where VQ Conference Manager is only recommended product capable of replacing all key TMS functionality). What many don’t know is that VQ Communications was closely involved in planning the end-of-life timetable with Cisco, based on when our software would be ready to take over. We’ve even heard Cisco refer to the product as ‘Control Hub for on-premises’.

A proven TMS migration pathway

Upgrading a strategically important part of your enterprise IT is a significant undertaking. That’s why we’ve developed and refined a robust migration process, based on learnings from the many TMS to VQ Conference Manager upgrades we’ve helped customers deliver over the years.

As part of this, we’ve created tools to migrate:

• Devices
• Phone books
• Meetings

This gives you priceless peace of mind that you’ll be following in the footsteps of dozens of customers who’ve successfully made the step from TMS to VQ Conference Manager.

Replacing and enhancing key TMS functionality – and so much more

As the successor to TMS, it goes without saying that VQ Conference Manager replaces and modernizes the key scheduling and device management capabilities you know from TMS. But it does so much more – you can explore the full suite of VQ Communications products on our website.

Let’s briefly touch on the core TMS replacement functionality.

Meeting scheduling – support sophisticated meetings at scale

VQ Conference Manager includes advanced meeting scheduling and management tooling, to support enterprise-grade managed conferencing. This includes our fully redesigned operator interface, which can support complex, scenario-based calls (ask us for a demo!)

One Button to Push for CMS, Webex, and Microsoft Teams CVI

The software also includes support for One Button to Push on Cisco video devices, making it quick and easy for users to join meetings hosted on platforms such as Cisco Meeting Server, Webex, and Microsoft Teams CVI.

Cisco video device setup tooling – including address books and macros

VQ Conference Manager’s Device Management and Automation (DMA) includes the tools your administrators need to deploy large numbers of Cisco video devices.

Import devices from TMS, label them, manage their configurations with templating and settings groups, set up address books, and deploy macros and RoomOS web apps. Discover more about these capabilities on our Device Management and Automation product page.

Run Microsoft Teams Rooms on Cisco video devices

With many organizations looking to combine Microsoft Teams with the high-quality video conferencing experience you get with Cisco video devices, VQ Conference Manager DMA lets you have the best of both worlds. Run Cisco devices in Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) mode, including in environments where devices cannot be connected to Webex Control Hub.

Maintain video devices at scale – including advanced certificate management

DMA is there with you for the long-haul. Tools to manage firmware upgrades and certificate management at scale, including the ability to deploy one or more certificates to individual or groups of devices, are included as standard. As admins will know, this eliminates one of the most time-hungry tasks when it comes to managing enterprise-scale device deployments.

You’ll also find comprehensive healthcheck and troubleshooting tools.

Cisco device analytics

Monitor how devices are being used, spot trends, and get alerts when things may be going wrong, so that you can intervene proactively before users are affected. Learn more about VQ Conference Manager Analytics.

A detailed product roadmap and regular release cadence

We reinvest heavily in product R&D, and have a detailed roadmap driven by customer requirements. We have new releases at regular intervals, so the product continues to develop in line with the latest customer needs and new technology developments.

Both Cisco device management and operator-led conferencing are key pillars in our development strategy.

Designated support function

Software underpinning important enterprise functions needs enterprise-grade support. If something goes wrong, you need to know there’s a robust, well-oiled support machine ready to kick into action to help you resolve it.

At VQ Communications, we have a designated in-house support team, staffed by developers who genuinely know the software, and have close ties with the product development team, should they require extra assistance with support queries. This means that whenever you get in touch, you can be assured of a quick response from people who know the product inside out, to help answer your questions.

Time for your demo?

Making the switch away from Cisco TMS may seem daunting. But with VQ Conference Manager, you have a proven product, with dozens of happy ex-TMS customers running on it. Moreover, it’s backed by a business that’s geared up to support enterprise-scale IT migrations, and offer the sort of robust support that’s essential for a system that’s going to be underpinning a critical part of your operations. And because we’re a Cisco SolutionsPlus partner, you can buy VQ Conference Manager direct through Cisco, via the Global Price List.

Contact our team today to discuss your needs and arrange a demo, and we’ll get you safely on your journey from TMS to VQ Conference Manager ahead of the end-of-support date in January 2027.