How to migrate to the Hybrid Room Interoperability module

Due to the legacy Virtual Room Connector (VRC), on-premise service will reach end-of-life (EOL) on October 26, 2024. Therefore, organizations utilizing the Virtual Room Connector will need to migrate to the Zoom Node Conference Room Connector Hybrid service or decommission their current VRC instances

The Conference Room Connector Hybrid module, deployed on Zoom Node, provides services equivalent to the Virtual Room Connector.  It acts as an on-premises gateway for H.323 and SIP devices to join Zoom meetings. The Conference Room Connector Hybrid is deployed as a Zoom Node module and managed in the Zoom administration web portal in the same manner as the Virtual Room Connector but with the additional benefits of the Zoom Node infrastructure. Due to this, it is recommended that organizations upgrade their Virtual Room Connector infrastructure to the Zoom Node Conference Room Connector Hybrid.

This article covers:

• How to deploy a Zoom Node Interoperability module instance 
• How to verify the Zoom Node CRC Hybrid service and Load Balancer service deployments
• Decommissioning the legacy VRC gateway and VRC load balancer

Prerequisites for migrating to the Hybrid Room Interoperability module

• Business, Education, or Enterprise account
• Account owner or admin privilege
• Zoom Node subscription

How to deploy a Zoom Node Interoperability module instance 

When migrating from the legacy Virtual Room Connector (VRC) to the Conference Room Connector Hybrid (CRC Hybrid) service, Zoom recommends that the legacy VRC, including the Load Balancer and VRC gateway components, are migrated to the Zoom Node component by component and verified before decommissioning the legacy environment.

If deploying the Zoom Node instances of the CRC Hybrid and load balancer services using the same IP addresses, the legacy instances must be shut down during deployment and verification.

To deploy the new Zoom Node environment with CRC Hybrid and Hybrid Load balancer services follow these steps:

1. Deploy one or more Zoom Node servers that meet the system requirements for the Zoom Node Conference Room Connector Hybrid module.
   Note: Each Zoom Node server that meets the system requirements for the Zoom Node Conference Room Connector Hybrid module can support one (1) Zoom Conference Room Connector Hybrid module and one (1) Hybrid Room Loadbalancer module.
2. Deploy an instance of the Hybrid Room Load Balancer service. 
3. Deploy an instance of the Conference Room Connector Hybrid service.
4. (Optional) Repeat steps 1-3 for each additional instance of the load balancer and CRC Hybrid service. 

For example, if migrating a VRC deployment that includes two (2) legacy VRC gateways and one (1) legacy VRC load balancer, the deployment steps are as follows:

1. Deploy two (2) Zoom Node servers that meet the system requirements for the Zoom Node Conference Room Connector Hybrid module.
2. Deploy an instance of the Hybrid Room Load Balancer service on one of the Zoom Node servers.
3. Deploy an instance of the Conference Room Connector Hybrid service on each Zoom node server.

How to verify the Zoom Node CRC Hybrid service and Load Balancer service deployments

Before decommissioning the old VRC virtual machine (s), verification testing for both call-out and call-in use cases will need to be carried out. 

If deploying the Zoom Node instances of the CRC Hybrid and load balancer services using the same IP addresses, the legacy instances must be shut down during deployment and verification.

To verify the configuration is working properly:

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. In the navigation panel, click Room Management, then click H.323/SIP Room Connector.
3. Click the Virtual Room Connector tab.
4. Under Enable the load balancer for Virtual Room Connectors, update the IP address or FDQN to the address of the Hybrid Room Loadbalancer service you are testing.
   Note: This step is only necessary if the Hybrid Room Loadbalancer service uses a different network address than the legacy VRC load balancer.
5. From a room system, dial the address of the Hybrid Room Loadbalancer and verify you are routed to the Hybrid CRC welcome screen and prompted to enter a Meeting ID.
6. If successful, administrators can move on to decommissioning the legacy VRC gateway and load balancer.

Decommissioning the legacy VRC gateway and VRC load balancer

Once the deployment of the new Zoom Node CRC Hybrid and Hybrid Loadbalancer module(s) is verified successfully, the legacy VRC can be decommissioned, and all the associated VMs can be deleted.