Getting Started Roadmap

To get started developing, you must first get a good handle on the Cisco WebEx Integration Platform APIs available, and their relative strengths and utility. It is important to first synchronize your integration goals with a thorough understanding of what is possible. Then, your architectural decisions concerning which APIs to use, and how to use them, will more likely be headed in the right direction from the start.

You should read this section, and download the white papers and view the presentations on the Downloads Page, especially the "Starter Kit", which is comprehensive, covering both Meeting Services and Connect. From there, WebEx recommends you browse the documentation and some of the tech notes before starting any coding efforts.

MediaTone Integration Platform API Summary

The Cisco WebEx Integration Platform APIs and tools enable a wide variety of integration capabilities for enterprise customers, enterprise application developers, and telephony service providers. The following is a summary of some of the key integration areas:

User data management
  • Sign up new user (creating user accounts)
  • Login/logout
  • Activate/deactivate users
  • Edit users
Meeting scheduling and registration
  • Schedule/host/join/impromptu
  • Edit/delete
  • List/add/delete attendees
  • Create/get registration form
  • Register attendee
Manage and access the history of online sessions
  • List/get usage history
  • List recorded access history
Integrate audio conferencing networks
  • Coordinate call-in and call-out options for meeting users, and notification of users entering/exiting the meeting
  • Support muting and dropping calls

 

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There are three distinct APIs exposed by the WebEx Integration Platform available to developers in the MediaTone Developer Program. Reference documentation for these APIs is in the Documents section.
  • URL API: The URL API is based on HTTP(S), and provides a convenient, lightweight mechanism to provide browser-based, external hooks into the WebEx services. The URL API is typically used in enterprise portal integrations to support basic interactions such as Single Sign-On (SSO), scheduling meetings, starting and joining simple meetings, and inviting attendees and presenters.
  • XML API: The XML API is a comprehensive set of services supporting most aspects of the WebEx services, including detailed user management, comprehensive scheduling features, attendee management and reporting, and more. The service responds to XML "request" messages sent via HTTP Post operations from external applications, and returns an XML :response" message back, indicating an action was taken or returning requested data. This is the preferred mechanism for application-level integration. Because data is returned in XML messages, the receiving application is free to parse, utilize, and present the data any way desired; in contrast, the URL API will generally present a WebEx service page back to the user showing the requested information.
  • Teleconference Service Provider (TSP) API: The TSP API is a full-featured XML-based interface to allow integration with audio conferencing networks. The integration architecture supports redundancy, fail-over, and load balancing, and provides robust features to tightly integrate the audio conferencing capabilities with telephony management and provisioning in the WebEx environment.