Web API
Cisco Web API App
The Cisco Wireless Phone ships with the Cisco Web API app to support Web developers. The Cisco Web API app contains the JavaScript extensions necessary to support developer requirements, as detailed in this document. It allows developers to interface with external services and provide links to frequently used websites in addition to providing a way to configure the wireless phones to integrate with an XML application. The Web API provides:
-
A widget to display a set of customer-defined URLs for applications and a special browser (WebView),
-
A custom notification management tool, AlertView, that gives applications the ability to push data or a URL to the phone and have it displayed in the AlertView notification window.
-
Provides the capability for applications to receive notifications of events or poll for status.
The Alertview notification window and the APP URLs widget ensure extended app availability for the Web API app.
By providing two separate activities for both pushed content and content the user has requested, content is separated, and the user does not lose the content that they asked for if pushed HTML content is sent to them:
-
Pushed content is delivered to the user as a standard Android notification, which is displayed in the notification drawer. It is not assumed that all pushed content is more important than the current user activity. Therefore, only Critical priority pushed content will take over the user’s foreground activity and open the Alertview. Lower priority content is queued up and shown when the user selects the notification.
-
User-initiated links in the App URLs launch when the user opens the widget box containing the App URLs. Once tapped, the shortcuts open applications within a browser.
Interaction with other Android Applications
Because pushed content is sent to the Android notification manager the user can choose to handle it when they choose, except in the case of Critical priority content, which will notify the user audibly and will become the foreground activity. Thus, there is no adverse interaction with other running Android applications.
Interaction with Phone Calls
If the user is in a phone call they will not be interrupted by any pushed content except for critical priority content, which will notify them audibly and will take over the foreground activity. For information about limitations to the web API when a third-party VoIP application is used instead of the Cisco SIP application, see Appendix A
Other Browsers That May Be Installed on the Phone
Remember that the end user may have many other apps, including browsers, on their phone. These browsers will not contain the extensions that are present in the Cisco Web API app.
Web Development Overview
Web applications running on Cisco Wireless Phones can be as simple as a list of contacts or as complex as a nurse call system. Cisco Wireless Phones support App URLs, where users can interact with Web pages as they would on a computer.
Development of a web application for the Cisco Wireless Phone generally follows these steps:
-
Planning. Defining the requirements of the application according to the facility’s needs.
-
Familiarization of the capabilities of the Cisco Wireless Phone.
-
Familiarization of the infrastructure requirements of the Cisco Wireless Phones – example: call control (telephony server), wireless LAN, etc. You will need to learn about the components of the entire system to implement your application. This knowledge is obtained through study of the Cisco Wireless Phone Deployment Guide and VIEW Program AP Guides.
-
Application development and configuration requirements development. From your research on the requirements of the infrastructure, you will develop both the application itself and configure the parameters that the wireless phones need to use in order to integrate with the application. The settings will become central to testing your application and ultimately will be deployed along with the application in test and customer environments.
-
The first phase of Application testing and debugging uses the Cisco Wireless Phone hardware, running your customized settings, and other components to mimic a telephony deployment: a simple wireless LAN environment and call server.
-
The second phase of application testing uses Cisco Wireless Phones are deployed in a customer representative wireless LAN test environment. This test setup is detailed in this guide. During this test, applications can be tested for capacity as well as robustness for phones moving on and off the wireless LAN (due to power cycles and out of range movement).
-
The third phase of application testing is done during deployment in a working environment.
-
Launch.
Using XHTML
XHTML, or eXtensible HyperText Markup Language, is a family of XML markup languages that mirror or extend versions of the widely-used Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), the language in which web pages are written. XHTML is HTML 4.01 redesigned as XML.
You should ideally have experience working with HTML and XHTML programming or access to someone who has such experience to benefit from the information and discussion provided in this guide.
For more information, refer to the following online documents:
Note |
You can use whichever development languages or servers you choose, including JavaScript, PHP, Python®, Django®, Tomcat™ or Apache™. Use whichever tools you are most comfortable using, or those that are most supported by your IT department. |