TAPI Windows and Web APIs Integrations

TAPI (Telephony Application Programming Interface) allows out-of-the-box integrations with many applications (such as Microsoft Outlook) and call center software (such as VoxTron).

TAPI is an abstraction layer that can interact both in ICC mode (controlling, in this case, only one device) or ICS mode (controlling many devices at once). The number of advantages provided by ICS mode justifies the selection of a PBX that supports it.

The huge advantage for software houses that are considering using TAPI is that, once the integration is completed, it can be used with numerous PBXs already on the market.

TAPI’s most basic feature, which is also supported by most PBXs, is dial. More advanced features include call answering and disconnecting a call.

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Whatever Happened to WebRTC?

Touted at one time as a technology that would revolutionize communications and collaboration, has WebRTC succeeded?

Originally developed and released by Google in 2011, WebRTC provides a set of javascript libraries that turns any web browser into a rich media client capable of supporting voice, video, and screen sharing. Today, WebRTC is supported in virtually all leading browsers including Apple Safari (version 11), GoogleChrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera.

Since initial development, the use cases for WebRTC have rapidly grown. What was once envisioned as a technology simply to enable browser-to-browser communications sessions has emerged as a viable interface for unified communications applications including telephony, videoconferencing, web conferencing, and more. Continue reading “Whatever Happened to WebRTC?”

Integration Via Communication Server

Using a centralized approach of integration via communication server ICS (Third-party Call Control) solves all the previously described issues (Integration Scenarios for a Communication System). In this scenario, our communication server tracks all the events, which is the most professional approach. It can work for both hosted and local deployments of the communication system.

URL / Application Pop-ups (ICC / ICS)

The simplest integration mode is to open a web service (like CRM) or an application and pass relevant parameters to it.

For example: https://www.somecrm.com/customer.php?number=123123123&direction=outgoing

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Integration Scenarios for a Communication System

There are two integration scenarios that can be used for the implementation of your integration. The first is by connecting to the solution’s server (the server is the call router and IM manager). The second is by connecting to the client (the endpoint where the user interacts with the system).

We’ll investigate these integration scenarios in more detail in the next blog articles. Let’s start by discussing what parameters can be integrated.

What parameters can be integrated?

The following are the typical parameters that can be passed between the UC server and the application:

Events (sent by the UC server to the application)

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Integrations: Buy or Develop?

This time we will analyze whether it is better to buy or develop integrations. Many communication systems already provide integration with software and it is not always reasonable to develop it. On the other side, if a solution is not compatible with your requirements, then it is better to consider developing.

These integrations can be realized via built-in modules, third-party services, or middleware applications.

If the requirements above are met (Determining Integration Requirements), there is no reason to develop integrations from scratch.

To find out more about the available PBX or UC solutions, consult the website or marketplace of the application with which you want to integrate.

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