Learn How To Build Applications for Webex Devices

Embedded APIs Let You Extend and Leverage Webex Devices

Webex Devices help teams communicate and create together in real time. The Collaboration devices can be placed in meeting rooms or at desks as described on Project Workplace. Yet, high quality audio and video for successful meetings are not the unique characteristics of these devices: they are also fully programmable! Through embedded APIs (often referenced as xAPI), you can extend and leverage your Webex Room and Desk Device capabilities in several ways:

Create User Interface components to customize the meetings experience, and control IoT devices such as lights, curtains, projectors from the device controls interface.

Configure devices at scale via automation scripts

Initiate, or respond to calls automatically

Deploy code onto the devices themselves, removing the need to deploy external control system

Virtual Simulator: experience a custom In-Room Controls user interface
deployed to a Webex Room Device to control lights and blinds.

In this blog, I’d like to introduce you to the technical resources we recently assembled at DevNet to help developers build applications for Webex Room and Desk Devices.

CE and xAPI Learnings Labs

Whether you’re new to Webex Devices or new to programming, the Introduction to xAPI for Cisco Collaboration Devices learning lab is for you. Indeed, the lab will take you all the way from connecting to the admin interface of your device, and invoking your device’s API from  HTTP clients or Node.js scripts.

Pick a DevNet learning lab and start coding for Webex Devices in minutes

Once you’ve discovered the basics of your Webex Device’s API, you’ll certainly be interested in continuing your journey by taking these more advanced labs:

Creating custom In-Room Controls and Macros

Customizing Collaboration Devices from Code

And if you’re interested in retrieving “People count” metrics from your Room Device’s face detection capability, stay tuned to the DevNet Twitter account for the “Room Analytics” learning lab announcement in the coming weeks.

Webex Room Kit Sandboxes

Wait! You don’t have a Webex Device at hand? Or you don’t have admin or integrator credentials to your device? Or you own a device but don’t feel confident to grow your developer skills on it?

No worries, we’ve got your covered. Starting today, we are happy to announce new reservable sandboxes. These sandboxes are built up from Web Room Kit Devices, and come with multiple versions of the Cisco CE (Collaboration Endpoint) software.

Reserve a Room Kit device for up to a week via the DevNet Sandboxes

In the Collaboration Catalog, scroll to the “Room Kit” sandboxes and click the ‘RESERVE’ button to get instant access to your Webex Device for up to 1 week.

Every DevNet Sandbox comes with detailed instructions to help you code in a snatch

xAPI Developer Community

The good news is that you’re not alone: hundreds of developers have already gathered in a Webex Teams space to share code samples and support one another. Click to join the “xAPI devs” space.  Note that this community has assembled numerous code samples to help you getting started with Webex Devices programming, as well as Postman collections for xAPI.

And don’t forget to visit the Dev Center for Room Devices, as well as the awesome-xapi catalog on Github where community samples, tools, documentation and tutorials are gathered.

Learn How You Can Program for Webex Devices in the DevNet Zone at Cisco Live

There’s a lot for you to see/learn/do in the DevNet Zone at Cisco Live in Orlando.  Check out these sessions, workshops, and learning labs:

New Classroom Session
Integrated, Automated Meetings Rooms with xAPIs and Macros  (DEVNET-2071)
Tuesday: 10:30 – 11:15 am
Join this demo-rich session to discover Cisco CE 9.2.1+ extensibility & programmability
uses cases, from live analytics to branding and custom In-Room Controls.

New DevNet Workshop
Enhancing Meeting Rooms User Experience with xAPIs  (DEVNET-2074)
Monday: 3:30 – 4:15 pm  &  Wednesday: 10:30 – 11:15 am
Get hands-on with xAPI in this instructor-led session where you will implement an
end-to-end In-Room Control Panel & deploy it to a Room Kit’s Touch10 interface.

New DevNet Sandbox: Room Kit
Stop by the DevNet Sandbox (D7) to learn about the ‘Reservation’ sandboxes for CE 9.2.1 and 9.3!  (Tip: Ask our Sandbox team why they placed Avengers, Marvels, & other comics in front of the reservable Room Kit Devices.)

New Learning Labs and Live Demo
Take one of our self-paced labs: “Introduction to xAPI, Personalizing Webex Devices.” Or discover the specifics of the Live React Map (see illustration below) that links to the Room Kits placed at the workshops. You’ll learn how to build interactive maps from the face recognition built-in capability of Webex Rooms Devices.

Live React map displaying real-time people count metrics, captured by RoomKit devices

Webex Devices in the DevNet Zone!
This year, we’ve installed 12 Room Kits that are monitoring live activity in the DevNet Zone. We’ve also installed a dozen Touch10 interfaces so that you can experiment with xAPI, the API exposed by Cisco TelePresence software. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience and learn how you can customize, extend, and program for Webex Devices.

I hope to meet you soon in the DevNet Zone in Orlando, or chat in the “xAPI devs” Webex Teams space.  You can also keep up with the latest from Cisco Live US by visiting developer.cisco.com/ciscolive

Happy coding!
Stève