Finesse Rest API

[tony.pazzard]

Is it possible to use the Finesse Rest Services along side the web interface.

I am no looking to implement 'Click to Dial' functionality within a thick client app (C# and WPF).  I won't need to subscribe to any events - it is just a button which Dials a selected number.

As it looks like the CTI OS is no longer in use is there any other options? Could I use the Web Dialler?

[dekwan]

Hi Tony,

To answer the straight question of "Is it possible to use the Finesse Rest Services along side the web interface.", the answer is yes.

BUT, for a functionality like making a call (Dial a selected number), you need the events to see if it is successful. In the HTTP response section of the Dialog - Create a New Dialog (Make a call) section of the Developer Guide, it states:

202: Successfully Accepted

Note	This response only indicates successful completion of the request. The request is processed and the actual response is sent as part of a dialog notification.

So, if you make a button that JUST uses the make call REST API without the events, you won't know if it was successful. A possible way around it is to poll the User's GET dialogs API to see if the call that was made is in the list (look at the dialed number) or if the number of dialogs increased by one. The problem would be caching, but you can append ?nocache=<unique string> to the end of the REST API request to get around it, but ultimately, I am not sure if that is absolutely 100% reliable. The Finesse desktop DOES use the nocache but not for polling since it is subscribed to notifications. And ultimately, with polling, can always be a delay since its not a good idea to poll every second. So you would have to do some testing to see if the response of the polling will be good enough for your application.

I am sure you already know, which is why you stated it, but you cannot open another connection for the same user to the FInesse Notification Service when using the web interface (which counts as a connection).

Thanx,

Denise

[tony.pazzard]

So is there anything I can communicate via at a lower level?

It appears the CTI OS has hit its end of life - which is a shame :-( as it looks like this will give me exactly what I want.

[dekwan]

Hi,

So is there anything I can communicate via at a lower level?

At a lower level would be integrating to the CTI Server, which is not an easy task.

So if I understand correctly, you have a thick client that you want to add a click to call button. The agents will be using the Finesse desktop alongside this thick client. Can this click to call button be added to the Finesse desktop as a gadget? If you give me more details, I can see if there is a better solution.

Thanx,

Denise

[tony.pazzard]

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me.

We are migrating to a Cisco solution from Avaya.  We have a thick client CRM application which has 'Click to Dial' functionality. The requirement is to have no changes to the business process or UI and still have the same functionality. We do not want to force users to switch between applications to make phone calls.

We have a grid with known contact numbers for an account and the users trying dialling each number, by clicking a button, till they get an answer.

Going direct to the CTI server may not be easy but is the way I am thinking at the moment.  Have been struggling to find any examples!

Cheers

Tony

[dekwan]

Hi Tony,

Thank you for the details. It helps me understand your requirements. To confirm, the agents will be using the Finesse desktop alongside with this thick client CRM application.

In the current CRM application, when the agent clicks the "Click to Dial" button, it dials out to whatever number in the grid, but what is displayed on the page while the call is being made? Does it show when the call is successful or failed?

Since integrating with Finesse using the REST APIs is not incredibly complicated, I would suggest trying out the polling using the User GET dialogs API first to see if it meets your needs. If it doesn't, then you can go the CTI Server route.

There are too many CTI Server examples because people tend to avoid it if they can. It is pretty complicated especially compared to using the Finesse REST APIs.

Thanx,

Denise