Does Express Talk interact with applications, or has API

[knowledgestudent]

Hi there,

first I want to thank you for the great work,

 

does the Express Talk soft phone has some kind of APIs, or in another word can I integrate the express talk soft phone with a developed application in java as an example,

 

I need my application to be able to start the soft phone, when the user log in to the application, and keep the phone running in the back ground, ( in the tray, but not active application)

 

if there is an incoming call, the user can click to answer from my application, in short: the answer button actually acts as hitting the answer button in the Express soft phone.

 

that could be implemented either using a specific APIs for the phone or another way of controlling the buttons of the phone

the goal is to use the phone in the back ground and allow the application to be the interface to the user,

 

hope somebody can answer me

 

Thanks in advance

[pythonpoole]

Yes it does have a kind of API.

 

Instead of building a proper API, Express Talk uses command line arguments to handle requests from external applications. I actually prefer it this way because it is much easier to interface with the software (at least for me), the disadvantage is you cannot get any status report or information back from Express Talk, you can only send commands and assume they have worked correctly.

 

 

Executing a command from your program will not cause Express Talk to open twice, it's smart enough to handle any command arguments just like an API call in real-time.

 

From the website, here are the possible commands:

-dial [number]

This will dial the SIP number you enter in the "[number]" parameter.

 

Example: "C:\Program Files\NCH Swift Sound\Express Talk\talk.exe" -dial "17000000@sipphone.com" -hangup

This hangs-up the current call

 

-answer

Answer an incoming phone call.

 

-hold

Puts the current call on hold.

 

-offhold

Takes the on-hold call off hold. If there are multiple lines on hold, calling this multiple times will cycle through all on-hold calls.

 

-dtmf [key]

This sends a DTMF tone down the line during a phone call. For the "[key]" parameter, you can use any numbers from 0 to 9 inclusive, as well as * and #.

 

-hide

Hides the window of Express Talk.

 

-show

Reveals the Express Talk Window

 

-logon

This starts Express Talk (if it is not open already) and minimizes the program to the system tray.

 

-exit

This closes Express Talk (complete exit).

 

To open an existing Express Talk instance at any time simply run the "talk.exe" executable file (or use the -show argument from above).

 

Example: "C:\Program Files\NCH Swift Sound\Express Talk\talk.exe"

You can also combine mutliple commands to save time, for example, make sure the application is hidden when answering by using:

talk.exe -answer -hide

[knowledgestudent]

Thank you very much for replying,

that were a great news ,

 

Thanks for your effort

[borrman]

Hello! How will I know that the call was accepted? I want to use only command-line parameters.

[pythonpoole]

You won't. As I pointed out earlier, you cannot use the command-line control interface to poll status requests from Express Talk. In other words, it is entirely a one-way communication system.

 

A possible solution (a bit far-fetched):

If you use the Windows API calls for handling GUI elements like textboxes and buttons, you may be able to get the text from Express Talk's status window (you would first need to identify the Window handle of the Express Talk window either by class, or better yet, using it's window 'title' name)