Worse though is that there is no real support for Parlay/X in the IP PBX market—we do not know of any vendors who support it at the current time. However, if application vendors begin pushing into this space, or if enterprise IT developers start clamoring to expand their applications into cellular networks, there is some likelihood that the mar-ket will adapt to those demands.
About a dozen IP PBX vendors currently ship Web service interfaces to their systems, but most of those interfaces are aimed at administrative tasks, such as managing the users and phones attached to those systems, or configuring the PBX itself. We could only find three products capable of performing rudimentary call-management tasks through a Web services interface to their IP PBX: Avaya's Application Enablement Services, Sphere Communications' Sphericall and Siemens' HiPath 8000.
Cisco's line of IP PBX systems does not yet have the ability to manage calls through a general SOTA interface, although the company does make use of Web services for some configuration and administrative tasks. It is theoretically possible to use some of these interfaces to emulate a phone device in software and achieve rudimentary integration, but this is not documented and probably would not provide sufficient functionality. Furthermore, Cisco representatives we spoke to said that their short-term strategy was to continue consolidating various acquisitions around common local in-terfaces, while relying on third-party vendors like Metreos to provide additional development tools and services. But while Metreos does indeed have a compelling CTI development platform, it does not have a suitable SOTA interface as of yet. Meanwhile, BlueNote Networks says that it is developing a SOTA interface to its IP PBX line, but it would not allow us to examine the interfaces or its documentation.
SPHERICALL WEB SERVICES
Sphere Communications offers the most comprehensive SOTA interface that we saw, in the Web services SDK for it Sphericall IP PBX.
Sphere exposes Sphericall IP PBX services through a SOAP-compliant WSDL interface and provides a lightweight, synchronous messaging interface, optimized for end-user development. Developers can access third-party call-control, conferencing, call-recording, presence and status, instant messaging, number lookup, and call-history lookups. Sphericall Web services also provide some administrative and event notification functions. Multiple Sphericall PBX systems can be clustered, and third-party devices can also be connected through the TAPI and SMDI local interfaces.
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