Webex Meetings

Side Effects: Enabling the API On a Site

While the task of enabling the API for access is easily accomplished, it is important to understand the effects of enabling the API on your site or your customer's site. A brief summary of how the Webex Meetings API can affect a site is given below. Also, see the section on how changing various settings through the Site Admin tool can affect the Webex Meetings API.

MyWebex Meetings Profile

When APIs are enabled for a site, the Password Setting under the My Webex Meetings Profile link is disabled by default. This is to maintain the data integrity of user login credentials that are managed and issued externally to the Webex Meetings site. It prevents users from changing their password in their profile, which would break the API login mechanisms. If you wish to restore the Password Setting, you can enable the setting. Allow the user to change password even if Auto Login APIs are on option in the Security Options area under Site Preferences in the Site Admin Tool.

When APIs are enabled for a site, the Login Assistance button is disabled by default for similar data integrity reasons, as described in the preceding section. This can be re-enabled by the setting Allow user to change password even if Auto Login APIs are on option in the Security Options area under Site Preferences in the Site Admin Tool.

One-Click Meeting desktop icon

When APIs are enabled, and the integration uses login credentials that are not known to a given user, the user may find that when they launch a One-Click Meeting, they are not able to login. If One-Click Meetings are desired, users must have access to their Webex Meetings site and also know their Webex Meetings login and password.

Access Anywhere Installation

When APIs are enabled, and the integration uses login credentials that are not known to a given user, then the user find that they cannot successfully install Access Anywhere. If you want users to be able to do this, they must have access to their Webex Meetings site and also know their Webex Meetings login and password.

Enterprise Edition

When a site has multiple Webex Meetings services enabled, the API integration must be careful to select which service is "active" when issuing URL API calls. Service type selection is implemented using the Set Service Type call (AT=ST) on the My Profile Page (o.php).

Meeting Listings

By default, meetings created through the API are only viewable in the Meeting Calendar of the Webex Meetings site for the host who created them. However, there is a flag in the various Webex Meetings URL and XML API schedule meeting commands that will change this behavior and allow the meetings to be listed for all.

Invitation Emails

By default, when scheduling a meeting through the Webex Meetings API, no invitation emails are sent to invited attendees. This behavior can be changed using a flag in the various URL and XML API schedule meeting commands. Reminder emails are also available through an option flag.

"Why am I getting Access Denied?" error message. With the URL-based API, an Access Denied error message is an indicator that Webex Meetings does not know who you are. When a host is logged in, either through the Webex Meetings interface or through the Webex Meetings API, a session cookie is created and attached to the browser. That cookie is used to authenticate the host as they access Webex Meetings features or API calls are made. If there is a period of more than 30 minutes of inactivity, the cookie disables and the host must log in again. If the host does not login again, they will receive the Access Denied message. A workaround for URL API calls, is to precede any request with a login command (AT=LI). This issue does not affect the XML API because every XML request contains authentication information in the security context of the request.

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