Unified Communications Web API Made Public -- Visual Studio Magazine

Onward and UpwardKeith Ward, Editor in Chief, Visual Studio Magazine

Unified Communications Web API Made Public

Microsoft has made its Unified Communications Web API (UCWA) public, allowing Web developers to add capabilities to its Lync-based services. Toward that end, Microsoft has created a specific Lync Web Developer site, to educate devs about the API.

"UCWA is a REST API that exposes Lync Server 2013 Instant Messaging and Presence capabilities," says documentation on the developer site. UCWA is free, but to use it, you must have Lync on-premises.

Microsoft envisions UC developers embedding Instant Messaging, chat, presence and other functionality into line-of-business (LOB) apps. Here's a partial listing of what can be done, taken from the site:

Anonymous Web Chat
Support audio conferencing
Light up IM & Presence in your Line-Of-Business app, including Windows 8, iPad, and others
Inline Instant Messaging into your application (Contextual Communications)
Search for Skype and/or business contacts

UWCA is language-agnostic, and uses standard Web technologies like HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Posted by Keith Ward on 03/14/2013

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