Comment's regarding API Development

[richo2007]

I saw with much interest the new AGENT_API and NON-AGENT_API functionality.
It is a very important step in the right direction.
I have no doubt that we will talk about the project in term of its life before and after the API.

If that API could be extended to a degree where you could separate the development of the Vicidial engine from the web interface, that would be great for the project.
People that ask for more field or a different look could do it on their own.
Some other may feel more comfortable/interested in developing the web part in RubyOnRails or Flex, etc.
Some other may decide to stick to the PHP interface, but feel sure that they will not break the full functionality while changing some parts of the web interface.

On the other side, more time could be then put into improving and extending the engine.
I also think that it would make the API very powerful to be able to process and generate xml instead of the long list of parameters.

I do not know if you took the API step with that in mind, but nevertheless it has enormous potential. Congratulations!!

So, after completing the API development, or maybe during that process, the other frontier will still be to abstract the interactions with the underlying PBX so that Asterisk could be replaced by FreeSwitch or others.

[mflorell]

Wow, you much be following the SVN development closely

Yes, we have had a couple of clients that needed API functionality to execute some agent interface functions outside of the agent interface, as well as add leads to the system through a documented interface. This is where the APIs started and we decided to try to do it the right way(or at least avoiding a single-function hacked-together script).

The API will not use XML if I can avoid it. I find XML to be slow and bloated for what it does and would much rather use a more efficient transport method similar to what Google(another company that has NO love for XML) uses. This is especially important given that potentially the API would need to process hundreds or thousand of transactions per second on a large system.

The APIs are very limited in function right now, but the end goal is to offer control over the agent interface as well as many back-end functions through these interfaces. Just keep in mind that this could take quite a while to finish unless we get a sponsor willing to foot the bill.

[richo2007]

I thought about XML as a way to simplify interactions with a web interface developed, for example in RoR.
JSON would then be another recommendation.
I know that you most likely will stick to the current direction you have taken. Nevertheless, if possible, try to encapsulate the interface so that different formats can be used.