Configure a persistent web app on Webex Room Navigator

The Cisco Webex Room Navigator allows you to run a third-party web application on your Cisco Webex meeting room and communicate workplace guidelines and information through it in the same way as your company uses its own custom solution.

There is no way for end users to dismiss the app that appears on the entire screen of the Room Navigator, replacing the majority of the RoomOS user interface.

There is also support for this feature on the Room Navigator that is remotely paired via the network to a Room Series device that has been registered in the cloud. In order to use the Room Navigator, you must pair it directly with your computer.

Before you begin

• You will have to reset the Room Navigator to factory defaults if the device is already paired with the Room Navigator.

• Before pairing the Room Navigator to your device, ensure that any proxy configurations and any certificates that are required by the WebApp that you are going to display are performed on your Webex device. After pairing the Room Navigator, you will have to reboot it again if you don’t do that.

You can’t enable persistent web apps while the device is in a call.

Configuration

On a Room Navigator, it is possible to show a persistent web application by following these steps:

1. If you are going to pair the Room Navigator with a Webex device, you need to make sure the device is not in a call. Enter the web interface of the device and log in to it. The following should be set under Settings > Configurations:

   Choose Network Services from the list of options.

   • Set HTTP > Mode to HTTP+HTTPS

   • Set Websocket to FollowHTTPService

   Select UserInterface.

   • Using the Room Navigator, you can set the URL of the web app that will appear on HomeScreen Peripherals to the URL of the web app you wish to display.

   Select WebEngine.

   • Make sure your XAPI Peripherals – Settings – AllowedHosts attribute is set to the domain associated with the URL you set above. A host can be allowed when the following factors are taken into account:

     Please do not include http(s):// in the URL. You can, for example, set www.google.com as an allowed host, if the URL above is set to http://www.google.com.

     The allowed hosts can be set for multiple domains by using a comma to separate them.

     There are two options here for blocking all hosts, or, if you would like to allow all hosts, you can leave it blank.

   Select Security.

   • To allow API keys to be used with XAPI Websockets, set the value of APIKey Allowed to True. The web app will only require this if the device API is going to be used as part of the web application.

   As an alternative, you can configure these settings through the Control Hub.

   An in-depth description of each setting can be found in the Cisco Webex Board Series API Reference Guide which contains detailed information about the API.

2. Using the Room Navigator, you will be able to pair it with your configured device.

3. Once the devices have been paired successfully, follow the prompts in the first-time setup wizard to allow the app to be displayed on the device as well as select Persistent Web App.

   Room Navigators that have been enabled for Persistent Web App and have been paired with devices will display the same app in all of them.

Changing or disabling a persistent web app

• The URL you already have set on the paired device should be modified in order to display a different web app on the Room Navigator:

  You should log into the web interface of your mobile device while it is not in a call, and then go to Settings > Configurations. Choose User Interface from the drop-down menu. Using the new URL, set the URL of the HomeScreen Peripherals WebApp.

  The Control Hub can also be used to set this configuration if you wish.

• You can factory reset your Room Navigator if you want to stop it from displaying a persistent web app.

Developing web apps

There is a lot of information on Cisco’s website about building web apps for persistent mode on Room Navigator, as well as a list of supported device APIs, which can be used as part of the web app, on roomos.cisco.com.