Cisco Phone Controller

Why? Cisco Collaboration Administrators often access Cisco Phone internal web server to troubleshoot the phone. They view items such as: firmware loads, hardware versions, network details, etc., and this add-on embeds a remote phone control app to that same page they're already looking at.

How? Press the keypad buttons for selecting menu options or navigating the menus. Press the command buttons like NavUp or VolDwn (Buzz is fun!) for even more control over the phone. For convenience you can enter a dial string and make the phone call someone, or you can script out key presses for like deleting ITL files. Oh yeah, and you can even click on the phone screenshot to activate lines, softkeys and session buttons!

Yeah, But Like How Does it Work? The add-on renders the phone screen as a screenshot (pulled from /CGI/Screenshot), at which point the phone will request HTTP Basic Authentication from you, and then the phone will send those credentials over to CUCM at the designated Authentication URL; either in Enterprise Parameters, or directly configured on the phone. If your username and password are correct, and that user is controlling the phone, then the phone allows you to see the screenshot and control it.

Typically, I will create a dedicated Application User for this called "phonecontrol" which has no group memberships, and thus, has no other real power in the system, other than controlling the phone(s) I intend, for the time period I choose.

The add-on then polls for a new screenshot periodically, to keep the screen fresh, while allowing you to press buttons which send commands to the phone via /CGI/Execute.