I’ve been working with the Cisco Call Manager for over 15 years. In 2022 I took a Cisco digital course on Implementing Automation for Cisco Collaboration Solutions.
This opened up a whole new concept to me, I had no idea what could be accomplished with the Cisco API interface. Next I needed to find a tool to build the applications that I’m creating in my mind.
I’ve been using Microsoft Excel since way back to the floppy disk days and was very familiar with its usage and data presentation methods. It had been over 20 years since I’ve done any programming, so I was starting from scratch.
It was a natural fit for me to combine the Cisco Collaboration API and Excel VBA together to build some Cisco applications.
I’m using this blog to document the process and hopefully help other Cisco engineers on the fun path of developing your own enterprise specific applications.
Tools I have used to build the applications:
Cisco CUCM AXL Schema reference: This is the listing of all the AXL API codes that can be used with CUCM. Cisco direct Link
VBA basic statements: How to do loops and conditionals, etc. in VBA. Microsoft link
AXL API Postman Tool: I used this to test AXL strings against the CUCM to make sure to get the results I expected. I can then program the AXL strings in VBA. Link on how to use this tool with Cisco CUCM
Microsoft Excel: I used this since it was already installed on my work computer and uses a simple programming language, making it simple to prototype ideas. Link I found to a blog post on using Excel to connect to the CUCM. This blog post is what really got me started on this project.
Web search: of course the best tool of all!
Cisco Collaboration and Excel 