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Author: Andrew Ludke, Director of Product Mgmt. AV Solutions
Employing dozens of networking, security, and AV standards, Crestron’s DM NVX is already the most interoperable AVoIP solution in the market, and now Crestron’s DM NVX platform is fully unleashed through the publication of a well-documented RESTful API (application programming interface). What does this mean for our customers, dealers, and partners? By releasing and officially supporting the API our customers now have complete freedom to integrate DM NVX into virtually any application using the development tools of their choosing. Programmers are no longer locked into proprietary software applications and have total discretion to deploy, monitor, and control the devices from any platform.
I think it is not an overstatement to suggest that APIs are one of the best kept secrets at Crestron, as we have always had them. Device APIs are what our software tools have always used to interface with the products. Whether it’s Crestron’s Simpl Windows or C# development environments, or the easy-to-use and deploy configuration-based applications like .AV Framework™ and Crestron Home™, these APIs have been the method by which these applications interface with the device. Until now we have not published the details of how to use the device’s native API publicly, but it has always existed. As such, the DM NVX API is a time-tested solution that is now being exposed to ensure our customers are unimpeded when working to design and develop solutions that meet their business needs. Since it is the same interface through which our tools work with the device, it’s also a full featured solution; you have all the same capabilities with no limitations or restrictions.
How is the API being used by Crestron's customers? Many customers already have a single pane of glass through which they manage, monitor, and deploy technology across their organization. By employing the API, DM NVX can be easily integrated into these solutions. Integrators also use the API to develop scripts to streamline the configuration of large deployments and of course, through the RESTful API, DM NVX can be integrated with virtually any control system making it easy to upgrade to the industry leading AVoIP solution without ripping and replacing an existing 3rd party controller.
Jacques Favalier from A2Z Marine tells us “Direct API control of NVX has allowed us to take a very novel approach to control, monitoring and management of a new 600+ NVX endpoint solution that would have otherwise been difficult to achieve. Capabilities like direct loading of IR drivers, runtime serial com spec changes, full reporting of device and stream status, and direct control of content switching has enabled us to build a flexible and highly fault tolerant system where almost nothing is hard-coded and almost everything can be easily monitored and maintained”
Where can I learn more about the DM NVX API? Complete documentation and programming examples can be found at developer.crestron.com. To get up and running, first look at the Quick Start Guide which describes how to authenticate and make calls with the API. Once you are authenticated, the API Reference provides detailed descriptions of the syntax and supported properties along with example JSON payload. The snippet below for is for Routing Control.
{
"Device": {
"AvRouting": {
"RouteControl": {
"IsLayer3Enabled": true,
"IsUsbFollowsVideoEnabled": false,
"IsChangeUsbRemoteDeviceEnabled": false,
"IsSecondaryAudioFollowsVideoEnabled": false
},
"Routes": [
{
"Name": "Routing0",
"AudioSource": "07147488-9e0b-11e7-abc4-cec278b6b50a",
"VideoSource": "07147488-9e0b-11e7-abc4-cec278b6b50a",
"UsbSource": "07147488-9e0b-11e7-abc4-cec278b6b50a",
"AutomaticStreamRoutingEnabled": false,
"UniqueId": "cc063ec3-d135-4413-9ee9-5a9264b5642c"
}
],
"Version": "2.1.0"
}
}
}
If you have any questions or get stuck along the way, API specialists in Crestron’s award-winning True-Blue support team stand ready to provide help via phone, email, or chat at www.crestron.com/support
With the public release of the API, Crestron DM NVX is truly the most flexible, interoperable, and scalable solution on the market. You are unencumbered to work the way you want, with the tools of your choosing, to unleash the power of DM NVX in your applications today. APIs are now the worst kept secret at Crestron.