Get help with LibAnswers, LibChat, & Co-Ops

LibAnswers supports using the Cisco Webex online meeting platform to provide screensharing functionality within LibChat.

To get started, you will need to work with your institution's IT administrator to set up the integration between Cisco Webex and your LibAnswers system.

• Step 1. An Admin user will need to register the LibAnswers app with Webex for your organization. You may want to ask the appropriate IT staff member to do this.
  • Registering an app is what allows you to create Webex meetings via your LibAnswers system.
• Step 2. Once the app has been registered, a LibAnswers admin will need to enter the Client ID and Client Secret (provided during the registration process) in your LibAnswers screensharing settings.
  • Please note: it may take a few minutes after the app is registered before LibAnswers will be able to communicate with it.
• Step 3. After the integration has been set up and activated, users can authorize the integration in their LibAnswers account settings. This will allow them to start launching screensharing sessions using Webex.

Step 1. Register the app for your institution

Before you can connect the Cisco Webex integration to your LibAnswers system, a Webex administrator must first register the LibAnswers app for your organization. Once the app has been registered, you will receive a unique Client ID and Client Secret, which LibAnswers needs in order for the Webex integration to work. This step only needs to be done once.

A. Obtaining the Redirect URL

The first part of this step is to obtain your system's Redirect URL. A LibAnswers admin will need to do this part.

1. Log into LibAnswers and go to Admin > LibChat Set-up.
2. Click on the Screensharing APIs tab.
3. In the Screensharing Integration box, select Cisco Webex from the Screenshare Status dropdown.
4. Click the Save button.

5. In the My Institution's Keys box, you'll find the Redirect URL for your system.
   • If you will be completing the app registration yourself, leave this page open in a separate browser tab. You'll need to copy and paste this URL during the registration process.
   • Otherwise, provide this URL to the person completing the app registration.

B. Register the app

The person who will be registering the app for your organization will complete the following steps. (This only needs set up once.)

1. Visit the Cisco Webex for Developers site and log in with your Webex account.
2. After logging in, click on your account icon in the upper-right corner of the page and select My Webex Apps from the dropdown menu.

3. On the Create a New App page, click the Create an Integration button.

4. On the New Integration page, keep the Will this integration use a mobile SDK? field set to "No."
5. Provide a name for your integration in the Integration Name field.
   • Users will see this name when authorizing the app.
6. For the Icon, either select one of the default options or upload an icon (format and size limits are listed on the page).
7. In the App Hub Description field, enter a brief description of the app (something like "Online meeting integrations for LibAnswers", for example).

8. In the Redirect URI field, enter the redirect URL provided in your institution's LibAnswers integration settings (see Section A above).
9. For the Scopes, please allow the following access levels:
   • meeting:schedules_read
   • meeting:schedules_write
   • meeting:preferences_read
   • spark:people_read
10. Click the Add Integration button at the bottom of the page.

11. If successful, a confirmation page will appear listing an OAuth Client ID and Client Secret. Please copy and provide these to the LibAnswers admin to complete the integration setup in LibCal (see Step 2 below).
    • Note: you do not need to submit your app to the Webex App Hub for this integration to work.

Step 2. Activate Webex screensharing in LibAnswers

Once the Client ID and Client Secret have been obtained during the app registration process, the LibAnswers Admin will use these to activate syncing for their LibAnswers system.

1. Log into LibAnswers and go to Admin > LibChat Set-up.
2. Click on the Screensharing APIs tab.
3. In the My Institution's Keys box, enter the Client ID obtained during the app registration process.
4. In the Client Secret: Value field, enter the Client Secret obtained during the app registration process.
5. Click the Save button.
   • Please note: it may take a few minutes after registering the app with Webex before LibAnswers will be able to communicate with it.

Step 3. Connect a LibAnswers user's account to their Cisco Webex account

The last step in the process is for each user to authorize the Cisco Webex app in their LibAnswers user account settings.

Note: each user must have LibChat active in their user account settings before they can authorize the Webex app.

To do this, each user must:

1. Log into LibAnswers and click on their email address in the navigation bar. This will take them to their account settings page.

2. On the Manage Account page, click on the LibChat Access tab.
3. At the bottom of the page, click the Authorize Webex button.

4. Follow any prompts to grant authorization to the LibAnswers app.

Using LibChat screensharing

Once you've granted authorization, you'll be redirected back to LibAnswers. You can then begin using LibChat screensharing when chatting with patrons! (You can also use screensharing for internal chats, too!)

Deauthorize the LibAnswers app for your Cisco Webex account

If a user would no longer like to use the Cisco Webex screensharing integration with your LibAnswers account, they can deauthorize the app at any time.

To do this, each user must:

1. Log into LibAnswers and click on their email address in the navigation bar. This will take them to their account settings page.

2. On the Manage Account page, click on the LibChat Access tab.
3. At the bottom of the tab, click on the Remove button next to the Current Webex Account.

4. Follow any prompts to revoke authorization from the LibAnswers app.

Once the app is deauthorized, you will need to grant authorization again in order to use LibChat screensharing.

Deactivate the Webex integration for LibAnswers

Admin users can completely deactivate the Cisco Webex integration for all users. This will prevent all users from setting up the integration with their Cisco Webex accounts and launching screensharing sessions with it.

1. Go to Admin > LibChat Set-up.
2. Click on the Screensharing APIs tab.
3. In the My Institution's Keys panel, set the Activate Online Meetings with Cisco Webex to Inactive.
4. Click the Save button.