Hack33.Teach Your Browser to Speak Jyve | VoIP Hacks: Tips & Tools for Internet Telephony

Hack 33. Teach Your Browser to Speak Jyve

With a little extra help from the Jyve web browser plug-in, you can extend Skype's presence features to your web browser.

If you've signed up for a Jyve account, you already know how cool the Jyve Q-Card is. But with the Jyve web browser plug-in, you can take Jyve's intimate use of Skype's presence features to the next level. This might mean being able to receive a Skype instant message whenever somebody visits a certain page on your web site, or even letting people send you a voicemail from your web site. Unfortunately, to enable these features, your web site visitors must install the Jyve browser plug-in, which works only with Windows. You can get the plug-in at http://www.jyve.com/.

Once installed, the Jyve plug-in enables a number of new protocol prefixes that allow your web browser to trigger different kinds of Skype functionality. These prefixes include IMTO:, SVMTO:, and CREATECONFCALL:. Using these prefixes and a bit of HTML, you can create links on your personal web page that leverage some of Skype's coolest features, like instant messaging and voicemail.

Like SkypeOut and SkypeIn, Skype Voicemail is a paid service. To use voicemail features, you'll need to have paid for Skype Voicemail service.

3.7.1. Add Skype Instant Messaging to Your Web Site

To create a link on your site that allows surfers to send you an instant message, use the IMTO: prefix and the following code:

 <script src="/books/3/439/1/html/2/http://plugin.jyve.com/js/plugin.js"></script> <a href="IMTO://voiphacks~Hello World"><img src='/books/3/439/1/html/2/http://jyvetools.jyve.com/ IMTO.gif' border='0' onclick='setENDown();'></a>

3.7.2. Track Visits to Your Site by Jyve Users

You can create a trigger on a web page that sends text messages to you when the web page is visited, without allowing the surfer to compose or add to them. The visitor won't see an instant message window, either. The idea here is to send you a message when somebody hits a certain page on your site. Using the following JavaScript in one of your page body's onLoad events, you can use a "pop-under" window to send you a Skype instant message automatically whenever a visitor with the Jyve plug-in visits:

 <script language="JavaScript"> <!- function popunder() { pu = window.open("SENDIMTO://voiphacks~I visited your site!", "default"); pu.blur(); window.focus(); pu.close(); } //--> </script> <body onLoad="javascript:popunder()">

3.7.3. Simplify Communication for Visitors to Your Site

The best thing you can do if you want to keep in touch with somebody is get into their buddy list and vice versa. If you'd like to have a link that lets the surfer add you as a contact to his Skype contacts list, try a link like the following, which pops up a dialog confirming the addition of you as a new contact in her list:

 <script src="/books/3/439/1/html/2/http://plugin.jyve.com/js/plugin.js"></script> <a href="ADDCONTACT://voiphacks"><img src='/books/3/439/1/html/2/http://jyvetools.jyve.com/ addcontact.gif' border='0' onclick='setENDown();'></a>

Finally, to make a link that allows surfers to send you a Skype voicemail (sorry, the Skype Answering Machine, a free voicemail alternative to Skype's official Voicemail service, won't work with the Jyve SVMTO: prefix), try a link like this one:

 <script src="/books/3/439/1/html/2/http://plugin.jyve.com/js/plugin.js"></script> <a href="SVMTO://jyvetest1"><img src='/books/3/439/1/html/2/http://jyvetools.jyve.com/sendvoicemail.gif' border='0' onclick='setENDown();'></a>

If you don't like the premade graphics that Jyve provides (in the <img> tags), you can use your own or substitute text instead.

3.7.4. Trigger Conference Calls from the Web

Skype also includes a function that lets you create a link that starts a conference call with the Skype users of your choosing. This might be useful for somebody who hosts a regular conference call with the same people every weeklike an editor and her authors. By keeping a central link on a web page that all the attendees can access, the weekly conference can still go on, even if the regular host isn't available to set it up. A fill-in member need only click the link to launch the conference call. Try a link like the following:

 <script src="/books/3/439/1/html/2/http://plugin.jyve.com/js/plugin.js"></script> <a href="CREATECONFCALL://jyvetest1~garfield~odie~nermil"><img src='/books/3/439/1/html/2/http://jyvetools.jyve.com/sendvoicemail.gif' border='0' onclick='setENDown();'></a>

Just put a tilde (~) between each contact in the link. When clicked, the Jyve plug-in will use the Skype client of the clicker to host the conference call.