How to create PhoneStateReceiver get CLI and call events

During first 5 years of my career I luckily worked at software houses that created computer telephony related software, I had used Microsoft TAPI and Dialogic APIs to create IVR and Operator Console and Call Recorder software. When I first started Android programming in 2010, I was very curious about phone states and CLI. 

I later figured it out and came to know that a BroadcastReceiver will be the right thing to use in this case. BroadcastReceiver is a specially designed component offered by Android OS, and it is used to handle various broadcasts sent by apps or OS components. The broadcasts related to telephone call states are sent by TelephonyManager which is a component of Android OS. The phone state receiver given below can be used in scenarios like call blocking, call tracking, and sending information to http or cloud based servers. This salient features of my phone state receiver are given below Get the CLI from an incoming call Get the dialled number from an outgoing call When an inbound call is connected, get informed When a call is disconnected, get notified

public class PhoneStateReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver { public enum CallType {INCOMING, OUTGOING, NA} private static String lastNumber = ""; private static int lastCallState = 0; /** * This code is provided by Naeem Akram, * without any warranty guarantee or liability * This code is meant for the good of developer community * Please don't delete this comment when reusing * this code, and if possible give proper * credit to the developer. * In case you want to hire Naeem, go to following URL: * https://www.odesk.com/users/~012d73aa92fad47188 */ @Override public void onReceive(final Context context, Intent intent) { // Check phone state String strPhoneState = "", strNumber = ""; CallType ctVal = CallType.NA; int callState = 0; TelephonyManager tm = null; try{ tm = (TelephonyManager) context.getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE); strPhoneState = intent .getStringExtra(TelephonyManager.EXTRA_STATE); callState = tm.getCallState(); Log.d(Keys.LOGTAG, "CS: " + callState + " - Last CS: " + lastCallState +" - Phone State: " + strPhoneState); if(strPhoneState != null) { if(!strPhoneState.equals(TelephonyManager.EXTRA_STATE_IDLE)) // don't post here if phone state is idle, it will get posted later. { postPhoneStateEvent(context, strPhoneState); } }else{ strPhoneState = ""; } Log.d(Keys.LOGTAG, "INF: Broadcast received; " + strPhoneState); if(callState == TelephonyManager.CALL_STATE_IDLE){ // the call just ended, it might be incoming or outgoing Log.d(Keys.LOGTAG, "CALL STATE: " + callState); if(intent.hasExtra(TelephonyManager.EXTRA_INCOMING_NUMBER)) {// this is an incoming call ctVal = CallType.INCOMING; strNumber = intent.getStringExtra( TelephonyManager.EXTRA_INCOMING_NUMBER).trim(); } else if(intent.hasExtra(Intent.EXTRA_PHONE_NUMBER)) {// this is an outgoing call ctVal = CallType.OUTGOING; strNumber = intent.getStringExtra(Intent.EXTRA_PHONE_NUMBER); } else if(lastNumber.length() > 0) { ctVal = CallType.INCOMING; strNumber = lastNumber; lastNumber = ""; } if(strPhoneState != null){ // maybe save phone state to DB, or send it to a server postPhoneStateEvent(context, strPhoneState); } if(ctVal == CallType.OUTGOING){ // maybe save the number of called party, // or send the info to a server over http postCLIEvent(context, ctVal, strNumber); lastNumber = ""; strNumber = ""; } if(lastCallState == CALL_STATE_CONNECTED || lastCallState == TelephonyManager.CALL_STATE_OFFHOOK){ postPhoneStateEvent(context, "DISCONNECTED"); } if(lastCallState == TelephonyManager.CALL_STATE_RINGING){ postPhoneStateEvent(context, "MISSED"); } }// if callState == CALL_STATE_IDLE else if( callState == TelephonyManager.CALL_STATE_OFFHOOK) {// until so far we can only figure out // when an incoming call gets connected if(lastCallState == TelephonyManager.CALL_STATE_RINGING){ // offhook right after ringing means we // attended the call Log.d(Keys.LOGTAG, "INCOMING CALL CONNECTED"); postPhoneStateEvent(context, "CONNECTED " + lastNumber); // tell a server that a call is // connected over http or socket } } else{ // callstate != 0 zero means call state is idle if(intent.hasExtra (TelephonyManager.EXTRA_INCOMING_NUMBER)) {// this is an incoming call lastNumber = intent.getStringExtra (TelephonyManager.EXTRA_INCOMING_NUMBER).trim(); Log.d(Keys.LOGTAG, "Ringing INCOMING event."); postPhoneStateEvent(context, CallType.INCOMING + " : " + lastNumber); } else if(intent.hasExtra (Intent.EXTRA_PHONE_NUMBER)){ // this is an outgoing call lastNumber = intent.getStringExtra(Intent.EXTRA_PHONE_NUMBER); postCLIEvent(context, CallType.OUTGOING, lastNumber); } Log.d(Keys.LOGTAG, "Last Number: " + lastNumber); } }catch(Exception excp){ excp.printStackTrace(); } lastCallState = callState; // local callState is OFFHOOK our custom CONNECTED val gets messed } private void postPhoneStateEvent(final Context context, String strPhoneState) { if(strPhoneState != null){ // POST THE PHONE STATE SOMEWHERE SOMEHOW } } private void postCLIEvent(Context _context, CallType _callType, String _cli){ // POST THE CLI SOMEWHERE SOMEHOW } }

You will need following permissions in order to sue the phone state receiver

:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.PROCESS_OUTGOING_CALLS" />

We must add every app component to our Manifest.xml file, and our phone state broadcast receiver will be added like this:

<receiver
 android:name="com.usra.ca.PhoneStateReceiver"
    android:enabled="true" >
    <intent-filter android:priority="1" >
    <action android:name="android.intent.action.PHONE_STATE"
    <action android:name="android.intent.action.NEW_OUTGOING_CALL"/>
    <action android:name="android.intent.action.ANSWER"/>
    </intent-filter>
</receiver>

Android has got only three phone states

• IDLE
• RINGING
• OFFHOOK

Please feel free to comment on the post, and share ideas in general.

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