A 2023 Business.com survey quantified what business owners already know: a bad customer service experience can lose customers. The survey found that, following a bad service experience, 8 out of 10 customers said they would be more likely to switch to another business, and 6 out of 10 of said they would share their poor experience with friends and colleagues.
Modern consumers want to be able to contact a business using various methods of communication, and the survey respondents confirmed that agent availability and fast response times were associated with quality customer service. How can your business meet this customer demand?
A communication API can provide your client or business faster response times to their customers using voice and messaging applications. However, determining the best API for your organization, and choosing the right telecom partner, are key to API implementation success.
What Is a Communication API?
An application programming interface (API) allows communication between two pieces of software. The API makes calls to a server to communicate without the pieces of software communicating with each other directly. APIs for communication allow you to add voice and messaging features to an existing system or software your business or client uses, including customer relationship management (CRM) software, call center software, automated solutions, and answering systems. It permits the services, systems, or software to use voice, video, and messaging features.
For example, perhaps your business or client uses Hubspot, and wants the ability to make calls and send text messages through Hubspot. However, Hubspot doesn’t offer communication services like voice calls or texting as native features. A communication API placed between Hubspot and a separate voice and texting platform would “translate” the user’s request from Hubspot to the voice and texting platform, acting as the link between the two systems, and providing the user with the voice and texting capability in Hubspot they need.
How Are Communication APIs Used?
Businesses can use a communication API in various ways, including voice, SIP, SMS, MMS, and phone number APIs. An API can be easily integrated into a system or software solution, typically in a few lines of code, so your communication feature is up and running in minutes. These types of APIs offer the following uses:
Messaging
An MMS/SMS API can be integrated into an organization’s mobile app or website with a click-to-message feature, allowing users to communicate directly with the business and other users. You can configure the API with microservices to mask the phone number with a proxy, concealing the identity of users messaging other users for ride-sharing apps, dating apps, delivery apps, and similar situations where users’ phone numbers should remain confidential.
Related: Routing Inbound Calls Based on DID Numbers
The API also allows you to integrate SMS/MMS into a CRM, so employees can send and receive user messages to provide support and updates for e-commerce, retail, and service-related sectors. MMS allows users to send photos and videos of the product to confirm receipt and request support for installation and defects.
Automated Messages
In addition to messaging, SMS/MMS APIs allow you to integrate messaging into your automated systems, allowing your client or business to send appointment reminders, two-factor authentication, and feedback surveys via text. A study in RedEye found that more than 9 out of 10 consumers open a text message within 15 minutes of receiving it, meaning your surveys or promotions are more likely to be seen by recipients.
Automating messaging through an API allows an organization to reliably send application-to-person (A2P) messages in bulk to the correct recipient. A2P messaging offers fast and reliable delivery and avoids being marked as spam by carriers when sent in high volumes, making it ideal for automated applications. It is also important to ensure your client or company records how and when users opt-in to receive messages from the business. For SMS regulation compliance, users should also be able to opt out of the messaging anytime.
Voice and Video Calling
If your client or company needs voice and video calling, a voice or Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) API is the ideal communication solution. For instance, you can integrate a click-to-call button into the organization’s mobile app or website, allowing users to contact the business directly. Like messaging, you can mask the callers with a proxy number, allowing remote employees to use a local business number regardless of location. You can also mask users for more privacy when they are using the company’s delivery, ride-sharing, or dating apps.
A voice or SIP API lets you add microservices like E911 to comply with local telephony communications and allows you to integrate the service into your business or client’s CRM or call center software. Employees can transcribe and record messages, track calls in real-time with the call detail record (CDR), and use other enterprise-grade features to enhance productivity and caller experience.
Interactive Voice Response
Similar to messaging, voice can also be automated with an API. If you have integrated communication solutions for clients or your business, you may be familiar with interactive voice response (IVR). A voice API allows you to create a system to intake calls and guide users through automated voice prompts to help them find the correct recipient to handle their call. It can also help the user with inquiries like account balance or order status without directing the caller to a live representative.
While an IVR can be an excellent addition to a busy call center or organization, quickly routing callers to the ideal recipient, a phone number API with direct inward dialing (DID) provides callers with a direct line to their recipient without an IVR or extensions. According to a survey in PR Newswire, more than 8 out of 10 consumers want to speak to a live representative quickly, so using DID or keeping IVR interactions short can be beneficial.
Chatbots
A chatbot allows users to resolve problems and make inquiries without speaking to a live representative. It is similar to an IVR but uses instant messaging and can handle the user’s inquiry from start to finish without directing them to an employee in many cases. Chatbots can be integrated into your client or company’s website or app using a messaging API and provide a time-saving option for users to request information or make simple transactions without needing to call the company.
According to Fast Company, 4 out of 10 businesses saw an increase in customer satisfaction and lead generation after integrating chatbots into their websites. Consumers can use chatbots to resolve simple issues and inquiries.
Virtual Assistants
While a communication API can facilitate communication between users and businesses, a virtual assistant allows users to communicate with the internet and various businesses using a voice API. Virtual assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Voice Assistant allow users to play music, ask questions, and make calls using voice commands. You can program a virtual assistant into your client or company’s devices or application to replicate the same features or provide custom features to enhance the user experience.
What Are the Benefits of Using Voice and Messaging APIs for Business?
A communication API allows you to integrate voice, text, or video communication services into the company’s existing systems or software for convenient user communication, and offers other advantages such as:
Reliability
When you integrate a communication API into your business or client’s systems or software, its communications are handled by the API telecom partner’s networks, so it’s important to find a communications partner with international rate centers, who can provide reliable calling and messaging worldwide. A voice API offers voice calling over a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or SIP solution, allowing users to make and receive clear calls from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
Messaging with an SMS/MMS API can also be more reliable. Businesses that send high volumes of messages require A2P messaging solutions to send messages without the number being restricted or flagged as spam by carriers.
For instance, if your business or client is sending out feedback surveys from an app to users on a subscriber list, the large volumes can prompt carriers to restrict messages from the business messaging number if they are not using properly authorized A2P traffic.
Mobility
Communication APIs are reliable and exceptionally mobile when paired with a cloud-based provider. You can integrate communications into your business or client’s systems and software, and users can use the communication and collaboration features globally.
The cloud-based system allows users from any location to send and receive voice and text messages with consistent quality. For instance, a voice API can be ideal for a business with a remote or hybrid office dynamic, allowing employees to make and receive calls within the CRM from various office locations, including employees’ home offices.
Scalability
Communication APIs are hosted by the provider in the cloud, allowing organizations to serve nearly unlimited users with voice or text communications. When your business or client acquires new users, the network dynamically shifts to allow more traffic, and new phone numbers or users can often be easily added.
For clients or businesses that have partnered with a telecom service that offers a metered payment plan, the organization will only pay for the increase in traffic per minute used, not a flat-rate plan that forces them to pay for minutes and users they might not have added yet, making a metered plan perfect for businesses and clients who are still growing.
Additionally, cloud-hosted communications APIs do not require a commitment to costly on-site infrastructure, making scaling cost-effective. The elasticity of the cloud also allows network usage to fluctuate as needed to accommodate seasonal business, promotional campaigns, and events.
Ease of Integration
Communication APIs offer reliability, mobility, and scalability in an easy-to-integrate package than creating the software from scratch on an in-house communication system. As a programmer, you can download the API from a provider, integrate it into your code, and have a working solution in minutes. Depending on the provider you use for API, you can find well-maintained API code with helpful resources to integrate and configure your communication solution easily.
Related: What Is a Messaging API, and What Can It Do?
How to Choose an API Partner
While you can build an API from scratch, you can often get a more complete and ready-to-use solution by partnering with an API provider. A telecommunications partner that provides voice and messaging APIs with cloud-based communication solutions will offer the greatest reliability, mobility, scalability, and ease of integration to build a unique communication experience. Look for the following qualities in an ideal partner:
Documentation
When choosing a communication API for your business or client, ensure your provider has documented use cases and guides to help you implement the API with the company’s desired configurations. Documentation can include software development kits (SDKs), quickstarts, and articles to review before you implement the API. Also ensure that your API provider is using a version control system like GitHub to deliver up-to-date software. A top-tier partner will also provide microservices to help you configure features like E911 and two-factor authentication.
Features
The API provider should also offer features to enhance business communications. For instance, a call center or company looking to use the voice API to replace or supplement a PBX would want features like conference calling, transfers, call queueing, and proxy calling for remote workers. A financial institution may want two-factor authentication to ensure user logins into an online banking app are credible. Review the API provider’s features to ensure they will support your business or client’s needs.
Reliable Network
Reliability is vital to messaging and voice APIs. If you are choosing a cloud-based communications service provider for your API, ensure that your partner’s network will offer the resilience and mobility your business or client needs. The ideal partner will offer 24/7 availability, uptimes exceeding 99.99%, and worldwide rate centers to ensure remote users have a good calling or messaging experience. Security and resiliency from network monitoring, dynamic physical failover, and redundant paths will ensure your business or client’s calls and messages are delivered.
Get Started with a Reliable Communications Partner
Flowroute offers SIP, voice, SMS, MMS, and phone number APIs to help you build the ideal communication solution for your client or business. Our powerful APIs are connected to the resilient HyperNetwork™ to deliver business continuity and allow users to use the communication applications from anywhere with an internet connection. We offer documentation and quickstarts to help you implement your company’s desired features and services.
Sign up to Flowroute to begin building your enterprise-grade communication solution.
