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Opinion: New APIs work to connect apps to multiple messaging platforms

Zeus Kerravala
Zeus Kerravala
ZK Research

Note: Vonage is a client of ZK Research.

The digital transformation era has arrived, and market leadership will be largely based on excellence in customer service. In 2017, ZK Research data showed two-thirds of millennials changed brand loyalties because of a bad experience. Provide a great customer experience and you win, provide a bad one and you lose. It’s that simple.

What’s not simple is understanding what makes a great experience. Sure, it includes the typical suggestions — have a great website, have polite people in the store, be proactive and have well-trained contact center reps. But it also entails enabling customers to communicate with your business the way they want to, using the apps they like.

The ability to place a voice call is obviously ubiquitous, but it’s often not the customers’ first choice any more. ZK Research found that with younger consumers, the majority of interactions are started with a non-voice channel. Businesses need to accommodate these consumers’ preferences. Text messaging is a good option, but there’s a growing desire to communicate in the apps people are already using. For example, consumers may be in Facebook, see an ad for something and want to contact the company. Instead of having to leave Facebook and call or text the company, they should be able to use Facebook Messenger and stay within the app.

Programming social messaging capabilities can be difficult though because there are myriad social platforms, each with its own APIs — creating a programming headache for companies. For global companies, the use of messaging tends to vary by region. A February 2018 study from web measurement company SimilarWeb found that Facebook Messenger dominates in North America and parts of Europe, while WhatsApp is rampant throughout Asia and other parts of Europe.

Vonage Nexmo APIs focus on connecting apps

Vonage this week announced its Nexmo communications platform as a service (CPaaS) division is adding two new APIs to simplify the task of connecting apps to multiple messaging platforms.

First, the Nexmo Messages API, which is in beta, enables businesses to integrate apps with social messaging platforms using a single API. The Messages API acts as an abstraction layer to many of the more commonly used messaging platforms such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber as well as MMS and SMS. The use of a single API removes the complexities of managing multiple messaging APIs. In addition, all changes to the external messaging apps are handled by Vonage, so if WhatsApp updates an API, it’s transparent to the developer.

The Nexmo Messages API functionality includes:

  • Feature rich media set including messaging, images, audio, video, files and location;
  • Single event callbacks that provide information such as timestamps, message status, price and error messages;
  • Direct connection to carriers and interface to Vonage’s adaptive routing technology to ensure optimized SMS delivery.

Second, the Nexmo Dispatch API, also in beta, enables developers to add a fallback mechanism to other channels if and when the first message fails to reach the specified recipient. The API can create customized messaging flows to ensure successful message delivery. For example, a college might choose to send out a broadcast message over Facebook Messenger to all of its students regarding an important event on campus. Not all students have Facebook, so in the event of a failure, the message could then be routed to SMS. Vonage’s API would prevent the college from having to send all messages over all chat apps.

Key capabilities of the Dispatch API include:

  • Reliability of message delivery via preferred channels. An unread or undelivered message, based on time or message status, will automatically fallback to another channel ensuring better communications with customers;
  • A single API call for implementing a custom social strategy making it easier for businesses to leverage a wide range of social channels;
  • Callback for developers to detail the total price and outcome of workflow for ongoing analysis and optimization.

As the number of social messaging platforms continues to grow, businesses face increased complexity when looking to use the unique technical requirements of each app. The Nexmo Messages API and Dispatch API simplifies much of that complexity and enable companies to keep up with current social trends as they address the complexities that come with trying to integrate multiple channels. This approach lets business focus on the task of engaging customers instead of trying to navigate a complex sea of APIs associated with the wide range of messaging apps.