Application programming interfaces (APIs) are drawing increasing interest from businesses of all stripes, eager to more readily fit new functions into everyday operations. Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) providers, meanwhile, are no exception, and many are looking to APIs as a means to provide added value.
Everybody’s Doing It
CPaaS providers are putting APIs to work, and in ever-increasing numbers. Some substantial names in the market are turning to APIs, and that’s not all. As far back as 2014, Government Technology brought out a basic primer on just what an API is, going as far as to ask “…and why do you need one?” right in the title.
But What Can They Do?
Sure, large numbers of companies are getting involved in API–even government entities. But, for the CPaaS provider, however, APIs are delivering impressive value. Industry trends show that, through CPaaS, providers can offer “cloud-based APIs and pre-packaged plug-ins or integration modules that developers can use to embed messaging, voice, and video into their applications,” writes Blair Pleasant, President & Principal Analyst of COMMfusion LLC and a co-founder of UCStrategies.
Pleasant notes that one of the biggest revolutions in business communications right now is the ability to integrate communications into applications, business processes, and workflows. And that using APIs to integrate UC and collaboration solutions is top-of-mind for providers today. thinQ takes its own unique approach to a CPaaS-API integration with our Twilio Voice Add-On.
“By making a quick, simple call to our REST API, using one of our SDK wrappers or making a small code change to your existing application code,” Senior Software Developer Andy Clarke explains, “you can enhance Twilio’s voice calling features with Commio’s intelligent cost routing engine and disaster recovery technology, giving you the full flexibility and feature set of the Twilio platform while saving up to 50%.”
We’re seeing APIs being used in a host of different ways, from as a means to establish cloud-based contact centers, to as a team-building collaboration tool, delivering patient appointment notifications and 2FA messages, to even making sure every food order comes with hot and crispy fries. There are untold numbers of use cases, but for CPaaS providers, the sky may well be the limit. For more information about the future of communications solutions, the cloud, and the API, contact Commio.
As a CPaaS provider, Commio is transforming the telecom industry by combining revolutionary cloud-based services, APIs, and plug-ins for voice and messaging.
