The benefits of embedding real time communications features into business and consumer applications are becoming increasingly widespread. People prefer the ease of click-to-call from within a web experience, social media site or business application to connect with a brand rather than searching for and dialing a number and sitting in a queue.
The innovation being made by Communications Platform as-a-Service (CPaaS) providers is making it increasingly easier for businesses to embed voice, messaging, chat, and video capabilities into their customer experiences. Further, leading Communications Service Providers (CSPs) are partnering with software-centric carriers to provide enterprises with direct access to telecom APIs that enable these sorts of communications.
For contact center operations, for example, CPaaS-based applications enable customers to get answers to their questions from a specific webpage or social media page without having to wait for a live agent. This translates to better service at a much lower cost. Contact centers can in turn resolve problems faster, while offering an automated path to reach a live expert depending on the complexity and value of each customer’s inquiry.
Enterprises are also adapting to the new digital world of instant gratification by partnering with their CSPs to provide new ways for consumers to choose their channel of communication (e.g. calling, emailing or messaging, etc.). By giving customers this control, they can interact with a business in the medium and frequency they prefer.
A tool that helps enterprises and CSPs provide this control and flexibility is telecom APIs. Telecom APIs provide a clear, defined way for systems to communicate with each other, allowing businesses to be nimble and adjust to the changing needs of their customers. What used to take months to code, now can be developed almost instantly with APIs, which enables quicker delivery of new capabilities into the hands of consumers.
With remote work and contactless service as the normal for the foreseeable future due to COVID-19, enterprises will be seeking messaging capabilities to help them stay connected to stakeholders and customers. CSPs that can provide these agile messaging services to boost customer interactions and experiences will stay on the cutting edge.
Flowroute’s Messaging API gives developers programmatic control to build intelligent SMS and MMS interactions into their apps and services – over local and toll-free numbers using a single API. With the Flowroute Messaging API, CSPs can take advantage of the following features to stand out against the competition:
- Send and receive SMS/MMS: Enable SMS and MMS-based customer interactions using new or existing toll-free or long code phone numbers.
- Receive detailed information: Review detailed reports that contain SMS and MMS statistics and usage records in real-time through the Flowroute manage portal including message direction, message status, billing info, timestamps, and message content.
- Customized Routing: Obtain real-time control over how SMS and MMS messages are routed through customizable webhooks that ensure developers have power over delivery at the account or individual phone number level.
- Real-time provisioning: Search and provision phone numbers in real-time through the Flowroute Messaging API or online portal to allow apps and services to scale immediately.
Unlike other carriers, Flowroute has been certified as a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) across the United States, which allows us to provide developers direct access to, and control over, telephony resources such as phone numbers, inbound and outbound calling, text messaging and advanced signaling data. This ensures a true carrier-grade communications experience for both enterprise developers and their end customers. The bottom line is that Flowroute does the heavy lifting, so that developers can focus on their key job at hand – building.
The flexible nature of messaging APIs means organizations can start small and grow as big as they need, as long as the platform can scale without degrading quality of service. CSPs are in a great position to offer messaging APIs given their network investments, including the virtualization of their networks, and their commitment to software-defined operating systems.
As CSPs consider the needs of their customers in an age of the distributed workforce, they can position themselves for success by offering robust messaging services.
