While consumers communicate with businesses using a range of channels, studies show consumers still prefer calling a business and speaking to a live representative. However, consumers are reluctant to answer calls from an unknown caller and meticulously screen calls due to the prevalence of robo-callers.
Organizations are increasingly turning to programmable voice to integrate voice communications into their apps, CRMs, and other software to satisfy consumer preferences for more personalized service.
A programmable voice API can help you easily integrate voice into your client or company’s software, providing a satisfying experience for users and the organization. This blog will guide you through the fundamentals of programmable voice to help you integrate it into software and provide the best solutions. We will discuss why organizations demand voice integration and help you choose an excellent cloud-based telecom platform to meet their demands.
Why Are Organizations Investing in Programmable Voice?
Programmable voice integration in software like CRMs and other apps & systems has risen rapidly in popularity. Voice APIs from a cloud-based telecom offer application-to-person (A2P), person-to-person (P2P), and person-to-application (P2A) communication that can help organizations stay in contact with users. Businesses can use a distinct and memorable phone number and caller-ID name to help consumers know who is calling them.
Organizations rely on cloud-based communications and programmable APIs to unify their communications. Unified communications (UC) allow a company to centralize its business communications on a single platform for communication between internal and external users. It can significantly boost productivity while offering increased scalability and reliability.
Organizations also rely on the cloud for flexibility and mobility. Business continuity depends on being able to communicate remotely. It can also help with operations permitting hybrid or virtual office environments.
Organizations want programmable voice integration to communicate with users over their app or track callers using a CRM, allowing for analysis of calls to ensure productivity in a call center environment. The company can create customer profiles or tickets to deliver more productive support and nurture leads.
App integration is also a popular reason to choose a programmable API. Organizations often want to incorporate voice into their app to allow users to communicate with employees quickly and employees to communicate with each other.
Related: Modernize Your Enterprise Communications With a Cloud-based Carrier
Benefits of Programmable Voice API
A programmable voice API offers the following benefits for you as the developer and your organization or client.
Ease-of-Use
You probably already know that a programmable voice API from a cloud-based platform can save you hours of coding, reducing your work to a few short lines of code. There are several other benefits to using an API instead of coding from scratch.
After a quick and simple integration, your software will be ready to use and easy to configure. Many cloud-based telecom providers allow you to adjust and control users and phone numbers and view or download a call detail record (CDR) from a simple web portal.
Cost
Relying on a programmable voice API for your client or organization can be a cost-saving solution. It reduces development on your side and the costs of providing infrastructure and IT support on the organization’s side.
Setting up and maintaining an IP-enabled private branch exchange (PBX) for communication with a public switched telephone network (PSTN) can be a significant investment. Carrier charges may also be much higher when using PSTN instead of the cloud. However, many platforms allow an organization to bring its carrier and PBX if it has one.
Scalability
When you use a programmable voice API to integrate voice into your client or organization’s software, you have the vast scalability of the cloud. The company can add phone numbers and users through a web portal, and resources dynamically scale as inbound calls increase or decrease.
We understand that many small businesses and startups require the ability to scale up quickly for a product launch without a costly investment. An established cloud telecom provider has data centers worldwide, allowing the organization to make and receive local, international, or toll-free calls.
Reliability
Your organization or client will also have the reliability of the cloud when you integrate a programmable voice API into their software. Apps require 24/7 uptime and reliability. Cloud communications are secured and maintained by the telecom platform, providing uptimes exceeding 99.99%. The best providers use failover services to quickly resolve interruptions by switching to a new physical network in seconds.
Efficiency and Productivity
Programmable voice can be a great place to start if your client or company wants to unify its communications in the cloud. Many cloud-based telecoms offer voice, SMS, and business phone in one solution. Unified communications can be an efficient and cost-effective method of securing and managing an organization’s communications. It allows the organization to scale and integrate various communication methods. Studies show that UC solutions can increase workplace productivity by as much as 52%.
Mobility
While productivity is something organizations are constantly looking to improve, mobility is essential. The pandemic and nationwide lockdowns forced organizations to make their communications available for a virtual workforce. While most companies are back in the office, some decided to allow workers to retain their remote or hybrid model.
Programmable voice from a cloud service provider gives organizations the mobility they need to ensure business continuity when the office must close, allowing operations to continue virtually. Employees can use a voice API to access their organization’s cloud-based business phone system from a mobile device in a virtual office environment, supporting many new ways to collaborate and communicate in the workplace.
What to Look for in a Voice API Provider
It helps to look for a reputable voice API provider when integrating voice into software for an organization. The following considerations will help you choose a provider that meets your client or organization’s needs.
REST API
When choosing a programmable voice platform, consider a provider that offers a representational state transfer (REST) or RESTful API. Software written in REST architecture provides improved scalability. It uses fewer resources and can be written in the most common programming languages.
A REST API uses HTTP commands, such as “DELETE” and “GET,” and works with various established data formats like XML and JSON. Communication providers prefer REST because it offers uniformity while providing flexibility to meet the demands of most clients.
Documentation
The programmable voice platform you choose should have impeccable documentation to help you integrate and configure the API for your client or organization’s software. SDKs, articles, use case scenarios, and quickstart resources can help you integrate voice into the application seamlessly and configure it the way the organization wants. Libraries for some of the most popular programming languages also help you integrate the API in your preferred language.
Pricing
Programmable voice API platforms offer several pricing options, with metered (pay-per-use) and flat-rate plans being the most common. When you choose a flat-rate provider, the organization pays a certain amount per month regardless of the number of calls it makes and receives. These pricing plans are more rigid and do not scale payments according to the number of calls the company makes and receives.
Metered plans allow for more scalability and flexibility, making them ideal for small businesses and startups that expect to grow rapidly. Your organization or client can scale up or down dynamically and pays for only the minutes allotted rather than a monthly fee. Many organizations require quick scalability to facilitate marketing campaigns, peak seasons, and product launches. A flat-rate plan will not allow your client or company to scale as quickly and inexpensively as a metered plan.
Features
When you rely on programmable voice from an excellent provider, your client or organization can receive unlimited concurrent calls. Dynamic resource allocation ensures performance under load. The service chooses the shortest path for less expensive and more efficient calls locally or internationally.
Audio compression using G.711 or G.729 saves bandwidth while offering clear voice communications. You can also integrate E911 and CNAM or caller-ID name storage for your organization or client.
Exceptional providers protect your organization or client from toll fraud by disabling and blocking malicious callers. The company can also bring its own carrier and hardware, port existing numbers, and choose vanity numbers for a more memorable and identifiable experience.
Related: Unlocking Communications Potential with Telecom APIs
Partner With a Programmable Voice API Provider for Optimal Voice Communications
A programmable voice API is the quickest and easiest solution for integrating voice into an application. It provides scalability, reliability, and features for businesses at a low cost. The company can add users and phone numbers through a web portal without additional coding. Helpful resources allow you to integrate microservices and features the client or company desires in your preferred programming language.
Flowroute offers reliable voice communication with thousands of rate centers in 200 countries. We allow you to bring your own devices and carrier to the Flowroute HyperNetwork™ for unlimited concurrent inbound calls and short outbound call routes for the lowest fees and highest reliability. We provide resources to help you integrate our programmable voice API into any software and configure it to meet your client’s or organization’s needs. Get started with our voice services today.
