Today, many businesses are shifting their operations online. It facilitates service delivery and the ability to reach many customers globally. According to the report on API integration by Cloud Elements, 55% of businesses include API integration as a critical requirement of their business strategy. Hence, they can build their brands across multiple continents, resulting in increased amounts of profits. An essential component of any business, be it online or offline, is communication. Through communication, you can reach your clients and providers as a business. Thus, you can realize profits and build a rapport with them. It increases trust and the reputation of a brand.
To facilitate communication among various applications on the internet, a business uses Voice calling APIs. This post will see what a voice calling API is and how useful it is to a business.
What is a Voice calling API?
An API (Application Programming Interface) refers to protocols, tools, and routines that specify the interactions between various software components. Therefore, Voice calling APIs are the tools that software developers and engineers integrate into various internet applications to allow making and receiving voice calls. They connect to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) with an internet-based application. Therefore, calls can be made and received from the application to a PSTN and vice versa.
Voice calling APIs are beneficial to the developer in various ways. Developers do not need telecommunications expertise to build voice applications. Since the Voice calling API executes the telephony functionalities, the software developer can design an engaging customer experience. IDC estimates that 30% of the businesses will have integrated communications through an embedded API in the near future.
Other advantages of Voice calling APIs include; high scalability, highly configurable, and incredibly cost-effective.
In short, through using Voice calling APIs, businesses and organizations can make, manage, and receive calls programmatically. They can do all this without interfacing with the PSTN directly. Voice calling APIs also allow the routing and rerouting of the Voice calls having global reach to browsers, mobile applications, SIP domains, and phones.
Use cases of Voice calling APIs
There are varying use cases for Voice calling APIs. We can use them in Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) platforms, contact centers, call tracking solutions, cloud-based IVRs, Artificial Intelligence Applications, voice notifications, omnichannel routing, among other uses. Any application with a communication requirement or an embedded collaboration can use Voice calling APIs in a business. Therefore, there has been an epic rise in using Voice calling APIs in the embeddable communications API.
Benefits of Voice Calling APIs
→ Easily consumable
APIs like Voice calling APIs are highly and easily consumable. Thus, various businesses can improve customer experiences by leveraging them. It also ensures that they reduce the operational costs of the business. We can embed Voice calling API on any internet-based application that requires reliable and secure omnichannel capabilities for communications. Hence, any business that applies it can meet the various needs of the customers, businesses, and end-users today.
→ Voice calling APIs are highly configurable
One of the major benefits of Voice calling APIs is that they are highly configurable. It enables a business to build upon them progressively to serve their customer’s needs instead of using a single solution. A business can even extend the existing solution’s value by using Voice calling APIs to add the messaging and Voice calling functionalities on the legacy software.
→ Enhances call tracking
Using a voice calling API, you can record calls automatically. You can additionally capture the metadata like the caller numbers, the length of the calls. This metadata helps trace call records.
→ Improves the customer experience
Various users call a business for different needs. Different departments fulfill such needs. Since the clients are global, there is a need to have a communication channel that reroutes the calls to the rightful agent based on a predefined attribute (s). Voice calling API offers precisely that. Thus, the customer experience is highly improved when a business implements the Voice calling API.
→ Cost-saving
To enhance communications, a business has to purchase the infrastructure, install it on the premises and hire telecommunication specialists to create the communication system. Voice calling API saves a business these costs. You hire the software engineer to integrate the API into an existing application or simultaneously develop the application and the API. This also reduces the number of employees required to maintain, integrate, and test communication capabilities.
→ Enhances communication Scalability
Using Voice calling API, a business can reach its customers and clients globally. The communications and calls increase as the business grows. By using Voice calling API, the business can make many calls without purchasing additional telecommunication equipment. Thus, through scalability, you also save some costs.
→ How much does Voice calling APIs cost?
The cost per voice calling API varies depending on the provider that you choose. Other factors include; the features that you need, the volume of calls, and the geographical span of the business are considered. The higher the volume of calls, the more the cost, and a voice calling API having many features costs more.
→ Features of a voice calling API
Voice calling APIs differ in terms of the features that each has. The primary APIs support text strings and gather Digital Tone Multi-Frequency Signalling (DTMF) inputs from the keyboard. Through Voice calling APIs, you can record calls, create outbound calls, and manage conferences. Below are the features of a voice calling API.
→ Text to Speech
Some Voice calling APIs have Text to Speech(TTS) synthesis functionalities integrated into them. The TTS converts the text into a spoken voice. It is an accessibility feature for clients that have various impairments. Thus, such clients can access the services of a business without neglect. Besides the disabled, other customers require options to interact with the IVR easily on the go.
→ Smart IVR
Programmable Voice calling APIs helps you build a multi-level IVR to route your call flows intelligently. Smart IVR contains enough interactive capabilities and menu options for handling simple tasks autonomously. By using a programmable voice calling API, you can build a client-first IVR leveraging:
• Intelligent call routing
• Capabilities for text to speech
• Recording of calls, and
• Omnichannel experiences.
→ Audio conferencing features
Voice calling APIs come with an audio-conferencing feature. Therefore, you can embed the capabilities for audio conferencing into your application. Thus, Voice calling API helps your application connect your business and teams globally in a highly configurable way.
Conclusion
Voice calling APIs have many benefits when correctly integrated within an internet-based application. Because of its many features, your business can grow its customer interactions and expand its calling capabilities. The enhanced interactions can enable an organization or an enterprise to achieve more sales and conversions.
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