Application Programming Interface
Imagine you had everything needed within one flexible, compatible and accessible platform tailored to your needs. Bulk enterprise SMS, automated trigger responses, up-to-date scheduling, coordinated contact lists, order tracking and sophisticated reporting all in one place.
By integrating APIs into your existing platform, you can fulfil all your business requirements using one system. Whether you employ a CRM, CMS, ERP or another multi-faceted platform, integrating an SMS API allows you to scale up your workflow and communication processes.
What is an API?
Short for Application Programming Interface, APIs are a software intermediary that allows applications, databases, libraries and systems to interact and communicate with one another. In other words, it works as a messenger or channel, delivering requests from one form to the other.
Examples of APIs
- Comparison websites interact with APIs from a range of businesses to compare pricing, services or products to present options to the end-user.
- Add-ons and plug-ins integrated into an existing platform, such as adding a Google Maps snippet to a business' contact page.
- Scale up the usability of CRMs by providing multiple API integrations for users to tailor their internal processes, such as adding SMS capabilities to an eCommerce platform to streamline communication.
Why use APIs?
APIs are considered easy-to-use building blocks that allow developers to scale up applications, databases, libraries and systems with specific features. Integrating robust APIs is the most accessible, fast and reliable way to connect these platforms, so why not leverage pre-existing elements to elevate your existing platform?
What are the different types of APIs?
- Open APIs, or Public APIs, are publicly available without restriction
- Partner APIs refer to APIs in which specific rights or licenses are necessary to access them and are not available to the public
- Internal APIs, or Private APIs, can only be accessed by internal systems. Companies often use Internal APIs among in-house teams to improve products and services from their backend.
- Composite APIs are essentially a combination of different data and service APIs. Used to speed up execution processes and improve performance, Composite APIs refer to a sequence of tasks that run synchronously as a result of the execution and not at the request of a task.
Web service APIs
HTTP
HyperText Transfer Protocol is a standard protocol used to transfer files by linking pages of hypertext throughout the World Wide Web. HTTP API is any API that makes use of HTTP as their transfer protocol. For example, SOAP is an HTTP API as long as it uses HTTP for transport.
SMPP
Short Message Peer-to-Peer is considered the industry-standard protocol for sending SMS to Network providers. Overall, the telecommunications industry uses SMPP for exchanging SMS between Short Message Service Centers (SMSC) and External Short Messaging Entities (ESME).
SMPP is a level-7 TCP/IP protocol, which allows fast delivery of SMS messages using the most common versions, v3.3 and v3.4, with the possibility of synchronous and asynchronous data exchange.
REST
Representational State Transfer is a recently developed software architecture style that allows for a higher number of data formats. 70% of public APIs follow REST because it offers speedier load times and greater performance, while also making it more accessible for developers.
REST APIs currently use the HTTP protocol as infrastructure, servers and client libraries are widely available for HTTP.
SOAP
Simple Object Access Protocol was the favourite for API developers until recently. It is still used in many major tech companies supporting legacy systems that may be exclusively compatible with SOAP APIs. As its own protocol, SOAP has in-built features that include higher levels of security and ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) compliance.
Email-To-SMS
The Email-To-SMS gateway is an API that bolts on to existing software and processes, customised to whichever email platform or CRM being using. Essentially, the system is programmed to send an email message to the intended recipient's mobile handset as an SMS.
SMS API
Adding SMS to your current system enhances your communication capabilities. No matter the industry, communication is integral to successful business functions, and with SMS your messages won't get lost in 'Spam' folders.
Integrating SMS enhances customer experience and streamlines workflow with features such as:
- Bulk SMS
- Keywords and triggers
- Scheduled SMS
- Contact list coordination
- Automated responses
- Email-To-SMS
- Delivery status reports
SMSGlobal's technical specialists provide a range of off-the-shelf as well as custom-built APIs that effortlessly integrate with existing systems. Developed in-house, our APIs offer a reliable and secure high-throughput solution for all enterprise messaging needs.
How to integrate SMS API:
Step 1
Select an API with high-quality documentation that is compatible with your platform and business needs.
Step 2
Read through the documentation for the chosen API and what features it includes.
Step 3
Before writing any code, test API authentication, requests and responses by using an issued API key from the provider.
Step 4
Assess whether a helper library or if requests are essential to integrating the API. Helper libraries are easy to get started with while requests give you more control over HTTP demands; however, they may not be necessary with all API integrations.
Step 5
Move API requests into a task queue, so they do not interfere with the HTTP request-response cycle for your platform.