There are several ways to unite IP telephony with a CRM system or some other external service.
- Ready-made integrations created by telephony service developers. Everything is done according to the principle of no-code or low-code. It’s a fast and convenient option but IP telephony providers do not have ready-made integrations for every external system.
- Use of intermediaries. There are special connector services that support the connection of many external products (programs or solutions) to the input and output. It also does not require programming but such integrations are often not flexible enough.
- Integration via API. The main advantage of this method is flexibility. However, programming is required but practice shows that it’s worth it (you can customize everything for yourself without any bugs).
Let’s look at the third option more closely.
Telephony API: What is it?
The Application Programming Interface (API) can be characterized as a description of the ways of interaction between programs (services). The above-mentioned feature provides the ability to read and modify data stored on the telephony server (in the case of IP telephony). This is a kind of solution that allows you to connect a third-party application with an IP telephony server and ensure an efficient exchange of information between these two parties.
Two Sides of API Integration
The interacting parties are usually divided into server and client when integrating through the API. In the case of IP telephony (this also applies to other services), the server is the side that actually provides the software interface for interaction, receives requests, generates responses, and works with data stored on a physical or virtual server.
The client is a third-party application that accesses the telephony service API. Various programs and services can act as a client, such as CRM systems, BPM, programs for warehouses, and other types of accounting.
Interaction Between Client and Server During Integration
You need to make sure that the client knows the ways to establish communication between these two parties using the Application Programming Interface.
- What data can be accessed through the telephony service API?
- How exactly is this access organized?
- How can the client manipulate the data stored on the server?
- In what form/format is the data exchange between the interacting parties organized?
- How is the client authorized when accessing the API?
It is clear that interaction with API integration occurs according to some specific set of rules. There are several such sets but REST API is used most often when interacting via the web. REST is an architectural style or a set of agreed principles and API design constraints that allow you to achieve certain system properties and organize the interaction with external services according to understandable rules. The REST API architectural style is used by almost all IP telephony companies, including Freezvon.
The popularity of this architectural style is due to its advantages.
- Ease of support.
- High fault tolerance of systems built using this principle.
- Flexibility and ability to implement various changes.
- Good API performance.
- System scalability.
You can set up flexible and efficient interaction with the IP telephone when integrating via API. Let’s take the solution offered by the Freezvon Company as an example. Then the offered-to-users API allows you to perform a wide range of actions.
- Organization of sending notifications about an incoming call to a CRM or other external system.
- The ability to make outgoing calls from systems connected to telephony via API systems.
- Uploading call history, call records, and other statistical information.
- Ability to intercept calls.
- Functionality for transferring incoming calls to the desired numbers directly from the interface of external systems.
- Processing calls in interactive mode, depending on their parameters (subscriber number, etc.).
That’s not all. You get ample opportunities for interpreting and using information received from IP telephony when integrating via API. Moreover, Freezvon Company brings a great opportunity to get a Canadian virtual phone number or the solution of any other country to fully unleash the potential of the mentioned-above possibilities. Contact managers to get more useful information.
