大多数 of my friends use WhatsApp to message me. Most of them. There are some who prefer chatting via Apple’s Messages app. And then, there are a few who like using Telegram. One of my friends uses Signal. Yet another one uses Instagram (mostly for sending me memes). Sometimes I will even cross-text with the same friend on different apps 在 same time. While that is a mildly annoying fact about my private life, imagine the problem this creates for businesses that want to communicate with their customers on channels other than just email.

WhatsApp is very common in Europe, users in Asia may prefer WeChat or LINE, and Americans tend to use Facebook Messenger or SMS instead. Whichever method your customers prefer, wouldn’t it be great if you could support all of them? Bird strives to make it as easy as humanly possible for customers to get in touch with businesses––and the Bird 会话API makes this possible. 

保持简单的事情

Recently, our engineers tackled the challenge of coordinating support operations for a client that was using multiple platforms. This client had a setup that allowed its support agents to communicate with customers via many different channels, but this came 在 price of enormous technical overhead. It was less than ideal because it made the whole system unreliable and difficult to navigate. 

To solve this issue for all of our clients, we developed the Conversations API, which allows you to implement as many different communication channels as you’d like with ease. And they’re all bundled into a single API. It allows you to use all of your preferred channels in one conversation, using one API, and your customers have one profile that works across all of your channels. 

我相信你可能会问自己。

这是如何做到的？

有了对话 API，您与客户的交流就可以分解成几个部分：联系人、渠道和对话。您的客户联系人有一个唯一的联系人 ID，无论他们通过哪种渠道与您联系，都可以通过这个 ID 进行识别。您设置的每个channels 都有一个唯一的渠道 ID，可以在不同的对话中识别。最后，每个对话都有一个唯一的对话 ID。这样，您与特定客户的所有通信都可以存储在一个消息线程中，即使在对话中使用了不同的channels 。

And, speaking of channels: If you can’t find the channel you are looking for in our available channel directory, fear not! Our engineers are constantly working on integrating new channels, and there are many more to come. 

我是否应该从REST API切换到Conversations API？

If you’re a Bird customer, chances are you’re already using our REST API. If you don’t know, the REST API is a simple and efficient way to deploy large-scale SMS campaigns, one-time passwords (OTP), and more. It doesn’t support as many channels as our Conversations API––but that’s kind of the point. 

Yes, you could use the Conversations API to for SMS marketing or OTP, but that wouldn’t be making full use of the potential of the Conversations API. For your simple, straightforward SMS use cases, the REST API is still your go-to. 

ǞǞǞ Conversations API is more of a gateway for your customer support agents to use as many channels as possible. That will allow them to provide great service to your customers. And, of course, Bird Inbox is built on the capabilities that the Conversations API provides.

我怎样才能开始呢？

If you’re a developer looking to implement the Conversations API into your business’s application or website, look no further than our API reference 就在这里. We also provide tutorials and SDKs in seven programming languages to get you started even faster. Our SDKs are regularly updated, and we recommend always using the latest version of the SDK.

If you encounter any issues or have questions about a specific command or parameter, 你可以随时联系我们的支持团队––we’re more than happy to point you in the right direction or clarify with our engineers if something is unclear. 

WhatsApp for Business

Naturally, as an official vendor of WhatsApp for Business, a lot of our customers are interested in adding WhatsApp to their channel portfolio. Not only because 20亿人 around the world are already using WhatsApp as their daily messaging app, but also because a conversation over WhatsApp feels much more personal than one over email. 

If you’re interested in WhatsApp for Business, you first have to 在我们的网站上提交您的申请. Your application is then sent directly to WhatsApp, who will review your use case and give their approval if your use case meets the guidelines. 

After that, our Service Delivery team will pick up your application to help you get set up and will provide you with everything you need––from a WhatsApp channel in your Bird account to a number to use with WhatsApp. 

无尽的可能性

We love the Conversations API. Not just because it’s versatile, but also because it’s so easy to use and set up. Use it to allow your customers to send you a WhatsApp message instead of an email. Use it to set up a Telegram chatbot. Use it to connect to WeChat users, LINE users, Facebook Messenger users, and so much more. 

And think about the customers’ side of things––maybe, in the future, we can just send a quick WhatsApp message to our internet provider if the wifi goes out. Or just text the manufacturer when the washing machine breaks down and you need a repair. Doesn’t that sound like a dream?