Cloud contact centers connect agents with customers across multiple channels, including voice, email, SMS, social media, live chat, and more. Cloud contact center platform API management plays a critical role in maintaining all of these channels. Unlike traditional on-premises phone systems and hosted contact center solutions, cloud contact centers aren’t bound by physical locations or servers. Instead, all of your reps can access the software they need from anywhere via a computer, smartphone, or other VoIP-enabled device. When implemented and managed correctly, APIs improve customer personalization, ensure agents have anytime access, boost agent productivity, and deliver real-time data for improved analytics. Cloud contact center APIs ultimately unify communication channels with other business-critical tools. This allows you to provide better support through custom applications so you can future-proof your contact center at scale. Overview of API management in cloud contact centers APIs connect two or more applications, expanding the functionality of one or both of the systems. In many cases, an API passes data from one program to another or embeds functionality of one application into the other. In terms of cloud contact centers, APIs extend communication methods into other pieces of software. For example, you can add calling capabilities within Microsoft Teams. You can also use APIs to enable inbound and outbound texting, chat, and calling directly within your CRM. This integration gives agents the ability to communicate without switching back and forth between solutions. It also means agents can see caller information while they’re talking to them. It can work the other way too — you can pull CRM data into your VoIP solution, allowing agents to see critical details about the caller before they answer. APIs are commonly used to automate outbound text or email reminders for things like upcoming appointments, balances due, and order status updates via rules-based triggers and custom settings. Another popular way cloud contact centers use APIs is to centralize social media communication. You integrate various platforms into a single solution so your agents can manage all inbound messages from Facebook, X, Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and more without having to navigate to each platform. With API access, modern contact centers can truly customize the way agents interact with customers and each other. SEE: Learn how to use APIs , the different types of APIs , and all about API security . Strategies for the cloud contact center platform API management cycle Cloud contact center APIs are not plug-and-play, one-click setups that you can configure once and move on. They require ongoing developer support and IT resources for deployment and regular maintenance. Think about the resources you’d need to build and maintain any other type of software, like a mobile app or web application. The same applies here because you’re essentially creating custom software that requires ongoing attention. It’s particularly important for you because disruptions or outages will have immediate consequences to many people on your team, or even your customers. If agents are no longer able to receive calls in Salesforce, for example, everything will come to a grinding halt until it’s fixed. The following cloud contact center platform API management strategies can help you avoid these problems and ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible. Development Before anything else, you’ll need to define the scope of your project and get a team of developers to help you accomplish your goals. Large organizations setting up complex integrations may need multiple developers working on this together. It should be treated like any other software development project run by a project manager with sprint planning and other agile project management practices. Your developers will likely need to use documentation provided by each piece of software you want to connect. They typically provide developer guides that explain exactly what you can do with their APIs and how to do it. They may even provide sample code for your team to start with, plus resources for various programming languages (JavaScript, Java, Python, PHP, C#, Ruby, etc.). The best vendors also provide a complete SDK (software development kit) that contains more than basic instructions. These include a full collection of tools, libraries, and documentation to simplify the development process. SDKs ultimately make it easier for your team to access and utilize the API for whatever specific functionality you’re looking for. SEE: Check out the best API management tools to manage APIs at scale. Testing Next, you need to ensure that the API works as intended. To do this, you’ll run various API calls to verify everything. You should also test more complex scenarios and situations in which the API should fail to validate that it works. For example, you might have an agent answer a call from your CRM, send a text message, and set up an automated text reminder. You can also test out more complicated workflows like real-time escalations to a manager, call transfers, handling duplicate contacts, screen pop, and more. Beyond functionality, you’ll also need to test performance. At this stage, you should simulate high call volumes to ensure your setup can handle peak traffic. Many APIs have per-minute, per-hour, or simultaneous limits you have to comply with — this is often overlooked and can have frustrating consequences. If something isn’t working properly or your team finds bugs, they should be fixed before you roll out the new solution to your entire team. SEE: Learn about common API issues and how to fix them. Deployment If everything’s good to go, you can roll it out. Depending on the complexity, this can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. Even if you think it’s going to be a relatively quick deployment, I suggest doing this when most of your team won’t be using either piece of software. If you can’t avoid that, try to choose a timeline that’s historically low volume. You can look back at historical data to determine specific days of the week and times you have the lowest usage. It’ll likely be in the middle of the night, on a weekend, or on a holiday. Ideally, issues should have been resolved during the testing phase. But things don’t always go according to plan. Leave yourself plenty of wiggle room to identify and fix problems that arise before your team starts using it. Monitoring API monitoring should happen 24/7 whenever possible. Developers and quality assurance agents can do this using third-party tools to gather data and analyze performance in real time. These are built to track different metrics, like API response time, error rate, availability, downtime, and more. You can also set up automated alerts and ask your team or customers to let you know as soon as they spot something that isn’t working as intended. Automatic alerts can help you stay ahead of potential problems before they start interfering with communication, so they should be your first line of defense. Versioning It’s important to track and manage changes to your cloud contact center APIs over time. There are several benefits of doing so, but the most common for contact centers is backward compatibility. Cloud-based software can update at any time, and these updates can cause major problems with your APIs. When updates happen, it’s important for your APIs to continue functioning as best as possible until you can resolve any unforeseen issues. Versioning also helps your development team work on new features without affecting the version your agents and customers are actively using. It lets you test and make sure everything’s working without impacting anyone else. Developers can release a beta or V1 so your team has something to work with while they focus on rolling out more features and putting together a more robust solution. Check out our guide on versioning best practices to learn more.
MSPs vote to release MORE prisoners from straining jails despite soaring crimeBut alongside his stark warning of the threats facing Britain and its allies, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said there would be only a “remote chance” Russia would directly attack or invade the UK if the two countries were at war. The Chief of the Defence Staff laid out the landscape of British defence in a wide-ranging speech, after a minister warned the Army would be wiped out in as little as six months if forced to fight a war on the scale of the Ukraine conflict. The admiral cast doubt on the possibility as he gave a speech at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) defence think tank in London. He told the audience Britain needed to be “clear-eyed in our assessment” of the threats it faces, adding: “That includes recognising that there is only a remote chance of a significant direct attack or invasion by Russia on the United Kingdom, and that’s the same for the whole of Nato.” Moscow “knows the response will be overwhelming”, he added, but warned the nuclear deterrent needed to be “kept strong and strengthened”. Sir Tony added: “We are at the dawn of a third nuclear age, which is altogether more complex. It is defined by multiple and concurrent dilemmas, proliferating nuclear and disruptive technologies and the almost total absence of the security architectures that went before.” He listed the “wild threats of tactical nuclear use” by Russia, China building up its weapon stocks, Iran’s failure to co-operate with a nuclear deal, and North Korea’s “erratic behaviour” among the threats faced by the West. But Sir Tony said the UK’s nuclear arsenal is “the one part of our inventory of which Russia is most aware and has more impact on (President Vladimir) Putin than anything else”. Successive British governments had invested “substantial sums of money” in renewing nuclear submarines and warheads because of this, he added. The admiral described the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers on Ukraine’s border alongside Russian forces as the year’s “most extraordinary development”. He also signalled further deployments were possible, speaking of “tens of thousands more to follow as part of a new security pact with Russia”. Defence minister Alistair Carns earlier said a rate of casualties similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would lead to the army being “expended” within six to 12 months. He said it illustrated the need to “generate depth and mass rapidly in the event of a crisis”. In comments reported by Sky News, Mr Carns, a former Royal Marines colonel, said Russia was suffering losses of around 1,500 soldiers killed or injured a day. “In a war of scale – not a limited intervention, but one similar to Ukraine – our Army for example, on the current casualty rates, would be expended – as part of a broader multinational coalition – in six months to a year,” Mr Carns said in a speech at Rusi. He added: “That doesn’t mean we need a bigger Army, but it does mean you need to generate depth and mass rapidly in the event of a crisis.” Official figures show the Army had 109,245 personnel on October 1, including 25,814 volunteer reservists. Mr Carns, the minister for veterans and people, said the UK needed to “catch up with Nato allies” to place greater emphasis on the reserves. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Defence Secretary John Healey had previously spoken about “the state of the armed forces that were inherited from the previous government”. The spokesman said: “It’s why the Budget invested billions of pounds into defence, it’s why we’re undertaking a strategic defence review to ensure that we have the capabilities and the investment needed to defend this country.”
Angel Oak Capital Advisors Announces Listing Transfer to Nasdaq for Exchange-Traded FundsNone
Acquisition complements Arabella's existing services and accelerates its technology roadmap to better serve the philanthropic sector Washington, DC, Dec. 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today Arabella Advisors announced the acquisition of the assets of Ribbon, a fiscal sponsorship technology solution. This acquisition includes Ribbon's client contracts, a perpetual license to its software and domain, and team members to support the technology. The investment marks a significant step forward in Arabella's commitment to expanding its suite of services and advancing its technology strategy to better serve changemakers across the philanthropic sector. "Arabella Advisors is committed to providing innovative solutions that enhance the capacity of organizations to drive meaningful change,” said Arabella Advisors' CEO Himesh Bhise. "The acquisition of Ribbon's assets, along with our ongoing technology investment, strengthens our ability to serve the philanthropic sector in new and effective ways and help a greater number of social impact organizations succeed.” Ribbon's technology complements Arabella's existing suite of services, creating a new tier of software-supported fiscal sponsorship options. This new tier will allow Arabella to meet the needs of a wider array of initiatives and projects, particularly those requiring affordable and efficient support. "The Ribbon software streamlines workflows, making fiscal sponsorship more accessible and affordable,” said Braden Fineberg, CEO of Ribbon. "We're excited that Arabella Advisors, a leader in back-office solutions for nonprofits, will continue to deliver our technology and support our clients' missions.” Organizations utilizing the Ribbon technology have praised the software for its speed, flexibility and affordability. "Ribbon enables our clients to easily and flexibly put their philanthropic dollars to work,” said Leah Barr, Social Impact Director at Foundation X. The acquisition of Ribbon's assets reinforces Arabella's reputation as an industry-leader in providing an expanded platform for capacity and solutions to nonprofits and philanthropic initiatives. "We welcome Ribbon's clients and look forward to serving them in the long run with unmatched speed, flexibility and affordability,” said Bhise. "We are excited to utilize Ribbon's technology and to leverage this investment to help changemakers maximize their impact.” ### About Arabella Advisors: Arabella Advisors is a business dedicated to making philanthropic work more efficient, effective, and equitable. Along with our clients, we are working to build a better future-one with healthy air, water, and food for all, with strong democracies and engaged citizens, with flourishing communities, expanded opportunity and enhanced equity. We help our clients by sharing our expertise and experience, which includes providing outsourced operational support to nonprofit organizations. Proudly a certified B Corporation, Arabella Advisors has been recognized as a Great Place to Work and is a two-time recipient of Entrepreneur Magazine's "Best Entrepreneurial Companies” award. CONTACT: Arabella Advisors [email protected]
