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Digital transformation has changed the way we communicate. It makes real-time communication seamless and accelerates countless use cases across industries. APIs play a major role in making this happen with chats, which has become a vital component of community engagement; just by integrating Chat APIs into mobile or web applications, you can empower your business with robust communication solutions.
What is an API?
API is the acronym for Application Programming Interface. It is a type of software that offers service by being an intermediate or interfacing software that allows two applications to talk to each other. In simple words, it handles data transmission by connecting the front-end and back-end of an application. Every time we check the weather on our phone or send an instant message via third-party applications, we are using an API.
What is a chat API?
Okay, we know what an API is. Now, a programming interface that allows users to experience real-time chats by integrating with websites or applications is called a Chat API. Chat API’s broader features not just help in a hassle-free integration, but also ensure a stable and scalable live communication setup. We can power modern communication and improve audience retention with simple Chat API codes that can be maintained and updated as per requirement. Chat API which differentiates itself from the messaging API by being a real-time communication enabler, offers four key services:
- User-to-user chat service
- User-to-business chat service
- User-to-service provider chat service
- Users-to-broadcaster chat service
Chat API Features
A solid chat API offers pre-defined and customizable features ranging from basic communication needs to innovative advancements. Apart from meeting the bare minimum expectations like scalability and reliability, chat APIs can create engaging and interactive messaging experiences based on the business requirements. Here are some of the features/ capabilities of chat APIs:
- One-on-one, Group and broadcast messaging
- Cross-platform support (iOS, Android, web applications, etc)
- Quick & easy response with message reactions
- @Mentions to address the needed person in a group chat
- Media data transfer to share photos, videos and other files
- Push notifications for out of the app messaging
- Previews that enhance the experience with image, gif and video previews
- Save and retrieve chat history
- Keep users updated with read receipts, delivery, online and typing status
- AI moderation tools to keep conversations appropriate
- Permission controls to allow admins to moderate groups
- Private and public channels for closed and open communities
- Chat data analytics for business improvements
- Chat data export and import for device migration
- Chatbots to engage users with relevant discussions
- End-to-end encryption for secure conversations
- Thread replies to visually group messages and keep the conversation floating
- Spam and profanity protection
Besides these features, a good chat API offers much more based on the use case; silent messages, unread message counts, mute users, webhooks, language translation, and more.
Chat Feature Requirements
Apart from the customizable user-defined enhancements, some basic features are required to enable and facilitate a good chat environment.
- User Access – with app registration and user authentication page
- Message Typing – with the help of a default text editing field and keyboard templates
- Chat window – with a clear chronological time-stamped listing of sent and received messages
- Contacts – existing list of contacts with options to edit and add new contacts
- Message Packaging – to improve performance by sending messages in packets
- Send & Receive Message – with the ability to interpret and display it properly
- Notification & Status – new message notifications, unread message counts, message read/unread status
- Storage & Archival – to store and retrieve messages
- Presence Indication – to check user’s availability for chat (available, away, offline, time last active)
Use cases of a Chat API
Chat API’s business applications can only be limited by your imagination. By integrating a chat API into your business, you can reinvent communication; engage your users/ customers with real-time connections that add immense value. Whether you work in online marketplaces and eCommerce, on-demand services, healthcare, gaming, or education there is always a customizable chat solution for all types of emerging digital businesses! Here are some examples.
- Marketplaces – update buyers with real-time pricing, market alerts, notifications, and drive more transactions. Improve user retention, connect buyers & sellers and enhance the brand experience with engaging in-app chats.
- Gaming – take gaming to the next level with in-built chats, alerts and leaderboards. Engage users and boost multiplayer games with cross-game and cross-platform chats. Keep gamers invested with real-time insights and analytics.
- Healthcare – drive better patient care with real-time and secure chats. Improve doctor-patient communication with in-app chats and keep patients updated with schedules, notifications and receipts.
- eLearning – create a collaborative virtual classroom and ensure healthy two-way communication. Engage students with whiteboards, real-time quizzes and keep them attentive.
- On-demand services – improve the efficiency of food/ grocery delivery services with advanced in-app chats that connect well with consumers. Reduce cancellations and increase transactions with chats that build trust and involvement.
How to Choose the Right Chat API?
Chat APIs are not just important for their real-time services, it is a very cost-effective and secure interface that drives a better user experience. When the primary objective is ‘experience’, you need to be more careful in choosing the right Chat API solutions. Hence, Innoinstant becomes your number one option.
Innoinstant’s powerful and feature-rich chat APIs help in creating engaging and interactive real-time connections that are not just secure and scalable, but are also quicker to launch. It offers a wide range of features and seamless integration for in-app chats and standalone applications that captivate your users and drive business communications. Another thing that makes Innoinstant standout is its fully customizable solutions that will help in creating a chat experience that is unique to your business needs.
Conclusion
It is evident that Chat APIs are important in improving and enhancing the user experience with their real-time nature. Chat APIs are a collection of codes that can be easily integrated and modified to create a customized communication solution. With the right solution provider and a well-thought after use case, one can use chat APIs to drive digital businesses to the next level.
