Application Program Interfaces (API) are essential for integrating business and third party systems into the contact center solution work-flow. This is an important consideration when selecting a Cloud contact center solution. Mature service providers offer web services API that allow external applications to automate tasks. Almost all contact center software functionality available through a user interface can be exposed through Web API.
There are four distinct areas of integration associated with contact center solutions:
- Setup, management and operations of the contact center solution
- Dialer and contact center ACD data integration
- Integration to third party and back-end business application to manage the work-flow
- Reporting data and Analytics to measure contact center performance
The maturity of a cloud contact center service can be judged by the extent of the availability of Web services API for the solution. Service providers are offering Cloud contact center solutions based on different telephony engines but Asterisk based Cloud services have stolen a march over other telephony platforms by offering a powerful, cost effective, and open solution.