QUICK GUIDE

Voice and Messaging APIs: How to get started

Want to add voice and messaging to your app the easy way? You don’t need telecom experience, a ton of money, or to spend a lot of time…But you do need to read this guide.
You’ll Learn:
  • Why APIs are now a business fundamental
  • Why any company (big or small) can use APIs
  • How APIs can help you enhance customer satisfaction—the easy way

Once, only big businesses with lots of resources could afford to add voice and messaging to their systems. Now, communications API platforms have changed all that. APIs are essentially a developer’s cheat sheet. A few lines of code are all that’s necessary to add a meaningful feature-set.

And the Bandwidth Communications Platform makes using APIs even easier. Our fully-featured user interface lets anyone with web development skills create voice and messaging applications, and our platform includes a load of helpful how-to guides, sample code, and API helper libraries to get you started.

Why we love APIs

APIs are for everyone. Even small companies and developers can access communications APIs and gain the power to innovate—and, therefore, compete. Companies of any size can use communications APIs to deliver self-service onboarding, support, and other features to their end users, improving the customer experience while lowering operational costs. Plus, businesses can extend the value of their existing assets by using communications APIs to add voice and messaging capabilities to legacy software.

APIs give companies the ability to remain competitive. Customers demand integrated text messaging and calling features, and they’ll go with the provider that gives them what they want. The only way to remain competitive is to answer that demand with a great customer experience. At the same time, communications APIs can be used to lower operational costs by automating aspects of customer onboarding and support. When a business can lower costs while pleasing customers, everybody wins.

APIs are no longer a business advantage. They’re a business fundamental.

Big companies are using communications APIs to add voice and messaging to their apps. Smaller companies can use them just as easily, but some may think they don’t have the resources to offer their customers the convenience and mobility of a fully-enabled voice and messaging experience.

Smaller companies ask:

Will the investment in time and money drain resources and damage competitiveness? Is this really complex? Will I have to hire costly consultants? Is this going to be a long project that requires a lot of management? Will the resources I divert to this project endanger my ability to produce great products? The answer is simple. None of the above.

The cost of using APIs to add voice and messaging to your apps is lower thank you think.

Add voice and messaging to your apps now. And by now, we mean minutes.

Adding voice and messaging to your apps with APIs is fast and simple. You can have a simple app up and running in minutes when you use the tools Bandwidth makes available to shorten development time.

Bandwidth Communications Platform

The Bandwidth Communications Platform was created to make APIs easy for anyone to use. From entry-level to expert, the resources you need to add voice and messaging to your apps are here for you.

Innovative users are everywhere

What do you need to get started? About 10 minutes, and nothing else. Read on to see how businesses are creating new applications using communications APIs today, andhow you can get up and running with voice and messaging in minutes.

How to use the Bandwidth Communications Platform

1. Request your free account

  • Sign up for an account at bandwidth.com/free-trial
  • Watch your email—you’ll be approved the same day or the next morning
  • In the meantime, check out the how-to guides, documentation, helper libraries and other aids at dev.bandwidth.com

2. Explore the Developers Console

  • Create an app, a conference, a message, or a bridge
  • Create a SIP domain or endpoint
  • Manage recordings
  • Upload media
  • Search for available numbers
  • And much more… take a look around and see what makes sense for your business

3. Create an app

  • Go to Getting Started
  • Get a free number to test the app you’re about to make
  • Enter the phone number where you want to receive your test message
  • Select SMS or Voice for your test
  • Enter your message or record your test call
  • Look at your phone—your test message or call has arrived!

And now you’re a voice and messaging developer!

The Bandwidth Communications Platform makes innovation accessible to any company of any size. The simple interface and rich library of learning aids can take you from raw newbie to a sophisticated API expert in the time it takes to work through the materials… which isn’t long at all. And if you get stuck, don’t worry—just call us.

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