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PLEASE NOTE - This API is going to be deprecated on 30th September 2023, it will no longer work after this date. Please use our Chat Gateway which offers all of the Chat API's functionalities as well as additional features.

Overview

The 8x8 Contact Center Chat API enables you to provide chat services with your chat app and chatbot.

The Chat API provides a server-to-server integration that enables a client application to provide chat services while retaining full control of both the user interface and experience. The Chat API also supports chatbot integration so you can have direct conversations to further enhance your customer service deflection capabilities (e.g., chatbots facilitate the initial customer engagement which would then be transferred to a live agent as needed). Enhanced automation such as chatbots drives agent efficiencies and reduces new agent training costs.

Your customers can use their phones or digital devices to communicate and engage with your service agents or representatives through messaging. The types of communication channels include:

• Mobile app-based chat

• Desktop web chatbots

• Messaging via integrations with other apps or platforms

The API routes customer communications to your Contact Center enabled agents from initial engagement. This provides continuity of experience and ensures customer confidence in your enterprise as you proactively respond to their inquiries. Using Contact Center with the Chat API enables you to scale and manage your customer service engagements.

The Chat API enables you to:

• Initiate (chatbot) conversations with your customers and then hand them over to available agents

• Achieve 2-way communication by using web API calls and callbacks to and from Contact Center.
  You are able to forward customer messages and are notified when your agents reply to customers.

• Route conversations straight into the preferred queue and let Contact Center handle the agent assignment based on availability and experience.

Additional functions include:

• Screen-pops with relevant CRM customer information

• Display of FAQs or prepared responses

• Auto-translation of customer messages

• Standardized transaction codes while wrapping up customer interactions

• Transfer chats to other queues or departments

Use cases

A college provides a mobile app for its registered students. The mobile app includes course schedules, professor contacts, and other important information. The college seeks to add a chat component and chatbot to their services in order to decrease the college staff response time for addressing inquiries as well as improve the overall student experience. The college can realize this objective through the integration of the Contact Center Chat API into their mobile app solution.

Consider a travel and hospitality company and its current method of communications with prospective customers and clients. In this scenario, the company is email messaging through 3rd-party portals and applications as part of its outreach strategy. This approach creates substantial, non-real-time back and forth messaging and can result in duplicate conversations, delays in response, and the inability to resolve an issue upon the first contact. By bridging the 3rd party portal and application approach by using the Contact Center Chat API the company would be able to improve upon and enhance its response rate to prospective customers and clients. Additionally, the company could augment its improved customer response approach with additional measurement and management capabilities to ensure that service levels can be created and delivered.