Creating Customer Journeys Through Conversations
Prospective and existing customers want more as part or their brand experience. They expect brands to know who they are, their previous experiences, purchases, inquiries, and support requests. They expect to communicate with the brand at their convenience on the platform or channel that fits their mood, preference, and nature of inquiries. Gone are the days of 800 support numbers with a long wait to speak with an agent. Those phone lines have given way to video, voice with intuitive virtual agents, and messaging across a multitude of channels serving as touchpoints across the entirety of the customer journey. That’s a lot of information, insights, and channels to cover and the brands that can best meet those expectations are the ones best positioned to win and retain existing business.
Nexmo is here to make the challenge of the customer journey easier to manage. With a programmable communication platform that spans Voice, Video, SMS, Messages, and more, Nexmo is the one stop shop for powering an omnichannel experience that meets customers and users on the channel they prefer with communication seamlessly built into the user experience. Now though we are excited to announce that we are taking that one step further with our Conversation API moving to beta.
What Does the Conversation API Do?
The Conversation API is a lower level API that integrates context and communication across channels. It the the tool that allows developers to connect disparate networks such as IP and PSTN so users can connect anywhere inside or outside of a brand’s application. It is built with flexibility in mind, enabling not just cross network communication but cross channel as well with direct integration with Nexmo’s Voice API as well as Client SDK for In-App Voice and App-Messaging cross connectivity. But the channels are only part of the story; what makes the Conversation API even more powerful is its ability to customize conversation flows. Developers can now integrate new channels, giving brands the tools they need to truly customize their communication experience to their customers’ expectations. For instance, a brand that uses a virtual agent to take orders could enable the handoff to a live agent when an inquiry or request is not recognized, passing along the entirety of the conversation to that point so that the user experience is a seamless conversation rather than one that is clunky and disjointed, forcing the customer to repeat themselves time and again.
So This Is a Support Tool...Right?
No. The Conversation API along with all the channels and tools Nexmo provides is focused on powering the entirety of the customer communication experience, from the initial stage of acquiring new customers to onboarding to support, ensuring that once a customer chooses your brand, they stay with it for the long haul. This means you can enable the context of customer conversations to move across the entirety of the journey. Business users can stay informed of previous conversations or purchases and have insight into all the interactions that have already taken place with the brand. For instance, custom events can be used to alert the business user of a purchase confirmation via email or to use the context of a previous in-app conversation to lend insight into a current inquiry or challenge.
With You Every Step of the Journey
The Conversation API powers a more seamless experience where conversations are unified instead of siloed. Just like the aforementioned example, the context of a customers’ conversation can move with them across the entirety of the customer journey, from initial contact with the brand, to the evaluation of products or services, the purchase of and subsequent delivery of those goods, to the continued conversations when a prospect becomes a customer. Then the customer experience has started on a positive note, and the customer actually wants to continue to engage with the brand.
With the conversation API there is no part of the journey that has to stand alone. Brands are positioned to understand and respond to the entirety of the customer journey, enabling a superior customer experience that makes them stand out from the competition.
To learn more about this release and the Conversation Contact Us, or if you just want to get started you can find all the documentation you need here.
