Messaging API & Webhooks

Automate key customer touchpoints with the Aircall SMS API

Raphael AssarafLast updated on October 22, 2024
2 min

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Aircall customers send over 5 Million SMS messages globally each month.

Sales follow-ups, customer notifications, appointment scheduling… Text messages boost personalisation and reply rate, making them a core component of the sales and support toolkit. 

While observing how customers were using SMS, we realised we could provide more than one-to-one messaging. Often, messages were used in a recurring process, meaning that:

  • Teams want their SMS to be logged in other systems, for better tracking

  • A significant portion of messages sent by agents or sales reps could be automated

As Aircall supports a wide range of industries and use cases, we asked: what is the most agnostic, ubiquitous way to enable any client to tailor SMS messaging to their specific process?

Enter the SMS Send API

Messaging API SMS Send API

Our new SMS Send API allows businesses to programmatically send SMS messages, opening up a world of possibilities for sales and support teams. Some of the top use cases include:

  1. Automate SMS sending during missed calls or after sales calls

  2. Trigger SMS based on specific CRM/Helpdesk parameters, call events

  3. Ensure these messages are logged to the right tools

This can be done using the SMS Send API endpoint and messaging webhooks. Thanks to modern workflow builders like Zapier, Make.com or HubSpot workflows, savvy teams low on development resources can also benefit with low-code, or tap into Aircall’s professional services team for help.

Messaging API & Webhooks
Example of the missed call SMS deflection workflow automation and corresponding SMS template.

“If this then that”, or how to empower your team with SMS automation

When the same action is performed over and over again by agents, automating it can save huge amounts of time and mental load.

Inspired by a popular chart by xkcd to measure the benefits of automation. Now multiply this by the number of agents or sales reps in your team!

Let’s do the maths: if 10 agents spend 1 minute writing SMS to 5 customers daily, and those could be automated, it’s worth spending 60 full days automating! Not to worry, implementing SMS automation with Aircall should only take a few days to a week, on average.

In some cases, like peaks in customer support calls, sending SMS to clients manually is not even humanly possible, as all agents are busy answering a call…

Luckily, Aircall provides webhook events for missed calls, tags and more, so that you can tailor SMS workflows to your exact needs – see our API tutorials for in depth guides on this.

More consistent processes

Another benefit of automation is consistency. As you start observing your team’s work and automating, you will reap the benefits of scale: 

  • Reduced human error and variance

  • Ability to measure and A/B test processes

  • More time for reps to focus on personalised interactions

Learner.com was keen to reap the benefits of SMS automation for their tutoring sessions: 

“We would like to send two text messages programmatically that we are currently sending manually. The first text would be sent the moment we fill an order and would contain relevant information about the order. The second message would be sent daily to relevant clients to remind them about their order and ask them to confirm it.”

SMS logging for better tracking of customer interactions 

As messaging usage increases, teams need to track who received what SMS when. This helps maintain context when several reps or agents collaborate on the same deal/customer. Thankfully, Aircall automatically logs text messages in popular CRM and help desks such as Salesforce, HubSpot or Zendesk

Additionally, customers or third parties can build custom integration to their system using our webhooks in combination with their internal tools or other apps API. For instance, Richpanel, an e-commerce focused help desk quickly adopted the new Aircall SMS API: 

Our customers are using Aircall + Richpanel. With this integration, we want to enable them to see and reply to their customers text messages directly from the Richpanel helpdesk.”

–Amit, Richpanel Founder

Getting Started is Easy

Whether you have an in-house dev team, are keen to leverage workflow builders or prefer to work with our professional services, we're here to help you implement a solution that works for your team.

Want to further discuss how the SMS Send API can drive results for your business? Get started with Aircall to start accelerating your SMS outreach.

The SMS Send API feature is available on the Aircall professional plan only. Messaging webhooks are available on all Aircall plans.


Published on September 26, 2024.

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