Written by Jeff Owen | Feb 28, 2015 5:00:00 AM
RingCentral Connect Platform™ makes it easy for developers to add voice calls, SMS, and other powerful communication capabilities to any business application RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG), a leading provider of cloud business communications solutions, today unveiled the RingCentral Connect Platform™, a set of tools and services to build, deploy, and manage custom integrations using RingCentral APIs. With this platform, developers can build out-of-the-box integrations with RingCentral to add powerful communication capabilities to business applications. “This is a significant step forward because businesses want to better connect with customers – and communications is at the heart of every customer interaction,” said Vlad Shmunis, CEO, founder and chairman of RingCentral. “In the past, integrating communications into business apps has been complex and expensive. We’re breaking down the barriers that have isolated communications from business applications.” “Integration is the next frontier in cloud communications. As providers, such as RingCentral, open up their platforms, it gives way to new possibilities that close gaps between communications and business applications, and ultimately leads to helping businesses create better customer experiences,” said Elka Popova, Unified Communications & Collaboration Analyst, Frost & Sullivan. Example Integrations and Use Cases RingCentral has integrated with other leading cloud enterprise applications including: Salesforce, Google for Work, Zendesk, Desk.com, Box and Dropbox. These earlier integrations prove RingCentral’s ability to bring its world-class cloud communications solution to other software environments, and create enriched customer experiences. Starting today, the RingCentral is opening up, making it possible for its platform to be available to an ecosystem of hundreds and thousands of developers. A couple of new integrations are available including Zoho, which developed a powerful integration that allows 13 million customers of their CRM to leverage RingCentral capabilities without ever leaving the Zoho app. In addition, Intuit integrated RingCentral into one of their products to enhance their customer experience. These examples are some of the integrations already in production as a result of the new RingCentral Connect Platform, and there are many more underway. “The RingCentral Connect Platform has allowed us to create a tightly integrated solution for customers who want embedded communications capabilities and analytics that can improve the user experience,” said Ian Wening, VP of Business Development at Zoho Inc. “With our leading technology and experience in cloud CRM, this partnership with RingCentral provides a valuable enhancement that helps us differentiate our core offering.” “Great software companies today are API-first because it drives innovation,” said Sam Boonin, VP of Product and Platform Marketing at Zendesk, Inc. “Because of our open platforms, thousands of companies have already delivered great customer service with Zendesk and RingCentral.” The RingCentral Connect Platform enables multi-modal communication, capturing communication logs, automating key business processes, streamlining user provisioning, as well as leveraging valuable business insights. Example use cases include: · A medical business may use an integrated app to seamlessly consolidate call recordings into its patient management system. · A sales team may integrate voice calling into their CRM to enable sales reps to make 30 more minutes of calls per day. · A home repair dispatch may integrate SMS to send text alerts to field repairmen to visit certain locations that need repair. · A customer support team may integrate a screen pop to allow a customer’s account to automatically show up on an agent’s screen when that customer calls. The end result is an unprecedented level of customization, improved workflow efficiencies, and powerful communication capabilities. Developer Program, App Gallery and More The RingCentral Connect Platform™ provides a suite of tools and services, including a developer portal, a rich set of self-service APIs, SDKs, sandbox environment, and tutorials. Developers can manage the full life cycle of custom applications, including tracking applications in development, and moving apps from sandbox to production. Developer support and a forum will also be available to assist developers and answer questions. As part of the platform launch, RingCentral will also introduce a new App Gallery, a destination where customers can discover application integrations that are commercially available, and where developers can showcase their integrations. To learn more and request access to the RingCentral Connect Platform, visit
https://developer.ringcentral.com.