Comments on: Voice APIs a Part, Not The Solution

By: Discover From Your Favorite Topic or Web Page: www.programmableweb.com/apitag/telephony

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:56:08 +0000

[...] http://mashable.com/2008/05/19/letsprov/ (friendfeed apis socialmedia mashable) [Discover] Voice APIs a Part, Not The Solution http://www.phoneboy.com/2347/voice-apis-a-part-not-the-solution#comment-26502 (telephony apis voip [...]

By: PhoneBoy

PhoneBoy — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:08:00 +0000

Ok, I forgot about open APIs, you’re right, Dan.

@Jack what’s the saying, the great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from?

By: Jack Rynes

Jack Rynes — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:29:02 +0000

Dameon,

Nice follow-up to yesterdays conversation. Pulling together all of pieces (API, reliable scalable network and the consulting) is the path to true value and revenue.

@DAN – You have a good point about API’s based on industry standards. Web Services simply points to a “standard” used through out the internet. My only concern with “standards”, being an old telecom guy, is that there always seems to be some nuance to each (SS7, ISDN, etc) making it difficult for interoperability. That said, SIP, VoiceXML and CCXML seem to moving in the right direction.

By: Dan York

Dan York — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:07:32 +0000

Dameon, Good summary… but I still keep beating the drum: APIs need to be based, as much as possible, on *open standards*. Otherwise: 1) an API becomes just yet-another-way for a vendor to lock you in to their specific platform; and 2) developers can’t use their existing knowledge and have to learn how to use *your* new API. We as an industry need to use open standards-based APIs as much as possible so that we can build a larger pool of people who can build voice applications… the more developers there are who can do it, the more voice apps…

So in my opinion we need to be promoting the use of protocols like SIP, VoiceXML, CCXML and other similar technologies and protocols.

Thanks for raising all these points about APIs,
Dan (who, yes, does work for Voxeo, but would be making these points about open standards regardless of who my employer was)