API Integration Capabilities

API integrations retrieve information to be used by the assistant from an external database, and send information gathered from the user to an external database.

User information retrieved through an API can be used create personalized experiences. Such experiences promote trustworthiness and a positive perception of the assistant and the brand. Examples of personalization are the use of one's name, using prior available information to make a query easier (e.g. previous order details), identifying a user who has a membership, and reflecting time of day knowledge in the greeting.

APIs are also used to retrieve information for the user, for instance access to news or weather details.

It is important for a conversation designer to both know what information is available through APIs before starting the design work. It can be equally important to consider what information would be nice to have access to, as in some cases it may be possible to request updates to an API.

Conversation designers can create webhook actions in the OpenDialog platform to enable integrations or may collaborate with the engineering team who can implement a range of actions.