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AT&T Announces New Call Management API and Alpha API Program

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Re: AT&T Announces New Call Management API and Alpha API Program

#31

Man. I immediately dropped what I was doing to see if I could send or receive an MMS from my laptop. The documentation and sample apps do not make it easy for someone to figure out how to actually do that.

AT&T does have some APIs for interacting with MMS. Those have actually been around for several months. The MMS API they offer at https://developer.att.com/developer/basicTemplate.jsp?passed... is restricted to working with AT&T mobile numbers only, though.

Re: AT&T Announces New Call Management API and Alpha API Program

#32

Man. I immediately dropped what I was doing to see if I could send or receive an MMS from my laptop. The documentation and sample apps do not make it easy for someone to figure out how to actually do that.

Hey Jeff,

Did you check out the sample applications, they have a pretty well documented example ( https://gist.github.com/3125729 )

-John

Re: AT&T Announces New Call Management API and Alpha API Program

#33
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, Call Management is cross-carrier. Don't worry about not understanding the press release. Those aren't ever written to be understood by humans.

Hey Adam! Congrats buddy! Go Voxeo go!

Thanks. As you can imagine, we're all amped up.

Re: AT&T Announces New Call Management API and Alpha API Program

#34
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, this API is not for reusing your existing number. It's about building applications with new phone numbers.

Thanks for the quick response. Would be neat to do with existing numbers, but I know that would involve a great deal more trickery or porting of numbers.

We think it would be neat to do this sort of thing with existing numbers, too. That's why we released Ameche a couple of months ago. http://voxeolabs.com/ameche/overview/

Built by the same folks as Tropo was, so the couple hundred thousand Tropo developers will find the Ameche API familiar.

As it gains carrier support, you'll be able to do all this with your existing mobile number.

Re: AT&T Announces New Call Management API and Alpha API Program

#35

Had to reread this a couple of times: AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc. Gotta love corporate America.

I agree that the fancy legal/business structures are offputting. On the other hand, AT&T is making a strong endorsement of the product by offering it under their name. Since the customer trusts AT&T when it comes to telephony technology, this saves a lot of money for the 'subsidiaries and affiliates' on marketing etc. AT&T saves money by not having to develop their own in-house product. Who doesn't win here?

Company the size of AT&T working in highly regulated areas, everything's a subsidiary for various accounting and legal reasons.

AT&T Mobile and AT&T UVerse are two different companies. They probably have different operating entities for different states, even. But they roll everything up into a single brand for ease of sales and marketing.

Re: AT&T Announces New Call Management API and Alpha API Program

#36

Man. I immediately dropped what I was doing to see if I could send or receive an MMS from my laptop. The documentation and sample apps do not make it easy for someone to figure out how to actually do that.

Hey Jeff, Did you check out the sample applications, they have a pretty well documented example ( https://gist.github.com/3125729 ) -John

Thanks for the reply, John. I did check out the gists of the apps, so I guess it's only fair to explain why I'm not a fan yet.

In the "download sample apps" gists, you don't actually include all the files: where are the views? Where is the public directory? Clearly, someone could create these themselves, but when I click a link to download the sample app, I want to download the entire sample app and not just selected files. I don't want to spend time debugging what's missing.

In the MMS sample app2, there are files for phone number lists and a "tokens" file. But you'd have to go directly to the github repository to find out what they're used for and how to use them. (I'm still not sure how/what "tokens" does.)

I appreciate the amount of work it takes to release a public API (and one as robust as this), but it's just kinda .... AT&T-y at this point.

Re: AT&T Announces New Call Management API and Alpha API Program

#37
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that the fancy legal/business structures are offputting. On the other hand, AT&T is making a strong endorsement of the product by offering it under their name. Since the customer trusts AT&T when it comes to telephony technology, this saves a lot of money for the 'subsidiaries and affiliates' on marketing etc. AT&T saves money by not having to develop their own in-house product. Who doesn't win here?

Company the size of AT&T working in highly regulated areas, everything's a subsidiary for various accounting and legal reasons. AT&T Mobile and AT&T UVerse are two different companies. They probably have different operating entities for different states, even. But they roll everything up into a single brand for ease of sales and marketing.

True, though it's interesting that you can purchase UVerse at an AT&T Mobility store. (I have a friend who's an AT&T store manager) While it has the appearance of being one company, I guess it's the rough equivalent of an "affiliate" sale.
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