BlueVia Voice API launched

We finally launched the BlueVia Voice API alpha on April 10th 2013. I have been campaigning that SMS is not dead for several years now, and although the Voice API doesn't provide access to SMS just yet, the plan was at some stage to add support for SMS as well. SMS isn't dead, carriers just need to understand that they are not currently using their Voice and SMS assets in an innovative fashion. Carriers need to provide open access to their Voice and SMS assets to developers, such that anyone can play and be innovative. Innovation isn't the remit of a team within an organisation. Anyone should have the tools to demonstrate and build innovation. Herein lies the beauty of BlueVia - it now provides trivial access to voice functionality for developers - and I hope also SMS soon.

To access the BlueVia Voice Alpha go to the BlueVia Portal and request access to the alpha. The following diagram shows the landing page for the BlueVia Voice API alpha from which you can request an invitation. This, links off to a Google+ community, which you can join and request access to the service. This is a little clunky to be sure, but we wanted a simple community solution in order to gather feedback from early adopters of the service. Feel free to join - we will give you $50 USD of credit to play with the service. Then feel free to leave feedback. Be brutal if you want to - all feedback is incredibly valuable to us.



Once you have been given access to the service you can then manage the numbers that we will give you. For the alpha period we will give you numbers in the USA, the UK and Germany to play with. 2 numbers in each country. These are completely free during the alpha period, however there is a limitation in that you cannot purchase further numbers during the alpha period. The following diagram shows a summary of the numbers associated with your developer account, once they have been assigned to you.



Simply click on a number to configure it to point to your application. The URL you associate with your number provides the commands that BlueVia will execute when your number is called. For an overview of what you can do, please have a look at the BlueVia Voice API alpha documentation. To see how trivial it is to use the APIs maybe look directly at the BlueVia Voice API quick start guides.

Let me know what you think. Don't hold back ;-)


On a personal note, I have been working in carriers now for 6 years. In that time I have been campaigning, unsuccessfully it seems(!), to provide access to developers to carrier assets. In DT I was desperate to provide developer access to shortcodes and extensions to provide access to enablers such as group messaging through SMS. Never got anywhere with it, while all the while OTT players were exploding the group messaging market. Now rumours are that Google tried to acquire WhatsApp for a billion.

Then came the emergence of the OTT voice and SMS players - the media darling Twilio, and the rest - Nexmo, Voxeo, Hoiio, Plivo, etc... (please forgive me if I have left you off - there are just so many of you now!). These companies provide trivial access to voice and SMS for developers and have become successful as carriers DO NOT provide trivial access to SMS and Voice.

This is why BlueVia, and the chance to provide Voice and SMS access so appealed to me. It provided a chance for a carrier to actually do something innovative and allow developers to use us for their innovation - in a way that no carrier has ever been able to do before. Sure AT&T and DT have launched voice services through their developer portals, but they have only done so in partnership with the OTT voice players mentioned previously. BlueVia on the other hand, is the first carrier to expose voice services, warts and all, through using their own assets. The first carrier to do so. We might be now playing catch up with the OTT players who have jumped the gun and not only demonstrated the value of doing this, but have also demonstrated how to do this, but at least we are in the game with our own technology.

There is a load of work to do to take the BlueVia Voice API alpha to be a truly commercial success, but if you cannot see where and how that success will be possible, then I suggest opening your eyes. We are a carrier. We have two assets that we control, Voice and SMS that are providing access to a decreasing revenue stream. We are not innovative enough to define an ever increasing revenue stream from these assets. That might sound a little harsh, but dig deep - you know it's true. The only way we can fuel growth, through innovation, is to let other people play and experiment with our assets. This was the beauty of BlueVia - Come Play With Our Network