ALE Rainbow CPaaS Review

The communications landscape is evolving. Leading communications and collaboration provider, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE) believes that the only way to stay ahead of the curve is to transform with the industry.

According to ALE, the future of communications won’t just mean facilitating connections between people anymore. As disruptive concepts like AI, IoT, and analytics emerge, communication will be about connecting people, objects, and devices. To ensure this transformation, businesses need access to an ever-evolving selection of tools in the form of APIs and SDKs.

The CPaaS, or “Communications Platform as a Service” world ensures that business leaders and innovators will be able to integrate the devices, applications, and people that keep their business running smoothly. ALE’s approach to CPaaS comes in the form of their Rainbow SDK and API hub.

Introducing the Alcatel-Lucent Rainbow SDKs

The ALE Rainbow SDK and API hub is an environment created to enrich and empower innovation. By accessing a range of open SDKs, developers can enhance their applications with everything from voice chat, to video, file-sharing, and even telephony PBX solutions.

ALE believes that their Rainbow CPaaS service will allow organisations to transform their services at the pace that suits them, to deliver better agent and customer experiences. The API Hub is free to sign up with and comes with access to:

• The Rainbow SDK for Web
• The Rainbow SDK for Node.JS
• The Rainbow SDK for Mobile
• The Rainbow Rest API

The Rainbow SDK for Web

The Rainbow Web SDK gives businesses everything they need to develop a next-generation social network, ideal for enhancing connections and strengthening relationships. You can launch video and voice calls, share files, or even just implement real-time chat into any website or web application. All you need to do is add a few lines of code to any browser, device, OS, or JS framework.

Features include:

• Easy-to-access JS library – compliant with Angular, jQuery and React
• Contact, search and presence API – check when people are available to talk at any time
• One-to-one chat API – for private conversations with colleagues and customers.
• Bubble group chat API – invite teams to interact together through bubble discussions
• WebRTC API – Initiate video and audio calls using WebRTC technology. No plug-ins required
• WebRTC conference API – Enable video and audio conferences within any bubble for up to 10 participants
• File-sharing API – Share files in private chat or bubble conversations.
• Groups API – Connect groups of related contacts
• PSTN telephony apps – Initiate or answer calls using your PBX phone line
• Channels API – Send notifications to thousands of users
• Call logs API – Access a history of calls made from your Rainbow app or PBX phone

The Rainbow SDK for Node.JS

The Node.JS Rainbow SDK is an NPM package available to use and deploy in any Node.JS application. Using this application, you can build bot applications with ease – relying on only a few lines of code. Just enter the information provided by Rainbow, and you’ll create a bot that can connect to the AI of your choice and offer enhanced service to customers.

There’s also the option to connect your bot to Rainbow when it’s operating inside an IoT device so you can monitor your system, get notifications and more.

The Rainbow SDK for Node.JS also comes with an API for creating and managing your Rainbow users on-the-go. You can even create applications that handle guest user requests too.

Features include:

• NPM Package for Node.JS
• Always-on connectivity to Rainbow
• Users and Guest API to invite users and create new accounts on Rainbow
• Contacts, Presence and Search API
• Bubble Group chat API
• One-to-one chat API
• Groups API
• Channels API
• Serviceability with logs stored into your files
• Proxy traversal with SDK for Node.JS which can be used with proxy HTTPs

The Rainbow SDK for Android and iOS

Take advantage of the growing demand for mobile with SDKs for native mobile applications. Alcatel-Lucent provides two separate SK options for both the Android and iOS platform. Each SDK offers a native library that’s tuned to your chosen operating system, to ensure a high level of productivity.

Features include:

• Contacts, presence and search API
• Bubble group chat API
• One-to-one chat API
• WebRTC API to make calls using your mobile via WebRTC
• WebRTC Conference API (Coming soon)
• File sharing API for instant sharing of documents between users
• Channels API
• Groups API

The REST API for Operating Rainbow

Finally, the Rainbow REST API allows companies to integrate their IT management and backend tasks with the Rainbow environment. These APIs can then streamline and improve your workflow instantly. For instance, you could use the REST API to automate functions like creating new Rainbow accounts, assigning phone systems to uses, and provisioning crucial tools. You’ll also be able to manage your subscriptions more effectively by buying licenses and attaching them to users.

There’s also access to the Rainbow CLI tool to support basic administrative and provisioning tasks that are done quickly using a shell command tool. With the Rainbow CLI, you can easily automate repetitive tasks. Features of the REST API include:

• Fully documented set of REST APIs available on any application running on front-end application or server
• Authentication API to authenticate rainbow using unique credentials
• Users, organisations, and companies API for administrative tasks like provisioning users in businesses
• Systems API to manage and create your PBX system and associated PBX tech with a specific site
• Subscription and offers API to list rainbow offers and subscribe to them for your team.
• Invoice and payment API
• Metrics API to monitor the growth of your organisation
• CLI tool to quickly administrate your organisation

What Makes Alcatel-Lucent Rainbow CPaaS Different?

CPaaS continues to grow in popularity as businesses search for options beyond one-size-fits-all communication strategies. The Rainbow hub supports organisations that want to connect applications, objects, and people with ease. Some of the things that set this CPaaS solution apart include:

• A full developers platform with Rainbow sandboxed environments where you can build and test exciting new web applications
• Immersive guides that users can access at any time to help them better understand the more complicated parts of using SDKs
• Alcatel-Lucent support through a dedicated team committed to helping you get the most out of your CPaaS experience
• A range of starter kits available to clone from GitHub so you can launch your new strategy as quickly as possible

All you need to do to get started is sign up for a free Rainbow API hub account, and you can begin exploring your CPaaS options in no time. Alcatel-Lucent even offers the option to monitor your API and application use too.

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