You've probably heard the term "Contextual Communications" over the past year. But what does it mean? Why does it matter? And how would you use contextual communications within an application or bot that you are building? In this talk I will share the What, Why and How of contextual communications. Think SMS, in-app messaging, voice and mix in things like location, time, history and all the data around this. Finally, I'll demonstrate how APIs make all of this possible.

1. HOW APIS ENABLE CONTEXTUAL
COMMUNICATIONS
APIDAYS PARIS - DECEMBER 2016

2. PHIL @LEGGETTER
HEAD OF DEVELOPER RELATIONS
LEGGETTER@NEXMO.COM
@LEGGETTER

3. Chat Apps Transport Social Communication FinanceTravel eCommerce

4. WHAT WE’LL COVER
▸ What is Contextual Communication?
▸ Why it matters?
▸ How APIs enable Contextual Communications
▸ Thoughts & Summary

5. WHAT?

6. “By 2017, 70% of customer communications
will be digital, contextualized and consumed
on demand via multiple channels, including
the web, mobile devices and social media.”
Gartner (2014)
AN OBVIOUS TREND
LET USERS
COMMUNICATE
WHEN AND WHERE
SUITS THEM
?
?

7. Context (n): the situation in which
something happens : the group of
conditions that exist where and when
something happens

8. AMAZON MAYDAY

9. AMAZON MAYDAY
▸ Knows who you are?
▸ Knows what you're doing on your Kindle
▸ Can annotate your screen
▸ Can Control your Kindle (?)

10. Multiple Channels/Omni-channel (n): a
synchronized operating model in which
all of the company’s channels are aligned
and present a single face to the customer
Accenture (2015)

11. Social
Website
Store
Phone
Mobile
Email
App
1
2
4
3
5
6
7
MULTIPLE CHANNELS (OMNI CHANNEL)

12. INTERCOM

13. INTERCOM
▸ Knows who you are
▸ Has a lot of data about your product usage
▸ Communicate on-demand
▸ Provides "Omni Channel" Communication
▸ In-App Messaging
▸ Push Notifications
▸ Email

14. Contextual communication (n): the
bidirectional transfer of information between
two parties where both parties are aware of the
relational, environmental and cultural context of
the exchangeWHAT IS THE
RELATIONSHIP?
VIRTUAL (APP/
DEVICE)
PHYSICAL
INFORM DECISIONS
ON HOW TO
COMMUNICATE

15. WHY?

16. EXISTING EXPERIENCES SUCK

17. Social
Website
Store
Phone
Mobile
Email
App
1 2
LOSING CONTEXT ACROSS A SINGLE CHANNEL!
POTENTIAL LOSS
OF CONTEXT

20. MAINTAINING CONTEXT THROUGH STATE
IMPROVES THE USER EXPERIENCE

21. Social
Website
Store
Phone
Mobile
Email
App
1
2
4
3
5
CONVERSATIONS CAN TAKE PLACE ACROSS MULTIPLE CHANNELS (OMNI CHANNEL)
6
POTENTIAL LOSS
OF CONTEXT
7

22. IP MessagingPSTN IP Voice SMS
COMMUNICATIONS ACROSS CHANNELS
Email

23. MY PREFERENCE
NOT FOR ME!
MAYBE I’M PUT OFF
BY HUMAN
INTERACTION!?!

24. CONTEXT CAN ALSO IMPACT THE BEST FORM OF COMMUNICATION
▸ e.g. Communicate with me whilst I’m travelling
▸ The User - who am I?
▸ Geolocation - traveling outside of normal location
▸ Connectivity - I have Wifi connectivity
▸ Calendar - I’m giving a talk
▸ Message Priority
▸ Email (Read at some point)
▸ Push Notification/SMS (Read soon)

25. WHY CONTEXTUAL COMMUNICATIONS
▸ Maintain context through state/data
▸ Continue conversations across channels
▸ Allow users to communicate in the ways that suits them
▸ Use multiple sources of data to make intelligent decisions
▸ Provide a more efficient and better UX

26. HOW? (APIS ENABLE
CONTEXTUAL
COMMUNICATIONS)

27. API FOR COMMUNICATIONS
IP MessagingPSTN IP Voice SMS Email

28. DEVICE API FOR ACCESSING CONTEXT
Icons made by madebyoliver via www.flaticon.com is licensed by CC 3.0 BY
IDENTITY APP DATA
GEOLOCATION CONTACTS
CALENDAR CONNECTIVITY
MICROPHONE CAMERA
PHONESMS
ORIENTATION BATTERY

29. WEB APIS FOR ACCESSING CONTEXT
IDENTITY APP DATA
GEOLOCATION CONTACTS
CALENDAR CONNECTIVITY
MICROPHONE CAMERA
PHONESMS
ORIENTATION BATTERY
?

30. APIS PROVIDING CONTEXT
▸ e.g. Communicate with me whilst I’m travelling
▸ The User - who am I?
▸ Location - traveling outside of normal location
▸ Connectivity - I have Wifi connectivity
▸ Calendar - I’m giving a talk
▸ Message Priority
▸ Email (Read at some point)
▸ SMS/Push Notification (Read soon)

31. THINGS TO
CONSIDER

32. API FOR COMMUNICATIONS
IP MessagingPSTN IP Voice SMS Email

33. COMMUNICATIONS TRANSPORTS, PATTERNS AND PROTOCOLS
HTTP
WebSocket
RTCPeerConnection
WebHook
PubSub
MQTT
EventSource
Evented PubSub
DataSync
RPC/RMI
GRIP
LiveResource
WAMP
SMPP
SIP

34. CONTEXT
VOICE IS THE MOST NATURAL UI
VOICE HAS THE POTENTIAL OF SIGNIFICANT REACH
http://www.slideshare.net/kleinerperkins/2016-internet-trends-report

35. EXAMPLE OF BRIDGING TRANSPORTS (WEBSOCKET VISUALIZER)

36. VOICE AND BOTS? IBM WATSON INTU - WEBSOCKET <-> PSTN

37. EXAMPLE OF INTEGRATION WITH COGNITIVE SERVICES

38. SUMMARY
▸ Contextual Communications provides the User with an experience
where…
▸ UX is enhanced by state/conversation history
▸ Context is maintained across communications channels
▸ APIs give us the power to…
▸ Communicate across channels and maintain context
▸ Add rich data to provide intelligent communication solutions
▸ Maintain and enhance experience further

39. PSTN
SIP
SMS
WebRTC
Bot
Nexmo API
IP Messaging
Social Connectors
NEXMO CONVERSATION API: THE CONTEXT AWARE API

40. GET EARLY ACCESS
JOIN THE NEXMO COMMUNITY SLACK
http://bit.ly/nexmo-slack

41. PHIL @LEGGETTER
DEVELOPER ADVOCATE
LEGGETTER@NEXMO.COM
@LEGGETTER