^{New FeaturesNews} Introducing the EPASS xAPI

In this week’s blog post, we’re proud to introduce you to the EPASS xAPI! The EPASS xAPI opens the door to the development of third-party applications that can integrate with EPASS, as well as making it easier for EPASS to integrate with other systems, such as Package.AI.

What is an API?

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a software-to-software interface that enables two applications to communicate and exchange data with each other.

Many developers, such as Google and Facebook, develop an API to allow others to develop applications that integrate and pull data from their systems. An example would be our integration of Google Maps in EPASS dispatching. The API is what allows EPASS to communicate with the Google Map servers.

Benefits of an API

An API makes it very easy for a development team to create custom applications that integrate with the EPASS system:

Some examples of what could be done with the EPASS xAPI are:

• An online shopping cart for your website that can add invoices and schedule orders.
• An app that uses EPASS Dispatching and Routing data to reschedule deliveries based on availability.
• Dynamically update inventory information on your website.
• An online portal for booking and scheduling service requests. 
• Customer data sent to a CRM (such as HubSpot) so that your customer communications use the latest EPASS data.

…and much more.

The xAPI follows the same rules as EPASS. You can rest easy knowing that data originating from EPASS or from an external source must follow EPASS rules and logic.

Our team continues to expand the xAPI to “open up” EPASS and make more parts of it available for integration.

Technical Resources

Everything a programmer needs to get them started with development is included in the xAPI. We put them in total control and they have complete freedom in application design.

Since documentation is an essential tool when working with an API, EPASS maintains a complete online resource (http://api.epass.software) that includes detailed references, tutorials, and extensive code samples. Our xAPI documentation site is continuously updated as we develop and add new features and capabilities to the xAPI.

Want to Get Started with the EPASS xAPI?

The EPASS xAPI is available now! If you would like your development team to start working on a custom integration, contact EPASS support for access to our demo environment and to answer any questions you might have.