[Client interview] Xoxzo's API is Well-Designed and Easy to Use

CMS Communications is a company which offers Plone-based CMS software, develops systems using Python, and more. We interviewed Representative Director Manabu Terada on the user-friendliness of Xoxzo's API.

__How are you using Xoxzo’s API? __

We are building a system, with ThreePro Group as the first intended client, that uses Xoxzo’s SMS sending API. We mainly use this API to send out payment request notices by SMS. After receiving a text message, users can visit a web site to look at payment details or instructions, and even settle the payment, hassle-free.

CMS Communications. Representative Director Manabu Terada

How did you find out Xoxzo?

At a PyCon conference (on the Python programming language) held in Singapore, I made the acquaintance of Iqbal, the representative director of Xoxzo. He is proficient in Japanese, and has connections to engineers in every country. He gave me the impression of someone with a global point of view.

Why did you choose Xoxzo’s API?

Although there are a huge number of API platforms to choose from, with many of them even just reading the specification is an arduous task. In addition, APIs that extend other code have a complex structure and are hard to use. Xoxzo’s API, on the other hand, is well-designed and extremely simple to use. Generally when you want to use an API platform it also takes time to draw up a contact, but Xoxzo’s API has a pay-as-you-go pricing scheme that lets you dive right in, give it a try, and decide for yourself if it’s good to use. As an engineer I’m grateful, as we engineers are always looking for stable and reliable APIs.

How did you find Xoxzo’s user support?

We had some issues with timeouts, but Mr. Nonaka from Xoxzo solved them efficiently. As Xoxzo is based in Malaysia, and employs engineers from Russia and the rest of the world, it was of great help that Mr. Nonaka could communicate in English. It’s reassuring that they have staff who can offer truly international support.

What else would you like to see from Xoxzo's API?

We haven’t had any real trouble, but it would be nice to see better support for parallel computing. It would also be helpful to have slightly more detailed error messages.

Other than payment processing, are there other ways you would like to see an SMS sending API deployed?

One keeps hearing that there are too many communication tools: social networking services such as LINE and Twitter, e-mail, even SMS messaging. Although these tools are all convenient in their own ways, users have to resort to using many different ones based on their needs. If we could unify our communication methods, we would no longer be forced to use different tools at once.

I’ve also been thinking about uses for universities and other academic institutions. Wouldn’t it be convenient if, in an emergency, you could use SMS to confirm student safety? SMS messaging is the perfect tool, thanks to its ability to send out mass notifications with identical content. There are various hurdles to overcome, cost among them, but I would like to see real-world implementations.

CMS Communications Co.,Ltd

Established：June, 2005
Head Office：Kashiwa-city, Chiba
CEO：Manabu Terada
https://www.cmscom.jp/ (Japanese)

(Linked pages below are in Japanese)
Director’s blog
Mr.Terada is nominated as Plone Ambassador
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