Text Platform Overview
Welcome to the Text Platform
This overview covers the Text Platform's products, their main functionalities, and how much you can customize them.
What Text is about
Text is the AI customer service platform built to turn customer conversations into measurable business outcomes instead of just the number of resolved cases.Technically, that means tracking customer behavior and intent, engaging automatically or through your team, and measuring what each conversation actually leads to: a resolved issue, a qualified lead, or a closed sale.
Text, Inc. has been building customer service software for 20+ years, and today, it's used by 30,000+ businesses in 150+ countries. Text, Inc. also builds KnowledgeBase and OpenWidget.
The Text Platform is an ecosystem for developers which focuses on external access to the core features of our main products: LiveChat and HelpDesk.
From a more tech perspective, the Text Platform provides:
- Open messaging protocol with real-time and web APIs
- Rich messaging tools and chatbots
- A Customer Data Platform API for accessing and managing customer data
- Reporting and data extraction APIs
- Management and configuration APIs
- Authorization tools
Meet Text
Text runs customer conversations end to end — from the first message on a website, through automated or agent-handled replies, to tracking and reporting on how those conversations went.
The AI Agent replies automatically using your knowledge base and conversation history. Escalation to a human agent is configurable per scenario, and handoffs include the conversation's full context.
AI Agent and human agent replies use the same format, so conversation data and analytics are available through the same APIs regardless of who replied.
Integrating with Text
Building on Text tends to follow the shape of a conversation itself. It starts in the Messaging APIs, which handle reading and sending messages in real time. During that conversation, the Customer Data Platform API gives your integration the customer properties, segments, and identifiers to personalize it, while the Configuration API manages the agents, routing rules, and webhooks that determine how it's handled and what your systems get notified about.
Beyond any single conversation, the Reports API gives you the aggregate performance data behind all of them — chat volume, response times, ratings, and agent activity.
Meet LiveChat
LiveChat helps you handle conversations with customers visiting your websites. Customers can start chats with your agents, but it can also be the other way around. Your agents can initiate chats directly, not just respond to customer-started ones. Targeted messages let you start that conversation automatically. Bots can also take on some of that work as you scale.
Your customers can start multiple conversations with agents, or continue existing ones — it's up to them. Keeping track of chat history is easy, as agents can scroll up to get a preview of all the exchanged messages in a conversation.
All of these features come built in, with no extra configuration required. See the full list of LiveChat features for the rest.
Integrating with LiveChat
LiveChat's interface can be extended with new panels, widgets, and UI elements, in different app locations — for example, in the Details section (widgets), as fullscreen apps in the main menu, or in the Customer Details section (Customer Details widgets). Learn more about extending the Agent App. The Agent App SDK is currently the primary way to develop your own widgets.
Just as there are ways to build upon an app, there are also ways to extend the Chat Widget using Chat Widget JavaScript API or Chat Widget Customer SDK.
Beyond the UI, LiveChat can be developed further through the Messaging and Management APIs, or by interacting with data.
To integrate with LiveChat, you may require access to the Developer Console — such permission is granted by our team on request.
Meet HelpDesk
HelpDesk is a ticketing system that helps you manage your asynchronous communication with customers. You can imagine it as a mailbox:Learn more about HelpDesk, and get started with the three simple steps to begin.Integrating with HelpDesk
HelpDesk's interface can be extended with widgets, placed in one of several locations: the Details section, Fullscreen apps, or Settings (learn more about extending the Agent App). The HelpDesk SDK is currently the primary way to develop your own widgets.
User sign-in can be handled via Accounts SDK, and tasks can be automated using HelpDesk APIs.
HelpDesk API
HelpDesk applications built on the Text Platform typically rely on the HelpDesk API, which covers several areas:
Authorization
Text uses the OAuth 2.1 protocol to authenticate and authorize their services.
API authorization flows are divided into the agent and customer authorization flows. Each app functionality requires different scopes to be configured in the Developer Console.The simplest way to access basic account information in LiveChat and HelpDesk is Accounts SDK (Sign in with LiveChat).
The Text Platform also provides you with a Global Accounts service for customers who use ChatBot, HelpDesk, or KnowledgeBase. It allows customers to configure standard options and resources across all products.
Messaging
Applications built on the Text Platform typically rely on the Messaging APIs. You can choose between:
Together, the Agent Chat API and the Customer Chat API create the Messaging APIs: a full set of methods to use either as an agent or as a customer, split for use-case clarity. To join a chat as an agent, use the Agent Chat API. To interact as a customer, use the Customer Chat API.
The Agent Chat API lets you build a custom Agent App, browse chat archives, or ban customers. The Customer Chat API lets you build a custom chat widget. Both APIs support interactions such as joining a chat and posting messages.
Chat SDK is designed to help developers build apps quickly, with a method template for sending plain text messages that you can extend to build new methods.The Text Platform also provides two Software Development Kits, LiveChat Go SDK, written in Go, and LiveChat JS SDK, written in TypeScript. They are tools for developers to build external backend apps that extend LiveChat features. The SDKs make it easy to use the Agent Chat API, the Customer Chat API, and the Configuration API.
The Text Platform also provides an API for language detection, letting you identify the language of an incoming message programmatically.
Management
The Configuration API is a service for storing license configurations. Use it to build complex integrations or configure resources directly via the API.
The Configuration API allows for:
- Properties setup to store information about chats or events
- Webhook management to connect LiveChat with different services and react immediately to chat events
- Bot agent configuration to connect LiveChat with AI solutions
The Text Platform also provides a Customer Data Platform API, which lets you access, enrich, and manage customer profile data across your integrations.
Interacting with data
Reports, a section in the Agent App, provides several report types to help managers analyze performance: measuring chat satisfaction and duration, tracking agents' activity, or comparing time periods to observe trends.For reporting needs beyond the built-in reports, the Reports API serves as a set of tools to create apps that interact on the server side. With this API, it's possible to design exactly what you need.
Chat Widget solutions
Websites and applications can be integrated with the Text Platform, monitored, and extended with custom solutions through multiple Chat Widget options:
- Mobile Chat Widgets bring the widget to Android or iOS.
- JavaScript API changes the look and behavior of the Chat Widget.
- Moments allow customers to perform specific actions.
- Rich messages make your messages more stylish and interactive.
- Customer SDK allows you to build a chat widget from scratch.
- Custom Identity Provider enables cross-platform communication.
- Chat Widget Adapters allow you to use the Chat Widget with popular frontend frameworks.
Contact us
Contact us at developers@text.com, or join our Discord to learn, get inspired, and meet other developers.
Got any questions or feedback? Let us know.
