APIs (application programming interfaces) are a big part of the web. In 2013 there were over 10,000 APIs published by companies for open consumption, which is quadruple the number available in 2010.
What Is an API?
An API (Application Programming Interface) is best thought of as a contract provided by one piece of computer software to another. It makes a website’s data digestible for a computer. Through it, a computer can view and edit data, just like a person can by loading pages and submitting forms.
Making data easier to work with is good because it means people can write software to automate tedious and labour-intensive tasks. What might take a human hours to accomplish can take a computer seconds through an API.
Imagine an API as the middleman between a programmer and an application. This middleman accepts requests and, if that request is allowed, returns the data. The middleman also informs programmers about everything they can request, exactly how to ask for it and how to receive it.
TouchRight: API
Our system has been built so we have a generic API for easy flow of information such as property data, appointment details and final reports. Our API is ready to communicate and allow data share between TouchRight and other cloud-based software solutions, to improve the flow of data for letting agents and property managers.
TouchRight integrates with Fixflo, the market-leading online repair reporting system for rented properties. Customers with Fixflo and TouchRight accounts are able to integrate the two systems seamlessly, so that repairs and photos identified in a TouchRight report can be pushed to Fixflo and tracked through the Fixflo workflow management tool. Steps to connect:
- Copy your Fixflo URL, and generate a Fixflo token key, and add them into a TouchRight dashboard account
- Within a TouchRight report, a user can identify and tag a specific repair and photos, which generates an ‘Issue’
- When completing more details about the issue, the user has the option to send to Fixflo
- Fixflo Plus users can track the issue in the workflow management tool, and any status updates in Fixflo can be reflected in their TouchRight dashboard via a ‘Check for Updates’ button
TouchRight integrates with Qube Global, one of the leading software back office systems, designed to be suitable for both single regional offices or a national network of letting agents. Qube aims to deliver internal efficiencies to help avoid duplication, and the TouchRight integration is key to help avoid data repetition.
When TouchRight and Qube are linked, it allows the following data feeds to be pulled from Qube:
- Property address
- Reference no.
- Landlord (First name, surname, email, tel no.)
- Tenant (First name, surname, email, tel no.)
- Tenancy start and end date
- Appointment details (property address, appointment date and time)
Instead of a ‘mass’ import of data from Qube into TouchRight, the integration works to only pull through the property data you need, once you have an appointment set against that property in Qube. All appointments synced to TouchRight are shown as ‘provisional’ appointments, ready for the user to select a report template and report name. Finally, when a report has been completed and marked as ‘final’ in TouchRight, it automatically sends a URL link back to a location in your Qube portal for easy access.
We have more integrations in the pipeline, so look out for more details in the coming months.
If you’re interested to find out more, please contact us for more details.