Zang, an Avaya company, today announced that its Zang Cloud development technology was used to create BBB now, a new messaging platform that will soon be available to businesses nationwide. Just launched by the Better Business Bureau of Los Angeles & Silicon Valley, BBB now allows consumers and businesses to communicate via private text messages.
Developed by Owner Listens, a messaging company and Zang Cloud partner, BBB now enables consumers to use iOS or Android mobile apps, Facebook Messenger, or SMS texting to communicate with participating businesses.
"Messaging is rapidly becoming the preferred way to communicate, and businesses are adapting to this trend by adding texting and IM options for their customers," said Adi Bittan, co-founder and CEO of Owner Listens, in a statement. "The Zang Cloud platform was a natural choice for us because it enabled all the critical messaging capabilities we needed, such as text enabling landlines and MMS support."
With the Better Business Bureau planning to roll out the BBB now platform to chapters nationwide, starting with the San Francisco Bay area, Fresno, Calif., and Hawaii in April, Bittan said scalability was a key factor in choosing Zang.
Zang Cloud Messaging ensures that every customer text message is routed to the right place, and even allows businesses to text landlines. Participating businesses will receive a complete toolset to manage incoming messages from their email, a web dashboard, their existing helpdesk software, or their own mobile phones.
"We live in a digital world, and BBB now brings people together with greater speed and efficiency, which improves marketplace trust," said Steve McFarland, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Los Angeles & Silicon Valley, in a statement. "Thanks to the Zang Cloud platform, consumers can now text their favorite businesses in near-real time, helping them resolve issues, ask about products and services, or even make a reservation."
"We're excited to see our intuitive development platform used in a fantastic project that will transform the way businesses communicate with their customers," said Davide Patramala, executive vice president of Zang, in a statement. "This is another excellent example of how Zang's dramatically simple tools and APIs are enabling developers and designers to embed communications right into mobile- and cloud-based applications."