Sinch, Rebtel, VoIP and message app development

Remember Sinch? We first wrote about the Rebtel spinoff back in May, when it was initially launched. Sinch has just announced the launch of its new JavaScript SDK platform.

The platform, which includes “advanced management, reporting and backend features” that will co-exist with the spinoff’s existing mobile development APIs, which allow developers to integrate mobile or web communication features at free or low cost. Services include free calling, messaging, group messaging, SMS and call termination, paving the way for more apps like these.

Since the company’s spinout from mobile VoIP giant Rebtel with $12 million in funding in May 2014, Sinch has called the demand for its services “massive,” with a reported 30% increase in sign ups since the launch, resulting in about 200 developers a month. The SDK has been used in a broad range of app categories including travel, communications, gaming, social networking, commerce and dating.

“[We] are excited to help fuel next wave of innovative companies”

“We’ve been impressed by the growing demand and interest in Sinch from the developer community and are excited to help fuel next wave of innovative companies,” said Andreas Bernstrom, CEO of Sinch. “We think that features like chat and voice will remain two of the fastest-growing segments of web and mobile applications, and developers already realize they are critical to driving growth, user engagement, and sustained profitability. We believe we’ll see continued acceleration of demand and expect to be adding north of 500 developer partners a month by end of year.”

VisionMobile projects the app economy will reach $143 billion in revenue by 2016, and in-app communications are expected to grow in parallel terms. After major acquisitions such as Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp in February for $16 billion, Rakuten’s $900 million Viber acquisition, Tango’s recent valuation north of $1 billion, and LINE filing for a $10B IPO. Much of this growth will be expected from the business and enterprise market.

today’s launch allows developers to expand their apps to a broader set of customers

With today’s Beta launch, web based developers can extend Sinch’s services to a much more broad set of customers on he web, along with new features:

  • Back-end to back-end integration
  • Ability to manage call flows (connect, disconnect, pause calls, etc.)
  • REST APIs to send and deliver SMS text messages
  • Real time reporting

“Our goal with Sinch is to be simplest and most affordable solution for developers looking to add a useful social layer to their apps without compromising on quality, and today we’re excited to help our developer partners extend the value to millions of new customers across all major platforms,” said Daniel Forsman, COO of Sinch.

Sinch maintains offices in Stockholm and San Francisco with a team of 50 employees, with plans to grow by another 20% by end of year to address developer demand.

For more information on Sinch’s platform tools and developer APIs you can visit the company’s website. For those specifically interested in the company’s new JavaScript SDK, you can find a messaging tutorial here.

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By Josh Robert Nay

Josh Robert Nay is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TruTower. He has worked in the telecommunications industry since 2003 and specializes in GSM based technology. He also uses (too many) VoIP apps and is a long-time user of BlackBerry, Android, and Windows Phone. He adores anything having to do with space exploration and writing. In addition to the links below, he can be found on LinkedIn and can also be found on his website at http://www.joshrobertnay.com.