Feature Integration and Your Apple Demonstration

Once you have configured your Messaging Service Provider (MSP) test account in Apple Business Register, you can begin with the first phase of the onboarding process: integration.

Use the API Integration Tutorial and code samples to build an integration on your MSP platform using all of the Apple Messages for Business features from the tutorial. You must meet this critical requirement to deliver the full Apple Messages for Business experience to brands and their customers.

Create a customer demo journey that demonstrates all of the Apple Messages for Business features. All features should be functional and the conversation should mimic what would happen with a real business.

Finally, schedule a review with the Apple Messages for Business team. During the review, you’ll present a live demonstration of your customer journey using a web conference. This demonstration should simultaneously present both sides of the conversation, from your agent desktop UI and an iPhone.

API Reference

The Apple Messages for Business REST API documentation is available on the Apple Messages for Business REST API website. It features all the integration requirements, technical specifications about the API to aid in your development efforts.

API Tutorial and Sample Code

The Apple Messages for Business team designed the Apple Messages for Business MSP API Integration Tutorial
to guide developers through the integration of each Apple Messages for Business feature. You can use the tutorial along with the bundled sample code from Appendix C—Assets Download as a reference to help you integrate Apple Messages for Business features.

Building the Integration Demo

The Integration Review allows a new MSP to demonstrate full integration with Apple Messages for Business to the Apple team. Your customer journey demo needs to show how a user would engage in conversation with a brand, and how the automated and live agents would handle the conversation. Your demo allows the Apple team to confirm their full support of the channel, and that your MSP team understands the flow of an Apple Messages for Business conversation.

Building Your Customer Journey Demo

The following steps outline how to prepare your demo.

  1. Select a vertical that is representative of one of your existing brands, such as retail, financial services, telco, or airline.
  2. Script a conversation flow between a business and their customer. In the script, answer questions like, such as “What would the customer intent be?” “How can customers use Apple Messages for Business features to provide a great experience?”
  3. If you provide an automated agent, show how to triage incoming conversations and resolve some intents quickly. Demonstrate how a user can be handed off to a live agent when using an automated agent because live agent escalation is a requirement for Apple Messages for Business.

To qualify as an MSP, you need to demonstrate that your messaging platform can perform each of the following fundamental Apple Messages for Business functionalities in both the agent console and any automated agents. The Apple team checks these items during your integration demonstration.

The Apple team uses the following feature checklist to confirm that all major features of Apple Messages for Business are complete and working properly.

The checklist is not all-encompassing, if you want to view a full listing, see MSP REST API. If you have any questions about the Integration Review, contact the Apple team directly.

Integration Demo of Apple Pay and OAuth2

The Apple Pay on Apple Messages for Business portion of the demo requires a merchant account and
Apple Developer Program access. These may take several days to request and receive approval.

OAuth2 requires approval of the endpoints that you request and this may take 2-3 business days. Using a third-party service, such as Amazon’s Auth0, provides quick approval for your demo.

Integration Demo of iMessage Apps

The iMessage apps portion of the demo requires a developer account, iPhone, and a MacOS device that can run Xcode. Once you have the requirements follow the tutorial documentation for iMessage Apps to guide you on your iMessage app demonstration.

Presenting the Demo

The Integration Review is typically conducted over a video conference. You need to share the screen of an iPhone, as well as the agent desktop so that the Apple team can see both sides of the conversation. If you are using a Mac, you can connect your iPhone to it with a USB or lightning cable, and use QuickTime Player in New Movie mode to display the screen on your desktop in real time. For more information see Use an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch connected to your Mac. For other operating systems, you may need to use other tools to present both sides of the conversation.