MessageBird
The HelloID Identity and Access Management (IAM) solution from Tools4ever uses notifications to keep users informed of important events. By default, HelloID sends these notifications via email. Through the Bird Connector, formerly available as MessageBird, HelloID also integrates with Bird, a platform for communication via SMS and other channels. This connector automates the sending of SMS notifications as a supplement to, or replacement for, the standard email notifications. This article provides more information about this connector and its capabilities.
What is Bird?
Bird is a solution from the company of the same name that enables organizations to use text messages for notifications, marketing, and communication. Customers of Bird send approximately 5 trillion messages per year via SMS, email, and WhatsApp. The solution enables customers to integrate SMS notifications into a variety of solutions. Bird is a company founded in 2011, originally operating as MessageBird. The company has been known as Bird since 2024.
Why is a Bird Integration Useful?
The Bird Connector for HelloID offers several advantages. SMS notifications enable fast and direct communication with users. Organizations can also establish an alternative communication channel for notifications alongside email, ensuring users see notifications as quickly as possible and enabling effective communication with users who rarely or never use email. The integration with Bird therefore supports multiple communication preferences.
How HelloID Communicates via Bird
HelloID uses the Bird Connector to send SMS notifications to users based on specific events or actions. For example, when a new user is created in HelloID, the IAM solution can automatically send a welcome SMS to the new user through Bird. This welcomes new users immediately and effectively, informing them of their account details and important information.
The Bird Connector functions as a notification connector within HelloID. The connector receives notifications from HelloID and forwards them via SMS to the appropriate recipients. HelloID uses the Bird APIs to send and receive SMS messages.
Benefits of Using HelloID with Bird
Using SMS notifications provides several benefits:
| Benefit | Details |
|---|---|
| Rapid communication | The integration with Bird enables important messages to be delivered directly to users via SMS, accelerating communication and ensuring users receive the right notification at the right time. |
| Increased responsiveness | Users receive alerts faster and can respond more quickly to critical situations. Some situations simply cannot wait and require immediate action, such as a failed automated account creation that prevents a user from starting work, or the unexpected deletion of a user from your source system where you need to confirm that the user's authorizations have been revoked. |
| Reliability | SMS notifications provide an alternative communication channel alongside email. Email messages can end up in spam filters unexpectedly, and mail server issues can result in notifications being received late or not at all. SMS notifications increase the reliability of your notification delivery. |
| Improved communication reach | SMS notifications improve communication reach. Not every user checks their email account regularly, which means email notifications can go unnoticed. |
Data Exchange Between HelloID and Bird
To send SMS notifications, HelloID exchanges various types of information with the Bird Connector, including:
- User information: Basic data such as the user's phone number.
- Notification content: The text content of the SMS notification.
- Delivery status: A confirmation of the message delivery status, so it is immediately clear whether the message was sent successfully.
Custom Data Exchange
HelloID puts you in control at all times, and the integration with Bird is no exception. You can customize the data exchange between HelloID and Bird to a significant degree by configuring specific templates for SMS messages and defining rules for triggering notifications based on events in HelloID.
You can also configure the exact timing for when HelloID sends SMS messages, ensuring they always align with the needs and preferences of both the organization and its users. This allows you to prevent HelloID from sending less urgent SMS notifications outside working hours, or to ensure that new users receive a welcome message at the expected time of their arrival on their first day.
Connecting HelloID to Other Systems
HelloID offers more than 200 connectors, enabling you to integrate the IAM solution with virtually all popular source and target systems.
