Elvis DAM has been built to make life easier for our customers. We built it with a REST API included - which enabled users to connect with other software solutions. But today, we’re excited to announce the launch of an additional, game-changing API.
Here’s a warm welcome to Webhooks API - and a brief introduction to the limitless opportunities it’s about to provide Elvis DAM users. Plus, at the end of this post, a recording of the webinar we did, showing Webhooks in action.
Webhooks VS REST API
If you’re unfamiliar an API (Application Programming Interface) allows two digital tools to connect with each other. It essentially takes information from one software solution and passes it on to another.
In the simplest terms, one of the key benefits the REST API provides users is to run searches across Elvis and deliver results back to the other software solution. Webhooks is set to change this process by sending realtime, triggered notifications based on events that happen within Elvis.
An example of how it works
Let’s say you want to connect a CRM solution to Elvis. You might decide you only want assets which are set to status ‘approved’ in Elvis to get pulled into the CRM.
Using the REST API, you would run a search to retrieve approved assets from Elvis. To ensure the assets were as up-to-date as possible you might automate a schedule, so that it would search every 5 minutes for example.
This works well to deliver assets but it can involve unnecessary processing (every time a scheduled search runs without retrieving new assets this is in effect using unnecessary processing power.
With Webhooks, you could schedule a notification that alerts the CRM the instant an asset is set to approved. This ensures processing power is only spent when and where it’s needed, and that the CRM will always contain the latest, most up-to-date assets.
So which is better?
Well actually, this is much less of a clash-of-the-titans and more of a combined solution that opens up a whole new world of opportunities for integrating Elvis with other systems. Both Webhooks and REST API solve a different part of the integration-puzzle. The Webhook API notifies users based on realtime events, whereas the REST API allows you to interact or access data in Elvis.
3 Key Webhooks benefits
- Realtime notifications either for users or to automate system synchronization
- Preventing unnecessary processing and helping to keep systems running optimally
- Alerting users about asset removal - typically difficult for a REST API to identify
Potential use-cases for Webhooks
User notifications - Webhooks can alert users when files are added to collections, downloaded or if sharelinks are created for example. You can connect Webhooks to generate notifications through any channel, like email or chat messages slack for example.
External information retrieval - you can retrieve information in realtime to append assets with richer data in Elvis DAM. This would work for things like Image Recognition AI software being used to enrich asset metadata - or for example could be used to automate the translation of metadata within Elvis.
Synchronizing two systems - if you’re aiming to keep another system like your CRM or PIM synchronized with Elvis, Webhooks ensures it happens seamlessly. This is especially useful for things like deleted files which aren’t usually detected through the REST API.
Want to learn more about the opportunities Webhooks can bring?
Take a look at this webinar recording to see how easy it is to add a Webhook to Elvis DAM. The sample integrations shown will give you a good idea of the possibilities Webhooks and the REST API together can bring.
