© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
Good-quality APIs can help agents to thrive in 2022 and beyond, according to automation specialists Openview – Powered by VTUK.
API, or Application Programming Interface to give it its full name, is a software intermediary that enables two applications to talk to each other. Every time someone uses an app like Facebook or Instagram, sends an instant message through WhatsApp, or checks the weather or football scores on their phone, they are using an API.
And it’s something that is particularly important for agencies to consider.
“At Openview, we have what is known as our Openview iPortal within our ecosystem, which enables two applications to talk to each other,” Peter Grant, founder and chair of Openview, said.
“Within the developer’s centre (or the webmaster’s dashboard), you can request a token for a specific time - this token will enable you to have access to your data, for example ‘applicants’.”
The developer’s centre contains all the relevant documentation to assist partners to understand how to display the data, as well as what fields are included.
“An estate agent’s webmaster or developer will then have the ability to request the data to use on various platforms, for example, showing all the properties within the Openview platform on their website,” Grant added.
“Furthermore, through the API, third parties are able to connect to us, and visa-versa, securely, and only for the data that has been assigned to the specific token.”
Grant went on: “From our understanding, most of our competitors don’t have this functionality and for those that do, it is not as broad as ours, and we are continuously developing it to include more functionality, data and fields all the time.”
Openview recently announced a tie-up with fast-growing blockchain platform Coadjute, and this is an example of an API being used to integrate one platform into another.
“With Coadjute, users will be able to securely share, through the blockchain, sensitive client data, see real-time progress updates and send and receive messages from within our Openview platform,” Grant claimed. “The aim of this is to halve the time it takes to move home.”
He added: “The benefits and use of APIs and webmaster dashboards are limitless and, with this technology, we are enabling our clients to remain at the forefront of the property industry.”
Grant says agents and other property professionals may not be aware of the benefits of an API and what its main purposes are, but such a feature – enhanced and utilised in the right way – can help to make all the difference.
“The ultimate goal for many agencies is to grow their business, cut transaction times and win repeat custom, and the right API can help them to do this,” Grant concluded.