Simple Web App <--> Email Integration with SendGrid's Parse API

Written by: Hannah Inman
3 min read

A guest post by SendGrid's Partner Marketing Manager, Erika Berkland

SendGrid makes it amazingly easy for any developer to build email-based features into his or her newest mobile or web application. Our technology empowers your application to communicate with its users via custom incoming and outgoing email messages - all through simple and flexible APIs or SMTP.

SendGrid’s integration with CloudBees is focused on reducing the friction that developers have to deal with when it comes to configuring and building out an infrastructure, so that they can spend their time building great things. If you have a CloudBees account, you can enable SendGrid from the CloudBees Ecosystem page with one simple click. SendGrid is a great choice for CloudBees customers looking to add a robust cloud-based SMTP email solution to their applications, and our partnership has made it easier than ever to do just that.

SendGrid’s APIs can integrate with your system and help you do powerful things with your email streams, with very little effort. Specifically, the Parse API is one of the most flexible tools you can use to simplify processes and create great email experiences for your customers.

Essentially, the Parse API allows you to parse the email bodies and attachments from incoming emails and post them to your web application.

That means you can do things like:

  • Post blog articles via email

  • Process email replies and update your mailing list or database

  • Allow users to upload pictures to their profile via email

  • Submit support requests via email

  • Track changes in your data in real-time using custom code

To help spark your imagination, here are three examples of how some of SendGrid’s clients are using the Parse API to increase efficiencies.

  1. Vanilla used the Parse API to improve their payment processing so they could report on successful vs. failed payments, cancellations and refunds. With access to this information, they could track purchases and communicate more efficiently with their customer using the information they extracted from their payment gateway.

  2. Another company uses the Parse API to help employees easily update their expenses on the go. Instead of logging onto an expense tracking system, users can send an email of the items they purchased to a specific email address. The Parse API extracts this data and updates the system seamlessly.

  3. Turnkey Sports & Entertainment used the Parse API to create a tight integration with their closed system. Email communications sent to and from outside email clients can be logged to their system without users having to sign on. Using the Parse API, Turnkey Activator deploys an email to specified recipients whenever an action such as a new message, request or approval is initiated on an Activator “wall.” The user receiving the email can simply reply to the email, and that message is in turn logged as a thread of the original message.

Learn more about SendGrid APIs.

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