The ZAB API provides several benefits. While the below is not a comprehensive list, it highlights key functionality, some of which is specific to the ZAB API. It is recommended that the ZAB API is utilized whenever possible in regard to integrations.
- Automate Sending Data to NetSuite - For example, A Telecom Company sends their phone usage from their technical system to NetSuite via the ZAB API. The task of manually importing phone usage into NetSuite is now handled automatically through the integration. Tracking usage and billing becomes easier to manage because usage is sent to NetSuite automatically in real-time.
- Flexible Data Element Extraction - For example, a customer wants to log into their account to review their billing information. Their account is managed through a third-party website. The information lives in NetSuite but is visible on the customer’s account through the ZAB API. The API provides a window to NetSuite information so the end user can see their billing information on demand.
- Create Bulk Usage Data - The ZAB API allows the customer to send large amounts of usage data to NetSuite. The API automatically parses large files and can initiate ZAB automation processes. Efficiencies are greatly increased with the ZAB API.
- Retrieve ZAB API Exports - The ZAB API allows the customer to leverage ZAB API exports to retrieve and filter results based on saved searches. ZAB API allows for easy retrieval of subsets of data that harness the power of native NetSuite saved searches (joins, formulas, formatting, etc.).
- ZAB Automations - The ZAB API gives the ability to add ZAB Automations during the creation of ZAB or Native NetSuite records.
- File Retrieval - The ZAB API allows the customer to retrieve a transaction's PDF or HTML file, record file attachments, or a file cabinet file. These files may be retrieved uncompressed or as an archive in many different formats.
- Record Transformation - The ZAB API allows the customer to transform them from one to another. For example, transforming a Customer to a Sales Order. While this may be done in the native NetSuite SOAP API, typically middleware applications do not provide a method to do this.
- Custom external keys - The ZAB API gives the developer greater flexibility when referencing external Id values from external systems. These fields may be referenced on record fields in NetSuite rather than the externalId property of a record. The ZAB API external Id functionality applies to sublist records as well as header records.
- Interaction with Sublists and Subrecords - The ZAB API allows for upserting multiple contacts, addresses, and other subrecords/sublists during record creation which cannot be done via native NetSuite SOAP.
- Consolidated Operations - The ZAB API allows multiple operations to be performed in one message request. This allows for a much more scalable integration.
- New Product Features & Enhancements - Use of the ZAB API allows the customer to leverage new product features or enhancements as they are added in the future.
- Interactions with REST APIs require much less text in the message and are considered to be much faster than older SOAP-based messaging. Additionally, the ZAB API allows for many operations to be performed at once, further reducing network traffic for each operation.
- The ZAB API is a REST endpoint rather than a SOAP endpoint, and is also housed in NetSuite (no external application is required). Many applications use REST as the communication protocol, and it's considered to be the current industry standard.
- Since the connection is a standard http REST endpoint, most (if not all) middleware applications will have a native connector that may be used to interact with the ZAB API.