In order for us to provide a reliable service, we need to impose fair use restrictions on some of the APIs. This includes:

• No more than 8 concurrent calls/faxs per account
• No more than 8 participants in a conference room
• No more than 60 requests per minute per app for certain queries eg. query for voice/SMS rates

As different APIs have different limits, you will need to refer to the API Limits section for each of the API you use. Each API limit is also independent; exceeding the limit of one API does not affect the limit of another API.

Lastly, don’t expect every API to have a limit. For instance, you can send SMS as fast as you want. We only impose limits to ensure fair use and reliability.

What happens when you exceed the limit?

When you exceed the limit for an API, you will receive an error response for the API request. You should always handle API limits error, and rectify as necessary eg. throttle your request or try again later.

If your app requires more than the given limits, you may email us at developer@hoiio.com and we will review on a case-by-case basis.

Tips

• Caching
  Cache information that are not frequently updated (such as user account information) instead of requesting them from Hoiio. This will also improve the response time of your application for a better user experience.

• Use Notifications for long running requests
  For APIs that may take some time to execute (such as making a call or the delivery status of a SMS), you can specify where Hoiio should send the result of your request to when it is ready. Avoid polling Hoiio server constantly to check on the result of your request. For example, if you need to know whether an SMS has been delivered, set the notify_url parameter in sms/send. Our server will send the delivery result to the URL you have specified when it is ready.

• Throttling
  Throttle the rate of your request by implementing a queue locally. This will allow you to control the rate of request that you are sending to our servers and lets you keep within the limit.

• Request for a higher limit
  If the default limit is insufficient for your needs, please email us.