--- title: "Build the live parts of your product without running WebSocket servers." canonical: "https://bird.com/realtime-api/use-cases" --- # Build the live parts of your product without running WebSocket servers. Order trackers, chat, notifications, and dashboards all need the same thing: a change on your server showing up on every open screen in moments. The [Bird Realtime API](/realtime-api) gives you that delivery layer, so you spend your time on the feature instead of on connection servers. ## What teams build with Realtime. Each pattern combines the same few building blocks: channels to deliver events, presence to show who is there, and your backend deciding who can see what. [Read the Realtime overview](/docs/guides/realtime/overview) ### Live order and delivery tracking. Move an order page from Packed to Shipped the moment your fulfilment system updates, with no refresh and no polling. Each customer subscribes to their own private channel, and a cached channel shows a returning customer the current status straight away. When nobody is watching, a webhook tells your backend it can stop sending updates. Built with [Channels](/realtime-api/features/channels) and [Webhooks](/realtime-api/features/webhooks). ### Chat and support conversations. Your backend saves each message and publishes it to the conversation, so every participant's tabs and devices update together. Show who is in the conversation, let clients share typing indicators directly with each other, and encrypt confidential threads end to end so only the participants can read them. Built with [Presence](/realtime-api/features/presence) and [End-to-end encryption](/realtime-api/features/end-to-end-encryption). ### In-app notifications for one user. Send a mention, an approval request, or a balance change to one signed-in user across every tab and device they have open, without creating a channel per person. When they sign out or lose access, one call from your backend closes all of their connections. Built with [Security](/realtime-api/features/security). ### Live dashboards and operations boards. Push queue depths, fleet positions, and incident status to wall screens and admin consoles as they change. Cached channels give a newly opened dashboard the latest value at once, and private channels keep each customer's data to their own team. Built with [Channels](/realtime-api/features/channels) and [Security](/realtime-api/features/security). ### Live charts for prices, rates, and stats. Move a stock ticker, a currency exchange rate, a crypto price, or a match's live game stats the moment the number changes. Publish each update once and every open chart draws the new point, however many people are watching. Load the chart's history from your own API, and a cached channel hands each new viewer the latest value before the next update arrives. A batch publish updates up to ten symbols or matches in one request. Built with [Channels](/realtime-api/features/channels) and [batch publishing](/docs/guides/realtime/publishing-events). ### Collaborative documents and whiteboards. Show the avatars of everyone viewing a document, and let collaborators share cursor positions and selections directly with each other for a fluid feel. Saved edits still go through your backend, which publishes the change to everyone in the room. Built with [Presence](/realtime-api/features/presence) and [client events](/docs/guides/realtime/client-events). ### Progress for background jobs and AI agents. Stream each step of an export, a build, or an AI agent's work to the page that started it, and replace the spinner with real progress. A cached channel keeps the latest step, so a user who reloads the page picks up where the job is rather than starting from zero. Built with [Channels](/realtime-api/features/channels). ### Live events, polls, and auctions. Broadcast scores, poll results, and the latest bid to every viewer on one public channel. Votes and bids go through your backend, which checks them and publishes the result, so what each viewer sees is the decision your server made. ### Online status for contacts and teammates. Tell a signed-in user when the people they follow come online or go offline, without a channel for every pair. Your backend names who each user follows when they sign in, and extra tabs never cause a false online or offline signal. Built with [Presence](/realtime-api/features/presence) and [watchlist events](/docs/guides/realtime/watchlist-events). ## Realtime use cases for enterprises. ### Shipment and supply-chain visibility. Follow shipments from warehouse to carrier to customer. Deliver milestones and delay alerts from your logistics systems to private customer and partner portals, so teams can respond to exceptions without chasing status updates. ### Fleet and field-service coordination. Keep dispatchers, technicians, and customers aligned with live vehicle locations, job assignments, and arrival updates. Your scheduling system publishes each change, and your backend decides which locations and jobs each viewer can see. ### Live pricing and market-data displays. Bring changing prices, exchange rates, and market quotes to trading dashboards and customer portals. Publish from your pricing system or licensed data feed, with private channels for restricted feeds and historical charts served by your own API. ### Contact-centre operations. Give supervisors a live view of queue depth, waiting times, and agent availability. Deliver assignments and escalations to the agents responsible, so teams can spot a growing queue and coordinate a response. ### Collaborative case management. Keep support, claims, and investigation teams working from the same case updates. Show who is viewing a case, then deliver comments, assignments, and decisions after your case-management system saves them. ### Inventory and fulfilment operations. Keep warehouse and store screens current as stock changes, pickers report shortages, and orders become ready for collection. Publish from your inventory and order systems so staff can see exceptions and coordinate the next step. ### Restaurant order queues and pickup. Show customers their place in the queue and when their food is ready for collection. Your ordering system publishes queue positions and preparation updates to pickup screens and private order pages, so guests can follow their order without asking at the counter. ### Manufacturing, equipment, and warehouse robots. Track warehouse robots on a live floor map with location, battery level, and task progress from your fleet manager. Bring equipment status, production counts, and maintenance alerts into the same operations screen, so operators can see where attention is needed. ## Start with the building block your feature needs. Every use case on this page runs on one Realtime app, with the same keys, regions, and pricing. [Channels Route public broadcasts, private streams, encrypted payloads, and cached state by channel prefix. →](/realtime-api/features/channels) [Presence Show who is online across tabs and devices, track departures, and message individual users directly. →](/realtime-api/features/presence) [End-to-end encryption Seal confidential messages on your server so only the users you approve can read them. →](/realtime-api/features/end-to-end-encryption) [Pricing](/pricing/realtime) [Getting started](/realtime-api/getting-started) [Realtime API overview](/realtime-api) ## Skalakan tanpa kehilangan kendali. Atur tim dalam workspace, kontrol akses API, dan lacak perubahan melalui log audit. [Workspace](/docs/guides/workspaces)[Peran tim](/docs/guides/users-teams-roles)[Autentikasi API](/docs/guides/authentication) [Jelajahi Enterprise](/enterprise) ## Start with Realtime. Build across channels with Bird. [Get Started](/dashboard/signup?returnTo=%2Fdashboard%2Fw%2Frealtime) · [Contact Sales](/demo?product=realtime) [Email](/email-api) · [SMS](/sms-api) · [WhatsApp](/whatsapp-api) · [Apple Messages](/apple-messages-api) · [Voice](/voice-api) ## Related resources - [Send your first realtime event](/docs/get-started/send-your-first-realtime-event) (docs) - [Build your first integration](/learn/paths/integration) (course) [Get an implementation brief](/learn/workspace?topic=realtime)