Twilio Inbound Text Message to Outbound Voice Call

Question

I want Twilio to initiate an outbound call to my mobile phone when anyone sends a text message to my Twilio number.

I would prefer to do this with a TwiML Bin or Twilio Function or something hosted by Twilio so I do not have to run my own web server.

How can I do this?

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 23 '17 at 20:51

I found some Functions help documentation that got me moving in the right direction.

I've got a TwiML Bin "SMS to Voice TwiML Bin":

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Response>
  <Say loop="3">{{Body}}</Say>
</Response>

And a Function "SMS to Voice Function" that uses that TwiML:

exports.handler = function(context, event, callback) {
  const client = context.getTwilioClient()
  client.calls.create({
    to:   '+...', 
    from: '+...', 
    url:  'https://handler.twilio.com/twiml/...?Body=' + encodeURIComponent(event.Body) }, // SMS to Voice TwiML Bin
    function(err, res) {
      callback(err, "OK")
    })
};

And in the Twilio console, for my Twilio number, under Messaging, I have my A MESSAGE COMES IN set to "Function" and "SMS to Voice Function".

This works. If the Twilio number receives a text, then Twilio calls my mobile phone number and speaks the original text message.

Sounds like you've nailed it. Let me know (or ask another question tagged Twilio) if you need any more guidance on this. — philnash, Oct 24 '17 at 00:13

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 23 '17 at 18:19

If I understand what you are doing, this is a response that is coming from an inbound SMS message.

The problem is that you need to initiate an actual phone call. The SMS message is not in a call so it cannot dial anything.

Check out the documentation for Making Calls for how you can start a call. You will likely need the SMS to hit a function (Twilio function or your own code) that can then make the Twilio REST call to start a new call.

Twilio Inbound Text Message to Outbound Voice Call

2 Answers2