Prevent call from disconnected when client is not connected

Question

I'm trying to set up some phone numbers in Twilio. I am able to call them fine and get connected fine when that specific client is connected (I'm using unique URLs to define which client should be dialed when a specific number is called...like this: https://example.io/my/path/to/the/twiml/?attribute=CLIENT_IDENTIFIER)

The problem arises when the specific client isn't connected to my app. When that happens, the automated message is said but then the call disconnects. I want it to be like a normal phone where it rings until it hits a voicemail. That's the problem I'm having. Here is my PHP:

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);
use Twilio\TwiML\VoiceResponse;

require_once '../../../vendor/autoload.php';

$response = new VoiceResponse();
$response->say('This call may be monitored for quality assurance', 
    ['voice' => 'woman', 'language' => 'us-EN']);
$dial = $response->dial('', [
    'record' => 'record-from-ringing-dual', 
    'recordingStatusCallback' => 'https://example.com/my/callback/'
]);
$dial->client($_GET['CLIENT_IDENTIFIER'], [
    'statusCallbackEvent' => 'completed',
    'statusCallback' => 'https://example.com/my/callback/'
]);

echo $response;

My status callback isn't getting called, so I know the call isn't getting completed. So my question is really this:

How can I make Twilio not immediately disconnect when It can't connect to the client I pass it?

Probably use this? https://www.twilio.com/docs/voice/answering-machine-detection — Tarun Lalwani, Jul 02 '19 at 03:40
@TarunLalwani that's for outbound calls. I want calls that go to one of my Twilio powered phone numbers to have voicemail configured — Adam McGurk, Jul 02 '19 at 04:26
are you receiving any error messages in the twilio console? and what is said when you log the twilio requests? — Hunter, Jul 04 '19 at 22:24

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 05 '19 at 00:22

Twilio developer evangelist here.

If a <Dial> can't connect then it will make a webhook to its action attribute passing a DialCallStatus as a parameter. You can respond to the webhook with more TwiML to continue the call.

So, your initial PHP should look like this, with an action attribute added to <Dial>:

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);
use Twilio\TwiML\VoiceResponse;

require_once '../../../vendor/autoload.php';

$response = new VoiceResponse();
$response->say('This call may be monitored for quality assurance', 
    ['voice' => 'woman', 'language' => 'us-EN']);
$dial = $response->dial('', [
    'record' => 'record-from-ringing-dual', 
    'recordingStatusCallback' => 'https://example.com/my/callback/',
    'action' => 'https://example.com/my/action/'
]);
$dial->client($_GET['CLIENT_IDENTIFIER'], [
    'statusCallbackEvent' => 'completed',
    'statusCallback' => 'https://example.com/my/callback/'
]);

echo $response;

And then /my/action/ could do something like this:

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);
use Twilio\TwiML\VoiceResponse;

require_once '../../../vendor/autoload.php';

$response = new VoiceResponse();
if ($_POST['DialCallStatus'] == 'completed') {
    // the call succeeded, just end it
    $response->hangup();
} else {
  $response->say('The person you are calling cannot be reached right now. Please leave a message', 
      ['voice' => 'woman', 'language' => 'us-EN']);
  $response->record([
      'action' => 'https://example.com/my/callback/'
  ]);
}
echo $response;

Let me know if that helps at all.

That’s what I was missing, it was the action attribute and filtering out the completed calls!!! That’s just not what I was doing, and so when I would route via the action, *all* calls were going to the answering machine. Thank you so much!!!! — Adam McGurk, Jul 06 '19 at 16:37

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 04 '19 at 19:33

0

The listen action in twilio's autopilot seems to address the waiting time you are looking for.

answered Jul 04 '19 at 19:33

sandwish

1
1

Hi sandwish, thanks for posting an answer. Generally it's a bad idea to post an answer which is just a link to another site or documentation. Links are not permanent, after all! Check out the article on [how to write a good answer](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/7656/how-do-i-write-a-good-answer-to-a-question). You might include a short example of how to use the listed documentation. – taylorthurlow Jul 04 '19 at 19:57

Prevent call from disconnected when client is not connected

2 Answers2