Twilio: Build an International Yet Smarter Phone in Just 10 minutes

The phone call application is one of the smallest parts in your phone but it is still connected to your phone network and likely costs you talk for one minute.

Travel outside your local area and your phone application will either stop working or it will charge you a huge roaming amount.

There are plenty of applications made by azoic companies from Dial Pad to Skype and Google Voice had tried to change the way we call. Google Voice in someway succeeded in making your phone calls, texts and messaging smarter but it requires U.S. numbers. But the Google is much more focused on Hangout Video Calls.

Then comes TWILIO

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The phone call service over internet. It turned voice calls and messages into API that anyone can easily integrate with another application. And for rest of the people who aren’t developers, Twilio provides an easy way to make calls around the globe at cheaper prices without writing a single code. You can try it by easily signing up for Twilio Trial Account.

Here are some fascinating features of TWILIO

1. Redirect Your All Internet Calls on Your Phone

Twilio made this feature by introducing Twimlets, tiny web applications with URL parameters which provide you the facility to do what you want to do with Twilio voice calls.

By saying that, I mean

You can forward voice calls, play recordings, build a conference voice calls and many more with just a little URL.

Let me tell you how calls are forwarded

Step 1: Twilio Login

Step 2: Go to your Twilio Phone Numbers Page, then in Request URL box under Voice option, enter the URL replacing “PhoneNumber=123-456-7890” with your own phone number with or without dashes with country code if you are not U.S. resident.

Step 3: Save your settings

To test, call new number from a different phone number, and your original specified number in the URL should ring with call. Feel free to talk yourself as much as you want.

Now, there is one more thing I want to tell you that if you are not U.S. residents, you have to contact Twilio customer support to take Geographic Permissions to make calls around the globe.

2. You can make a call from your New Number

You will not be able to make calls from your New Twilio Number from your Smartphone, but you can get pretty close to this by few apps. With a bit of configuration with Twilio Session Initiation Protocol page, you will get most of your SIP applications working with Twilio- for making calls and receiving them.

The steps may vary depending upon the app, but in general it should be relatively simple.

Or there is even simpler way, you can use an app that directly works with Twilio. PPC phone and Twiliod for iOS and Android. With these apps, you can sign in with Twilio account details and can make calls to the persons around the globe.

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3. Send and Receive SMS

Gmail provides you the facility to send free SMS from there Chat in Gmail option. And most of your phone carriers have a site where you can send Off-message for free.
Twilio provides you the facility to send SMS directly via terminal using “curl” command. It’s very simple, open terminal and input the following replacing AccountSID, AuthToken, and YourPhone with the correct info from your account, which you can see on the top of your Twilio dashboard.

Replace the body with the message you want to send.

Congrats, You Built Your Smartphone in the End

With some basic features of sending and receiving calls and SMS with Twilio, with the additional feature of Twimlets which gives you the power to make a simple automated system that reroutes the call, make conference call and play recordings no matter where you are.

Varun Kumar

Varun Kumar is the Founder & CEO of Snowmicro, a leading IT & ITES solutions partner for many brands & businesses worldwide. He has been working in Twilio and other technologies for the last 10 years. You can connect with him on Facebook.