Twilio

What is Twilio?

Twilio allows us to send and receive text messages globally using applications like iX Hello platform.

The iX Hello platform allows for the rapid integration of Twilio Text message service to various voice channels such as, Alexa, Lex, Google Assistant, and more.

Prerequisites

• You need to have an active Twilio account

• Enough balance so you can send messages.

• Configuration

  • Account SID

  • Auth Token

  • Phone Number

Twilio uses two credentials to determine which project an API request is coming from: The Account SID, which acts as a username, and the Auth Token which acts as a password.

To get the required information, Log into your Twilio Account. If you do not already have a Twilio account, click on Sign Up for free and fill the details as shown below to get a trial account.

You’ll get a confirmation message on your mail, confirm the account and you shall be directed to the Twilio dashboard

Save the following details from the Twilio dashboard:

1. Account SID

2. Auth Token

The next step is to get a trial number from Twilio so that we can proceed our tests with Twilio SMS and MMS. By default, the trial account has a trial balance which can be used to get the trial numbers.

Click on Get a Trial Number, you’ll be provided an option, select on Choose this number and you’ll receive the confirmation message as shown below:

To manage the Phone numbers, click on Phone numbers menu in the left navigation and select options to manage active numbers, released numbers, buying a new number, etc.

If you do not have any Active Number, you can purchase one by clicking on “Buy a Number” option available in the same screen in left menu.

Setup Integration Configuration in iX Hello

Keep record of your Account SID, Auth Token, and Twilio phone number. Go to Connect System on Integration Menu. Click on Add New Connection.

Select following:

Integration Category: Custom

Choose Connection: Twilio

Fill in the details from above steps and click on Validate and Save Settings.

You can now use the integration to build apps in iX Hello that can use Twilio to send SMS and MMS.

Create App in iX Hello

On Manage Apps menu under Custom Apps menu in the left navigation, click on New Custom App.

Fill up following details to create app.

Name: Twilio Demo

Custom App Type: Search

Category: Default

Click on Save.

Create Data Source

Next step is to create a data source that communicates with the integration created in Step 2.

Create Methods

After the data source has been created, we now have to create methods. iX Hello supports

1. SendTextSMS

2. SendSMSWithMedia

Send Text SMS

Fill the following details:

You can now test the method. On the actions menu, click on Test, provide the parameter value and

Click on Method Test . You can observe the return from method in Object tab and the result displayed to user in Result Tab.

Send SMS With Media

Fill the following details:

You can repeat the same method to test the method. Following screen shows a sample response.

Create Intents

Create Intents corresponding to the methods.

SendTextSMSIntent

SensSMSWithMediaIntent

Create Slots

Slots represent the parameters for the intents. You shall create slots of the exact same name as the parameters used in the method. Slots map to the parameters of the method.

SendTextSMSIntent

SensSMSWithMediaIntent

Create Utterances

Utterances are the short texts that invoke the intent. You have to define a unique utterance for each method.

1. SendTextSMS

1. SendSMSWithMedia

Create Input

The next step is to create input for the intents. Create Inputs corresponding to every intent. You need to create and manage parameters corresponding to the slots for each intent. For example for SendTextSMSIntent, you had two slots: “ToNumber” and “Message”, hence for SendTextSMSInput , you need to create two parameters: “ToNumber” and “Message”. Let’s look into the process in the following screens:

1. SendTextSMSInput

Click on Manage parameters on the action menu.

Click on Input Parameters and provide the details as shown below in the resulting pop up: Make sure to map the Input parameter to the same parameter. Also be careful of the data type used. It should be similar/ compatible with the data type of the slot.

Let’s Add another parameter “Message”.

1. Send SMSWithMediaInput

Repeat the same process for SMSWithMediaIntent. Create Input “SMSWithMediaInput” and create parameters.

Parameter Details:

Create Publish Profile

Once you’ve completed all of the above steps, your app is now ready to be publish to iX Hello supported channels. Let’s set up a publish profile.

Click on Save and you shall see the publish profile in iX Hello portal. Click on the actions menu and then on Publish to Lex.

Select the appropriate LWA account and click on publish.

On the resulting screen, ensure that a success message shows for the publishing steps before clicking “Test Lex”. If success message not shown, click “Go Back to App Publishing” to fix any issue shown in publishing result.

Once clicked on "Test Lex Bot", you will be redirected to App Publishing screen, and the Test Bot will appear at the right corner showing the App name along with the welcome message:

Query the bot with the Utterance " Send Text Message " and then Bot will ask you to provide " To-Number " to whom you would like to send the Text Message, Provide the contact number, for ex: type 9988664455. Bot will ask you to provide Text Message, enter text message and click send. The text message will be sent to the recipient.