

Twilio Recipes Open source PHP for common PBX features - jeffiel
http://www.twilio.com/docs/recipes/

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jeffiel
VoiceXML certainly has it's place in the Enterprise, but it's definitely a
steep learning curve. At Twilio, we've attempted to simplify the model for
developers who are already busy with many projects and technologies.

As Caligula pointed out, you can "play around" with VoiceXML on a number of
Enterprise platforms such as TellMe, but if you want to launch, you'll have to
engage in a long enterprise sales cycle and sign long contracts. That's no fun
:(

\- jeff

Jeff Lawson Co-Founder, Twilio

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paul7986
How about a PBX application that asks me to leave my name and number and when
rep picks up my call (# in queue) my phone rings. No waiting hours on the
phone with cable company. This is not a new idea - maybe some1 is doing this
alrready.

Could initiate this by calling & entering info or going to a website or
Twitter.

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Caligula
I fail to see why this got 23 upvotes. From what I can tell, it shows examples
using their API. They are an alternative to VoiceXML. VoiceXML is a industry
standard that most companies use.

I would avoid Twilio as I cannot find a justification to making a different
standard. Although their transparent pricing and hosting everything is
appealing. I actually looked into them before but their xml language turned me
away.

If you want to play around with making voicexml apps for free try out
<https://studio.tellme.com/>

~~~
lux
Twilio will succeed simply because they've reduced it to being ridiculously
easy. I mean, a complete non-coder could practically put together a working
app based on Twilio, which I doubt is the case with any VoiceXML provider.

I personally wrote a phone-in support service, company extensions directory
and voicemail-to-email service with Twilio in literally a couple hours. It now
integrates seamlessly into a new support system I'm launching for one of my
companies in the next month or so. Twilio's part was so easy it was an
afterthought, but will really make my new service shine.

Couple that ease of use with their super affordable and transparent ($5/mo +
$0.05/min for an 866#) pricing model, and you've got a winner. I can
appreciate the need for standards, but sometimes they're simply trumped by
easier and better technologies. Look at the progression from SOAP -> XML-RPC
-> REST for example :)

~~~
lux
PS. Had an interesting issue with call forwarding through my wireless carrier
and Twilio's support has been top notch in helping track it down. Can't say
the same for my wireless carrier though... ;)

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asnyder
Anyone have an invite code? I would love to try this service out, looks very
promising. The first thing I have in mind is allow for call in issue
tracking/complaints/bug reports. Something like this coupled with basic speech
recognition would easily allow that, and likely cost thousands of dollars less
then a similar commercial solution.

~~~
thorax
They're liberal with the invites, just try to get on their beta invite list. A
week or so ago I got mine right away.

<http://www.twilio.com/request-invite>

