September 2012 Summaries

The Twilio Client iOS and Android SDKs have been updated with performance improvements, enabling users to make calls over cellular data networks or WiFi connections without using standard cell phone minutes. The latest versions of the SDKs are available for download, allowing developers to integrate them into their apps with minimal changes required. Support for ARMv7s with the iPhone 5 is coming soon in an updated SDK. Twilio provides documentation, sample code, and a support team to help developers get started and troubleshoot any issues.

The provided screencast tutorial guides users on how to dial out to a second caller using Twilio Voice, allowing them to press a digit and be connected to another person. The tutorial also covers other topics related to Twilio Voice, such as playing an MP3 for a caller, greeting a caller by name, and accessing resources like APIs, SDKs, and sample apps. Additionally, the text promotes revisiting previous screencasts and exploring Twilio's developer community hub for best practices, code samples, and inspiration.

When I Work is a scheduling app that enables managers to plan employee shifts, request coverage, and calculate shift wages from anywhere. The app uses Twilio SMS to send employees their schedules and allows them to request paid time off or ask about their work schedule via text message. With over 50,000 users since April and clients in various industries, When I Work is expanding into new markets, offering features such as integration with Google Calendar and Outlook to update personal calendars. The app aims to improve communication among employees and managers, making it easier to manage shifts and scheduling.

Advancing Business Communications` The end result of the coverage on Twilio and AT&T’s Advanced Communication Suite will benefit small, medium and enterprise customers by improving business processes through pre-built communications applications built on Twilio's communications API platform. This improvement is made possible through third-party developers who build applications using Twilio's platform. The support from users, including tweets, emails, and calls, has been greatly appreciated. For more information and resources on building communications and digital engagement experiences, visitors can explore Twilio's developer community hub, resource center, and API documentation.

TwilioCon is an event where Twilio-powered startups can demo their apps in the Community Hall and receive complimentary passes to the conference and discounts for friends. The selection process will be announced by Friday, October 5th, and applicants must apply before Wednesday, October 3rd at Noon PDT.

Wix created its call center to meet the growing need for a live agent following its rapid user growth. To support this growth, Wix initially considered cloud-based telephony services but quickly outgrew them and decided to build its own call center instead. The company then chose to leverage the Twilio API for its telephony needs due to its reliability, flexibility, and lower cost of ownership compared to traditional per-user fee models. With Twilio, Wix was able to integrate a highly reliable telephony service with advanced features such as queuing calls, case management, call recording, and reporting capabilities, ultimately enhancing the overall customer experience.

UserConf in October: Putting Customers First` UserConf is a conference where customer experience takes center stage, with a focus on user voice and empowerment. The event features a lineup of speakers from top companies, including 37signals, Eventbrite, Airbnb, SurveyMonkey, and Olark, who will share best practices for scaling support, handling passionate feedback, and more. With a strict no-pitch policy, attendees can focus on learning from industry experts without any sales pitches. The conference also includes activities like ice cream tastings as part of the user experience. Twilio is partnering with UserConf to offer a special discount to its community members.

Ovation Technologies has developed a suite of mobile and cloud-based tools to help small businesses hire the best candidates by making it easy and affordable to advertise jobs on social networks, rank responses, process applications, and complete onboarding paperwork. A key feature is proactive alerts, which notify business owners in real time about desirable new candidates. To implement this feature, Ovation selected Twilio as its SMS platform provider due to its good reputation, ease of API integration, and .NET based infrastructure. This partnership has enabled Ovation to deliver cutting-edge recruiting technology at a reasonable price, with the help of Twilio's clear documentation and sample apps. The use of proactive alerts is expected to increase customer satisfaction by allowing business owners to receive immediate notifications when a resume is submitted, review candidate evaluations, and decide whether or not to make a connection. As Ovation expands globally, Twilio's international reach will support both recruiters and jobseekers worldwide, with future plans to add an interviewing tool facilitated by Twilio's recording capabilities.

Gryphn Secure Messaging is a replacement for native text messaging applications that provides secure encryption of text messages using Twilio for two-factor authentication and "Smart Predict" feature automatically encrypts conversations even if the user hasn't communicated in a while. The app was founded by three friends who met at a tech meetup, initially with a focus on motorcycles but later shifted to technology, and has gained attention from law enforcement agencies such as the SWAT team in Abbeville, South Carolina, which needed a secure way to communicate without compromising their data. Gryphn has been recognized as one of this year's most innovative startups for national security by the Defense Innovation Network and is working on additional features including controlling message availability and real-time biometric identification for mobile devices.

This tutorial outlines the process of creating a real-time SMS voting application using Node.js, CouchDB, and Twilio. The author, who has experience with various programming languages but was new to Node.js and NoSQL databases like CouchDB, shares his journey as he builds the app from scratch. He starts by creating a basic Node.js application, setting up a local CouchDB database, and connecting it to Cloudant for hosting. The author then creates views to query events based on phone numbers and short names, processes incoming votes via SMS using Twilio, and sets up a utility module to store useful functions. Finally, he deploys the app to Nodejitsu and provides instructions on how to test and verify the functionality of the voting application.

Twilio Voice Quickstart series has a new installment that guides developers through the process of playing an audio file for their caller using TwiML. The walkthrough demonstrates how to play an MP3 file for a caller, with examples of different types of content that can be used, such as recorded songs or messages. This tutorial is part of a broader series on Twilio Voice and SMS Quickstarts, which provides resources and guidance for building communication experiences.

Urban Savers, founded by Craig Dixon, aims to provide highly targeted offers to urban consumers, focusing on catering to their specific needs and sensibilities. The service uses Twilio APIs for SMS communication, allowing merchants to send promotions or deals to consumers via GroupText, which can be redeemed via text or voucher. Urban Savers was inspired by the growing buying power of African-Americans and Hispanics, and its target market is urban consumers who are interested in purchasing products already on their radar. The service has partnered with Twilio, Adility, CardSpring, OA Agency, and other companies to expand its offerings, which include a loyalty program for merchants and text-based communication for consumers.

Jeff Lawson took part in the first ever Queue Call In Hour on September 14th, 2012, answering questions from a community of developers who called in to ask about Twilio's approach to events and other topics. The call was powered by Twilio and featured responses to questions such as those related to reaching developers and the importance of control over space time continuum. The event also highlighted Twilio's resources for developers, including documentation, ebooks, industry reports, webinars, a developer community hub, and sample apps.

The 2012 TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon was a highly successful event that brought together over 300 hackers from around the world to compete in a coding challenge. The teams faced various obstacles, including sleep deprivation, hunger, and spotty WiFi, but managed to create innovative apps powered by Twilio, such as Sirious Margritas, SafeHouse, and Hashorder. The top winners of the hackathon were Livebolt, Auctopus, and Heatdata, who received prizes and a chance to showcase their projects at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference. The event also saw the launch of new products, including Pitchback, an app that allows users to livestream pitches and receive real-time feedback with SMS. The hackathon was a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation in the developer community.

Precision Polling was founded by Gaurav Oberoi after he discovered the limited options for conducting low-cost automated polls following the 2008 presidential election. He used Twilio's API to build a polling service that would allow anyone to conduct a poll or survey through a web page, saving him months of development time. The service has been used by various organizations including local governments, startups, and large national political organizations, and can handle up to 30,000 calls per hour. One key benefit of Precision Polling is its ability for an organization to conceive and complete a poll in as little as an hour, with full disposition reports available immediately. The Twilio back end has remained rock solid since the launch of Precision Polling in 2010, and Oberoi advises other entrepreneurs to explore Twilio's telephony communications stack to build scalable services without being burdened by complex details.

FormActivate is a service that connects leads with sales reps instantly by piping web forms, email inquiries, or direct calls through its platform, gathering data from the lead's inquiry and relaying it to the rep using Twilio's Voice service. The entrepreneurs behind FormActivate aim to disrupt the traditional "Click to Call" model by adding automated intelligence between the click and call. With the press of a button, sales reps can choose to respond to leads quickly and efficiently.

This summary provides an overview of the article about building a call queue metrics dashboard using Twilio Queue, ASP.NET MVC, SignalR, and Azure Worker Role. The author creates a simple dashboard to monitor call queues by placing callers into a queue, tracking current queue size and average wait time, and updating the dashboard every 10 seconds. The article highlights the capabilities of Twilio Queue, its ease of use, and how it can be integrated with ASP.NET MVC and SignalR for real-time updates. The author also provides a live sample of the dashboard and source code on GitHub.

Treat Yo Dog won the Twilio prize at the Battle of the Braces hackathon with a simple yet effective app that uses Twilio's API to reward its owner's dog, Ajax, with treats via text, while also showcasing an alternative dispensing mechanism and video streaming. Meanwhile, App Texts took home the overall winner award by streamlining the process for users to download apps on their phones through a single text message via Twilio SMS, using their server to determine the user's device type and connect them to the correct store.

In a rapidly changing business landscape, companies are realizing the importance of creating outstanding user experiences and making their businesses customer-focused, as highlighted in Harley Manning's latest book "Outside In". Understanding your customers can make or break your business, and data from the book shows significant correlations between company growth and customer happiness. Harley Manning, a Forrester Analyst, explores how to create exceptional experiences for users and shares insights on innovative UX and its impact on user behavior. Customer experience is identified as the greatest source of untapped ROI for businesses, and Manning will lead a discussion on proactive notifications in a forthcoming webinar.

Twilio has announced a new TwiML verb, "meet", as part of its Queue service, which enables developers to manage and route inbound calls, track callers, and hold time in a simple way with minimal code. The company is hosting a developer contest to encourage creativity and innovation with the Queue service. Developers are challenged to build an app using the new Queue feature, with prizes including a Google Nexus Q device, conference passes, and autographed copies of books. The contest runs until September 23rd, and participants must submit their apps along with a video or screencast showcasing their work.