May 2014 Summaries

Amy Ciavolino and her friends created a solution to their noisy apartment buzzer issue by building a Twilio-powered buzzer bot using Raspberry Pi, Node.js, and an optocoupler. The project involves setting up a test light to ensure the software is working correctly, routing the Raspberry Pi to the internet via a router, and configuring a Dynamic DNS service to update the IP address periodically. Once set up, the system sends a text message with a specific password to trigger the buzzer, allowing Amy's friends to enter her apartment without interrupting the party. The final step involves connecting the optocoupler to the buzzer box and running the init.d script to make the buzzzer bot server run automatically on startup.

Message Delivery Information` is a new tool introduced by Twilio, allowing developers to track the real-time delivery status of SMS and MMS messages. This feature provides critical data to improve delivery rates and reach a higher percentage of customers. With this tool, developers can see detailed explanations for failed or undelivered messages, including error codes that indicate reasons such as carrier guidelines violations or recipient unavailability. By using `Message Delivery Information`, companies like CarGurus and Uber have improved their SMS delivery rates, detecting issues with short code usage and failing over to long codes, ultimately increasing the reach of their messages to 98% of intended recipients.

Twilio is a company that provides communication platforms to European-based companies, helping them deliver high-quality services such as opening doors via text message or finding medical care, with exponential growth since entering the European market two and a half years ago. Twilio's core values of being frugal and not engaging in shenanigans are reflected in its new lower pricing for calls in five European countries, with prices reduced due to increased traffic. The company is also expanding its SMS capabilities to Ireland, offering international-enabled mobile phone numbers at $0.0075 per inbound message and $0.014 per outbound message. To ensure customer data security, Twilio adheres to the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework and meets local region privacy laws, protecting confidential information of thousands of businesses and customers worldwide.

Wix, a platform that allows users to build customized websites or online stores, faced the challenge of scaling its phone support for millions of customers after experiencing rapid growth from one million to 20 million users in just two years. The company recognized it had two choices: build or buy, and ultimately turned to Twilio, a cloud-based communication app provider, to solve its customer support challenges. With the tools provided by Twilio, Wix built its own Twilio-powered call center within six weeks, which allowed them to focus on improving their customers' experience. The new call center enabled Wix to gather data that improved their customers' support experience and ultimately led to a 30% reduction in call handling time and doubling of capacity for scheduled support calls without hiring new staff.

The Ansible configuration management tool has a new core notification module called Twilio that allows developers to send critical deployment updates by text message. This feature is particularly useful for developers who want to receive notifications about deployment issues or unexpected events while they are away from their computers. The Twilio notification module integrates seamlessly with Ansible playbooks, making it easy to integrate an external service into a playbook as simple as writing a few lines of YAML. The example playbook repository on GitHub demonstrates how to use the Twilio notification module to send text messages when a deployment fails or succeeds. To use this feature, developers need to sign up for a Twilio account, purchase a phone number, and grab their account credentials from the account dashboard. Once these steps are completed, they can export the necessary variables to their environment and run the modified playbook to receive notifications about deployment issues or successes.

Greg Baugues, a developer and former employee at Table XI, has taken on a new role as a Developer Evangelist for Twilio, where he aims to inspire and equip developers to change communications forever. He moved to Chicago in 2005 with no job or connections, but found success through his programming skills and community-building efforts. Baugues highlights the growth of Chicago's tech scene over the past five years, citing successes like Groupon's IPO and President Obama's re-election campaign. He shares his personal story of overcoming depression and bipolar disorder to find a fulfilling role serving developers. As Twilio's only employee in Chicago, Baugues encourages readers to get involved in the city's tech community through coworking spaces, meetups, mentoring programs, and more.

Sierra Wireless has developed a solution to help hardware devices communicate with Twilio SMS, enabling businesses to extract and share information collected by devices such as Electric Vehicle Charging Stations and Home Security Systems. The company's AirVantage Management service connects devices to the cloud, allowing users to access information remotely and securely through web and mobile apps. This new feature enables Sierra Wireless customers to send SMS commands via Twilio to trigger remote actions or backups, reducing the need for costly field service requests.

RedBeacon's CEO Anthony Rodio set out to revolutionize customer service after being acquired by Home Depot in 2012. The company needed a scalable contact center to reach millions of customers, and chose Twilio as the platform to power it. With just 3 engineers, RedBeacon built a fully functional contact center in under a month, including features such as intelligent call routing, real-time CRM integration, and interactive voice response. Within 90 days, the contact center was live and handling over one million calls, thanks to Twilio's ability to get them up and running faster than any other solution on the market.

The company CarCodeSMS has developed an app that allows car buyers to contact salesmen directly via text message, without having to visit a dealership. The app uses Twilio SMS and is TCPA compliant, allowing customers to easily opt-out of communication if they wish. By providing a direct line of communication between the customer and dealer, CarCodeSMS aims to improve the car shopping experience by reducing pressure and increasing efficiency. The company plans to target enterprise car companies this year with the goal of on-boarding 2,500 dealerships using their platform.

Rick Dalzell has joined Twilio's Board of Directors`, a position that reflects the company's `inverted-pyramid` management philosophy, where employees are closest to customers and have direct information on how to better serve them. This approach is designed to empower employees and ensure they have what they need to focus on serving customers every day. The CEO believes that this philosophy, which Rick Dalzell has lived every day in his previous roles, such as CIO of Amazon, will help Twilio build a company of `DOers` who strive to serve customers and change the face of global communications.

The Hacker Olympics is a unique event that combines elements of hackathons with other activities, where teams of five compete to solve a series of challenges within a limited time frame. The event takes place in London on May 24th, 2014, and registration is now open. Challenges may include coding tasks, physical puzzles, or creative endeavors such as balancing plastic cups or playing old Nintendo games. This year's events are tailored to the local tech scene and British culture, offering a fresh twist on the traditional Hacker Olympics experience. With limited space available, teams should register quickly to secure their spot.

Nicolas Grenie was inspired to join the Twilio Heroes program after learning about it through social media, and he has been actively participating in the community since then. He has learned a great deal from the program, including how to create high-quality technical tutorials, give effective live demos, and develop his skills as a developer. Nicolas' dedication to programming is evident in his response to being handed a giant stack of papers for Christmas, which motivated him to continue learning despite the daunting task ahead of him. The Twilio Heroes program has provided him with an opportunity to share his passion for coding with others, and he continues to be involved in the community as a teacher and mentor.

Twilio has announced the release of voice and SMS enabled numbers in 19 new countries, expanding its global reach and bringing quality Voice and SMS capabilities to developers and businesses worldwide. The company has tested the numbers in three critical areas: functionality, instant provisioning, and call experience quality, ensuring they work seamlessly and securely. With this development, Twilio aims to enable users to build applications that can reach customers anywhere in the world.

Twilio has introduced a new feature called Timezone Selection in its Account Portal, which allows developers to choose their preferred timezone globally across the portal, making it easier for international developers to work with dates and times. The feature aims to address the needs of Twilio's increasingly international developer base and provides a convenient way to avoid time zone conversions during debugging. Users can access Timezone Selection by visiting their User Settings in the Account Portal.

TwilioCon is shifting to a new location and time in 2015 due to the conversion of The SF Design Concourse into condos. The event's organizers are seeking a new venue that can provide an optimal experience for attendees, who will now be able to attend the conference during a less busy spring season. As part of this change, TwilioCon will take place earlier than usual in early 2015. The event is expected to continue its annual tradition of bringing together customers, community partners, builders, thinkers, and DOers to focus on the future of communications.