May 2016 Summaries

The 2016 SIGNAL conference featured a mix of industry leaders and innovators in the field of mixed reality, communications, and developer marketing. Rony Abovitz, CEO of Magic Leap, appeared on stage via video conference to discuss his company's vision for virtual reality and its partnership with Twilio. Ryan Leslie, a Grammy-nominated artist and developer, showcased his "Superphone" that allows fans to text him directly, highlighting the potential for developers to connect with their audiences in new ways. The conference also featured talks on the future of communications, including healthcare via SMS and telehealth, as well as updates from Twilio on its Notify service, which enables sending push, SMS, and live chat notifications programmatically.

To add push notifications to an Android app, developers can use the Twilio Notify API and ngrok to forward traffic from their server to the app. First, they need to create credentials for their backend server using the Notify Console, then configure their backend using Node.js and ngrok. Next, they need to set up their Android app by adding dependencies in the build.gradle file and registering a Broadcast Receiver and Service classes. They also need to implement a class called BindingResource that uses Retrofit to bind directly to their backend application. Finally, they can test their app by sending push notifications from their server using the notify.js script. With these steps, developers can turn their app into one that provides users with timely information and updates.

Twilio, a cloud communication platform, celebrated its one million developers building on Twilio by launching new developer tools and features. The company introduced Twilio Add-ons, a marketplace for third-party, pre-integrated Twilio enhancements, allowing developers to buy and sell production-ready solutions. Additionally, Twilio Wireless was launched, enabling easy IoT device connectivity using a Twilio SIM card powered by T-Mobile's network. The platform also announced changes to its documentation, console, and debugger, aiming to improve the developer experience with features such as in-site search, responsive displays, and filtering options. These updates aim to make development more intuitive and faster for Twilio developers.

The author of the text, Matt Makai, creates a bot called CallBot using Python, Twilio, and Slack Real Time Messaging API to add phone calling functionality to Slack. The bot connects to the Slack API with a token and uses Twilio to make outbound calls from a specified phone number. The author provides a step-by-step guide on how to set up the environment, configure the bot, and implement the logic for handling commands and making calls. The final code includes two new functions, `call_command` and `validate_phone_numbers`, which validate phone numbers and dial them into a conference call using Twilio's Voice API. The author concludes by suggesting additional features to enhance the bot's functionality.

Twilio has introduced Add-ons, which allow developers to supercharge their Twilio API calls with features and capabilities from other communications APIs. The Ekata Reverse Phone and IBM Watson Message Sentiment Add-ons can be activated through the Twilio Marketplace and provide additional functionality for phone number lookups and sentiment analysis of incoming SMS messages. With these add-ons, developers can retrieve historic data about phone numbers and perform sentiment analysis on incoming messages without modifying their application code. This enables more contextually appropriate responses to customer messages, improving user experience.

The LinkIt ONE dev board in the SIGNAL hackpack can be used to add cellular data to IoT projects using Twilio Programmable Wireless, which utilizes a Twilio SIM card. To get started, users need to set up their board and activate their Twilio SIM card, then attach the cellular antenna if necessary. The MediaTek LinkIt ONE SDK includes a library for working with the cellular functionality of the board, which can be included in an Arduino project using the Library Manager. A sample code example demonstrates how to connect to a URL on putsreq.com using the LGPRSClient class and send an HTTP GET request, allowing users to test the Twilio Programmable Wireless capabilities of their board.

The New Developer Experience From Twilio` is a reimagined experience for developing on the Twilio platform, designed to accelerate speed with cutting-edge code and provide an end-to-end solution for prototyping, building, and debugging. The new `Console`, `Documentation`, and `Debugger` aim to simplify the developer journey by providing a streamlined interface, faster access to necessary information, and advanced features such as TwiML Bins, in-site search, and robust error tracking. With these updates, developers can get what they need faster, find their answers quicker, and troubleshoot with lightning speed, ultimately accelerating their build time and enabling them to create more innovative applications.

Twilio has introduced Twilio Add-ons, a new feature that allows developers to instantly install partner features and capabilities through the Twilio API with just one click. This announcement aligns with Twilio's goal of making it easy to build with its entire ecosystem of communications APIs. The Twilio Add-ons marketplace offers pre-verified vetted options for various use cases such as sentiment analysis, language detection, and spam scoring, which can be integrated into existing applications with minimal code. With the introduction of Twilio Marketplace, developers can browse through available Add-ons, filter by products, and publish their own APIs to reach a wider audience. The rev-share model handles billing, making it easier for developers to monetize their Add-ons. This new feature aims to make communications more intelligent and efficient with less code.

Today, Twilio is celebrating a significant milestone: reaching 1 million registered developers on their platform.` `This achievement underscores the growth and ambition of the developer community that has been built around Twilio's cloud communication services.` `The company acknowledges the importance of its users' progress and aims to support their development endeavors with tools and resources designed to ease their work.` `In recognition of this milestone, Twilio is inviting developers to share their personal stories and experiences through a video series on YouTube and Twitter, using the hashtag #TwilioMilestone.

The article describes how to build a conference call dashboard using Twilio's API, Node.js, and AngularJS. The project starts by setting up a server with Twilio's phone number and ngrok, which exposes the server to the internet. A dashboard is then built using AngularJS, which receives updates from Twilio about conference events such as participants joining or leaving. To handle these updates, a WebSocket wrapper called Socket.IO is used to send messages between the server and client. The dashboard displays the conference status, including participant information and log messages. The project demonstrates how to use Twilio's API to build a real-time communication system for conferences, allowing users to monitor status changes and interact with each other in real-time.

The LinkIt ONE is a development board that combines features from SeeedStudio and MediaTek, including an ARM7 EJ-STM processor, support for GSM/GPRS radio, Wi-Fi radio, GPS radio, Bluetooth 2.1/4.0, AAC/MP3, SD card slot, and more. To get started with the LinkIt ONE, users need to install the Arduino IDE, MediaTek USB COM port driver, and MediaTek LinkIt ONE SDK on their computer. The board can be configured by updating its firmware and setting up additional boards in the Arduino IDE. A simple "Make the LED Blink" program can be used as a starting point for beginners, which sets pin 13 as an output pin and uses the `digitalWrite` function to toggle it between HIGH and LOW with a one-second delay. Once configured, users can upload their Sketch to the LinkIt ONE board and start experimenting with its various features and capabilities.

To send an SMS from an Android app, it's recommended to use a backend application that implements the Twilio REST API and wraps up your credentials. This approach avoids storing sensitive information directly in the app, reducing security risks. The process involves creating a backend application using Java and the Twilio Java library, setting up ngrok for external access, and then developing an Android app that makes HTTP requests to the backend to send SMS messages. The Android app uses OkHttp to make requests to the backend's URL, which is obtained from ngrok. By following these steps, developers can create a secure and scalable solution for sending SMS messages in their Android applications.

The Public Beta of Conference Events has been announced by Twilio, allowing developers to subscribe to changes in participant and conference states and receive notifications accordingly. This feature reduces the complexity of applications by eliminating the need to constantly poll the API for state updates. Webhooks for Key Events are also available, enabling developers to trigger webhooks on specific state changes of Conference or Participant resources. The new StatusCallbackEvent parameter can be used to enable Call Progress Events, which notify developers when a conference starts, ends, participants join or leave, and other events occur. This feature enables developers to control call legs and take actions in response to participant status changes, making it easier to build Collaboration and Call Center applications faster and more efficiently.

Introducing Dual Channel Recording, a game-changer for businesses to extract valuable data from call recordings by separating audio tracks into distinct channels, allowing for easier analysis and programmatically extracting insights with one line of code. This technology is especially useful in industries like customer service, sales, and automotive, where understanding customer sentiment and behavior can inform product development, pricing strategies, and sales optimization. By leveraging Dual-Channel Recording, businesses can save time, add value to their operations, and gain a competitive edge by analyzing conversations with customers more efficiently.

The article explains how to add CSS filters to a video application using React and Twilio Video. It starts by cloning a repository, configuring credentials, and running the app, then adds a set of CSS classes to apply different filters such as sepia, invert, grayscale, saturation, and blur. Two new React components are introduced: FilterList and Filter, which create and hold the filter options in a list, allowing users to select a filter. The article also covers how to communicate the selected filter between clients using Socket.io, enabling real-time updates across browsers.

Carthage is a dependency manager for Swift and iOS that emphasizes simplicity, unlike CocoaPods which creates an entirely new workspace. To install dependencies with Carthage, create a Cartfile specifying the libraries to be installed and run `carthage update --platform iOS`. The frameworks are then manually linked into Xcode by dragging them from the Carthage folder over to Xcode. With Carthage, you need to integrate the frameworks into your project manually, unlike CocoaPods which creates an entirely new workspace. In this tutorial, the author used Carthage to manage dependencies for a Swift and iOS app that displays a recent picture taken on Mars using NASA's API with Alamofire and SwiftyJSON. The author installed the required libraries using Carthage, linked them into Xcode manually, and sent a GET request to the Mars Rover API to receive an image URL which was then loaded in a UIImageView.

Including an unsubscribe link in transactional email messages is a nuanced decision that requires an understanding of the message's purpose and the potential impact on sender reputation. While unsubscribe links are vital for promotional emails to allow recipients to opt-out, transactional emails like password resets should instead offer an email preferences link to ensure users can manage their communication choices without hindering necessary interactions. Balancing the inclusion of links in emails is crucial because mailbox providers use link types to determine message categorization and delivery, potentially influencing how promotional and transactional reputations affect each other. Tools like SendGrid's link branding enable senders to customize links in different email types, thereby managing the reputational impact and enhancing user experience.

Hassan S. Ali, a creative services professional at Onion Labs, created Botline Bling, an SMS bot that provides responses to users seeking advice from Drake. Hassan built the bot despite lacking extensive programming skills, utilizing online tutorials and APIs to develop it in a minimal amount of time. The bot's conversational flows were carefully crafted to mimic Drake's style, with over 5,000 texts received within days of its launch, many referencing the Cheesecake Factory. To update or add responses, Hassan edits a Google Sheet without rewriting code, allowing for seamless maintenance. Botline Bling has been featured in several publications and has become a popular platform for users to engage with Drake's wisdom via text message.

Aline Lerner, founder and CEO of Interviewing.io, is changing the landscape of tech hiring with her bias-free platform that focuses on technical ability over extraneous details like education or previous employer. She built this platform after realizing that resumes were not a reliable way to gauge technical skill and that phone screens often involved small talk and uninformative questions. The platform uses Twilio's Voice API and a voice modulator to provide a bias-free environment for interviews, where candidates solve coding problems in real-time while interviewers provide feedback. Historically, over half of Interviewing.io's candidates have made it to company on-sites, and the platform has made hires for several well-known companies, including Yelp and Twitch. Aline believes that her vision of a hiring meritocracy is working, but acknowledges that she needs open-mindedness from clients, flexibility from users, and trust between interviewers and candidates to achieve this goal.

The author, Phil Nash, explores how to build a Twilio application with Rails 5, starting by installing Rails 5 and creating a new application using `rails new`. They then add the `twilio-ruby` gem and create a controller for handling incoming calls from Twilio. The controller uses Rack middleware to verify requests coming from Twilio and responds with TwiML instructions to play a message or send an SMS. To make the app accessible over the internet, ngrok is used to tunnel the local server's port 3000 to a publicly accessible URL. With this setup, Twilio can route incoming calls to the application, which then responds with pre-defined TwiML instructions.

IBM's Bluemix is democratizing computing power by making it easier for developers to build, deploy, and scale apps with its tools. The platform adds intelligence from IBM Watson, enabling creative projects that might have required a team of data scientists in the past. According to Theodore Wilson, a Developer Advocate at Bluemix, the platform lets users do things they wouldn't have been able to five years ago.

TTAG Systems uses Twilio to build communication experiences for its clients, such as mobile coupons with custom QR codes, city-wide advertising campaigns tracked by SMS engagement, and in-store SMS surveys. The company leverages the granularity of MMS and SMS to collect high-quality data on individual customers, allowing them to personalize their experience and improve sales. By reaching customers through a familiar channel like text messaging, TTAG Systems increases conversation rates compared to other methods. This approach enables the company to build a better customer experience and achieve success for its clients.

To delete bulk recordings from Twilio's Recordings API, you can use Python and its built-in libraries. First, set up your environment with Python 3.x, the Twilio helper library, and necessary environment variables. Then, create a script that lists all recordings created before a specified date, extracts their RecordingSID, and deletes them using the Twilio API. However, this approach has limitations, such as waiting for response times from Twilio, which can be time-consuming for large numbers of recordings. To overcome this, use multi-threading to delete recordings concurrently, creating a centralized queue and worker threads that drain it while writing results to a CSV file. Finally, you can modify the script to download recordings to cold storage on magnetic tape if needed.

You can set up your own Twilio conference line using the new Console and native TwiML Bins, which allows for easy hosting of static TwiML without server setup. To get started, create a bin with TwiML verbs such as `<Say>`, `<Dial>`, and `<Conference>` to configure your conference line. The `<Conference>` verb has parameters like `record` and `beep` that extend call functionality, allowing you to record calls and play notification beeps when participants join or leave. To complete the setup, configure your Twilio phone number to point to your TwiML when a call comes in.

AngularJS is a popular JavaScript framework for building client-side applications, allowing for well-factored apps with clear Separation of Concerns (SoC). To demonstrate its capabilities, this tutorial converts an existing JavaScript Quickstart for Video into an Angular application. A Twilio account must be created and set up with an API Key, Secret, and Configuration Profile SID to authenticate with the Twilio Video service. The client-side code is converted from the existing JavaScript Quickstart to use Angular, allowing for a working video chat application to be built.

CocoaPods is a tool used to manage dependencies in Swift and iOS applications. It helps developers install third-party libraries, such as Alamofire for HTTP requests and SwiftyJSON for JSON parsing. To get started with CocoaPods, you need to create a Podfile, specify the dependencies, and then run `pod install` to link them to your project. The process involves creating a new Xcode Workspace and importing the libraries into your ViewController.swift file. With CocoaPods, developers can easily access APIs like NASA's Mars Rover API to load images from Mars in their iOS applications.

This summary provides a concise overview of the article, which guides readers through building an Android chat app using Xamarin and Twilio IP Messaging. The article assumes prior knowledge of programming languages and software development, but provides step-by-step instructions to create a fully functional chat application. The process involves setting up a Twilio account, generating an access token, and integrating the Twilio IP Messaging SDK into an existing Xamarin project. The app allows users to send and receive messages within a channel, with features such as sending typing indicators and editing message content. The article concludes by encouraging readers to explore additional enhancements for their chat application, including adding channel lists, message editing capabilities, and more.

The Twilio team is introducing three new products at SIGNAL, including Twilio for Internet of Things (IoT), aimed at making connections in connected devices easier for developers to build. The IoT space is growing rapidly and requires a reliable connectivity solution. Twilio's new product addresses this challenge by providing easy access to connectivity for IoT applications. The company will showcase its solution at the SIGNAL developer conference in San Francisco on May 24-25, where attendees can learn more and get hands-on experience with the new product.

Creating a phone number lookup bot using Microsoft Bot Framework and C# involves several steps, starting with setting up the necessary tools such as Visual Studio 2015, Twilio Account, and Azure account. The bot is then created using the Bot Connector Template for Visual Studio, which provides a working messaging API that can be modified to perform tasks like phone number lookups. A new class called TwilioLookupService.cs is created to handle the logic of connecting with the Twilio Lookup API, allowing the bot to retrieve information about a given telephone number. The bot's functionality is then enhanced by deploying it to Azure and registering it with the Bot Framework. After registration, the bot can be configured to use an SMS channel, enabling users to send messages to the bot via text messages. With its capabilities now expanded, the bot can be further customized to perform additional tasks or even integrated into other platforms like Slack or Facebook.

The Twilio company has acquired twimlbin.com, a tool that allowed developers to rapidly prototype solutions like call forwarding or conference calls without needing to spin up a server. The acquisition led to the launch of native TwiML Bins in the Twilio Console, which provides a native experience for hosting static TwiML documents and makes it easier for developers to try out Twilio without infrastructure expertise. With TwiML Bins, developers can now easily create Voice or SMS applications without needing to operate infrastructure, using webhooks as an alternative to traditional server-side code. The new feature is designed to address the challenges of getting started quickly with Twilio and building reliable solutions at scale.

This tutorial guides developers through building an iOS chat app using Xamarin and Twilio IP Messaging. The first step involves setting up a Twilio account and creating an access token, which is used to authenticate with the IP Messaging service. The developer then adds the Twilio IP Messaging SDK to their project and configures it to work with their app. They create a data source class to manage messages in the table view and implement the necessary interfaces for the chat client. The tutorial then shows how to connect to Twilio IP Messaging, fetch an access token, and join a channel. Finally, the developer adds code to handle incoming messages and creates a functioning chat app.

Twilio is partnering with Virgil Security to make building end-to-end encrypted applications easy for developers, using Twilio IP Messaging and the Virgil Crypto SDK and Key Management. End-to-end encryption ensures that only the message originators and recipients can decrypt messages, providing an additional layer of security for companies operating under strict regulatory environments. This feature is particularly useful in industries such as finance, healthcare, and education where heightened security is required. Developers can get started quickly with demo applications and tutorials in several languages, including JavaScript/Node.js, iOS, Android, and C#.

The on-demand economy is built on a web of APIs connected to one another, and communication plays a crucial role in its success, with technology that powers this communication being inextricably linked to the business itself. Companies like Instacart, Airbnb, and others have found innovative ways to leverage tools such as Stripe, Checkr, and Twilio to facilitate trust, security, and efficiency in their operations. The panel discussion at Twilio HQ highlighted the importance of communication in driving business growth, with key takeaways including the need for automation, background checks, and safety protocols to ensure a seamless user experience.