What it is
Twilio is a cloud communications platform. Through its APIs, software can make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages, run voice menus and send email, without the business owning any telephone hardware. Developers describe call flows in code or in TwiML, Twilio's XML markup for voice and messaging.
It is used for appointment reminders, two-factor codes, contact centres, call tracking and interactive voice response. Because it is all API-driven, calls and messages can be tied straight into a company's CRM or ERP, so the person answering sees who is calling and why. Usage is billed per minute, per message and per phone number, so a small team can start without a contract.
How I use it
- At Brikers Inc., a heavy machinery parts dealer, I designed and oversaw delivery of the company's ERP on a LAMP stack with SuiteCRM and Twilio.
- Twilio inbound funnels and IVR routed callers by intent into the sales team.
- Around 2016 I used Twilio Autopilot for conversational routing across voice, SMS, email and web, when making a machine hold up its end of a conversation was real work.
- The result was a sales team that saw the whole customer before the phone stopped ringing.
Twilio is the right tool when phone calls and messages need to be part of the system rather than a separate box on the wall. I reach for it where a sales team lives on the phone, because routing a caller by intent and putting their history on screen before anyone picks up changes how the call goes.
Questions
Has Shawn Mervin built phone systems into business software?
Yes. At Brikers I built Twilio inbound funnels and IVR on a SuiteCRM core, routing callers by intent so the sales team saw the customer before answering.
Can a phone system connect to a CRM?
Yes. With Twilio the call flow is code, so it can look up the caller in the CRM and route them, then log the call against their record.