Phone calls with Twilio

With Twilio Voice, your agents can answer and place regular phone calls from EngageOne in their browser.

How it works

A Twilio voice inbox is a Twilio SMS inbox with calling turned on. The same number handles both texts and calls.

A customer calls your Twilio number.
Twilio sends the call to EngageOne, and agents in the inbox see an Incoming call alert.
An agent selects Join call and talks to the customer in the browser.
The call is logged in the customer's conversation, with a recording and transcript if you've turned them on.

Before you start

Calling must be enabled for your EngageOne account.
A Twilio phone number with voice capability. A Messaging Service can't be used for calls.
Your Twilio Account SID and Auth Token.
A Twilio API key: create one in the Twilio Console and copy the API Key SID and API Key Secret.

Option 1: Create a new voice inbox

Go to Settings → Inboxes → Add Inbox → Voice.
Enter the Phone Number in E.164 format, for example +919876543210.
Enter the Account SID, Auth Token, API Key SID and API Key Secret. All are required.
Select Create Voice Channel.
Pick the agents who should take calls and select Add agents.
Optional: rename the inbox in its settings.

Option 2: Turn on calling for an existing Twilio SMS inbox

Go to Settings → Inboxes and open your Twilio SMS inbox.
Open the Voice tab.
Turn on Enable Voice Calling.
If the inbox doesn't have an API key yet, enter the API Key SID and API Key Secret.
Select Update.

When calling turns on, EngageOne checks that the number is in your Twilio account and supports voice. It then sets up the number's voice webhooks and the app Twilio needs for outgoing calls. Turning calling off removes them again.

Note: The Voice tab appears only on Twilio SMS inboxes that use a phone number, and only when calling is enabled for your account.

Voice settings

Setting	What it does
Allow incoming calls	Lets customers call this number. When off, incoming calls are declined automatically and no conversation is created. Agents can still call out
Record calls	Records each call and attaches the recording to the conversation
Transcribe recordings	Creates a text transcript of each recording. Needs audio transcription enabled for your account
Twilio Voice URL and Twilio Status Callback URL	Shown for reference. EngageOne sets them on your number for you

Check your setup

Open the inbox's Account Health tab. It shows your Twilio account status, the number's capabilities and whether these webhooks are set correctly:

Messaging webhook
Voice webhook
Voice status callback
Outbound calling (TwiML app)

Select Register webhooks to fix anything that's flagged, or after your EngageOne address changes.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
"Phone number not found in Twilio account"	The number isn't in this Twilio account	Check the number and the Account SID
"This phone number does not support voice calls"	The number has no voice capability	Use a voice-capable Twilio number
Customers can't call in, but agents can call out	Allow incoming calls is off	Turn it on in the Voice tab
Calls don't reach EngageOne	A TwiML app or SIP trunk on the number overrides EngageOne's webhook	Detach it in the Twilio Console, then select Register webhooks
An agent can't hear or speak	The browser blocked the microphone	Allow microphone access for EngageOne and reload
A Twilio trial account can't call a customer	Trial accounts only reach verified numbers	Verify the number in Twilio or upgrade the account
No transcript appears	Recording or transcription is off, or audio transcription isn't enabled	Check the Voice tab and ask your administrator