Migrating from Twilio to Plivo is a seamless and painless process. The two companies’ API structures, implementation mechanisms, XML structure, SMS message processing, and voice call processing are similar. We wrote this technical comparison between Twilio and Plivo APIs so that you can scope the code changes for a seamless migration.

Understanding the differences between Twilio and Plivo development

Most of the APIs and features that are available on Twilio are also available on Plivo and the implementation mechanism is easier as the steps involved are almost identical. This table gives a side-side comparison of the two companies’ features and APIs. An added advantage with Plivo is that not only can you code using the old familiar API/XML method, you can also implement your use cases using PHLO (Plivo High Level Objects), a visual workflow builder that lets you create workflows by dragging and dropping components onto a canvas — no coding required.

Plivo account creation

Start by signing up for a free trial account that you can use to experiment with and learn about our services. The free trial account comes with free credits, and you can add more as you go along. You can also add a phone number to your account to start testing the full range of our voice and SMS features. A page in our support portal walks you through the signup process.

You can also port your numbers from Twilio to Plivo, as we explain in this guide.

Migrating your voice application

As mentioned earlier, you can migrate your existing application from Twilio to Plivo by refactoring the code, or you can try our intuitive visual workflow builder PHLO. If you prefer the API approach, you can follow one of the voice quickstart guides based on your preferred language and web framework. Plivo offers server SDKs in seven languages: Python, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, Ruby, and Go. For another alternative that lets you evaluate Plivo’s SMS APIs and their request and response structure, use our Postman collections.

How to make an outbound call

Let’s take a look at the process of refactoring the code to migrate your app from Twilio to Plivo to set up a simple Python application to make an outbound call by changing just a few lines of code.

import os
from twilio.rest import Client

account_sid = os.environ
["TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID"]
auth_token = os.environ
["TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN"]
client = Client(account_sid, auth_token)

call = client.calls.create(
   url='http://demo.twilio.com/docs/voice.xml',
   to='+14155551212',
   from_='+15017122661'
)

print(call)
   

import os
import plivo


auth_id = os.environ
["PLIVO_AUTH_ID"]
auth_token = os.environ
["PLIVO_AUTH_TOKEN"]
client = plivo.RestClient(auth_id, auth_token)

call = client.calls.create(
   from_='+14151234567',
   to_='+14157654321',
   answer_url=
'http://s3.amazonaws.com/static.plivo.
com/answer.xml',
   answer_method='GET' )
print(call)

Alternatively, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. For example, if you want to make an outbound call, your PHLO would be this:

How to receive an incoming call

You can migrate an application for receiving and handling an incoming call from Twilio to Plivo just as seamlessly, as in this example:

from flask import Flask
from twilio.twiml.voice_response 
import VoiceResponse

app = Flask(__name__)


@app.route("/receive_call", 
methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def receive_call():
"""Respond to incoming phone calls with a
'Hello world' message"""
    # Start our TwiML response
    resp = VoiceResponse()

    # Read a message aloud to the caller
    resp.say("hello world!", voice='alice')
    
    return str(resp)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(debug=True)
   

from flask import Flask, request,
make_response
from plivo import plivoxml

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/receive_call',
methods=['GET','POST'])
def receive_call():
# Generate a Speak XML with the details 
of the text to play on the call.
response = (
   plivoxml.ResponseElement()
   .add(
   plivoxml.SpeakElement(
'Hello, you just received your first call')))
return(response.to_string())

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', debug=True)

Here again, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. Your PHLO would look like:

For more information about migrating your Voice applications to Plivo, check out our detailed use case guides, available for all seven programming languages and PHLO.

How to forward an incoming call

You can migrate an application for forwarding an incoming call from Twilio to Plivo just as seamlessly, as in this example:

from flask import Flask
from twilio.twiml.voice_response
import Dial, VoiceResponse, Say

app = Flask(__name__)


@app.route("/forward_call", 
methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def forwardcall():
   """Forward the incoming phone calls to 
  connect the caller to another party"""
   # Start our TwiML response
   response = VoiceResponse()

   # Dial verb to forward the call
   response.dial('415-123-4567')
   response.say('Goodbye')

   return str(response)

if __name__ == "__main__":
   app.run(debug=True)
   

from flask import Flask,
request, make_response, Response
from plivo import plivoxml

app = Flask(__name__)



@app.route('/forward_call',
methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def forwardcall():

    response = plivoxml.ResponseElement()
    response.add(
        plivoxml.DialElement().add(
        plivoxml.NumberElement('15671234567')))
    return(response.to_string())

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', debug=True)

Here again, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. Your PHLO would look like:

For more information about migrating your Voice applications to Plivo, check out our detailed use case guides, available for all seven programming languages and PHLO.

More use cases

You can migrate your applications serving other use cases too.

• IVR
• Voice-controlled virtual assistant
• Number masking
• Supervisor coaching
• PINless conference
• Conference with PIN
• Voicemail
• Voice alerts broadcasting
• Voice survey
• Dial status reporting
• Screen incoming calls
• Record a call

Simple and reliable

And that’s all there is to migrate your Python voice app from Twilio to Plivo. Our simple APIs work in tandem with our Premium Communications Network. See for yourself — sign up for a free trial account.

Let’s face it — among communications platforms as a server (CPaaS), Twilio is the 800-pound gorilla in terms of market share. It’s the modern embodiment of the old saying “Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.” But one thing you can’t say about Twilio is that it’s budget-friendly.

Fortunately, just as there were worthwhile alternatives to Big Blue back in the day, there are good alternatives to Twilio today. Plivo of course is one of them, and a key advantage is that it lets businesses of all sizes better manage their costs at scale. In this latest post in our Lessons in CPaaS Leadership series, we focus on all the ways a platform can save — or cost — a business money.

What costs do businesses that use cloud communications platforms have to consider? They start with unit costs to send messages and make calls, but they also include things like support contracts and sometimes phone number rental.

On a unit cost basis, it’s easy to see Plivo’s advantages. Check out our prices; check out Twilio’s. Individual line items vary, but Plivo is lower in every case — on average around 35% lower. We wrote a blog post that dives into the details.

In both cases, the individual rate differences are tiny: It costs half a cent to send an SMS text message through Plivo, .75 cents through Twilio, for instance. But you wouldn’t need a CPaaS platform if you were sending just a few messages a day. When you scale up to business volumes, those tiny differences add up to tens of thousands of dollars per month. That’s a significant amount you can save with Plivo every month.

Quality affects cost

But there’s more to the cost equation than unit costs. Consider quality of service. If your CPaaS can’t reliably deliver text messages across every locale where you have customers, you have to add in the cost of resends. Similarly, with voice calls, poor connections can require people to hang up and try again. You pay for every voice call made and received, so if you need multiple attempts to get a clear line as a result of poor quality, the costs increase quickly. Lower quality also leads to higher customer support costs.

Plivo emphasizes connection quality because our customers demand reliable, high-quality routes. Over the past decade we’ve built a premium communications network that none of our competitors can match, thanks to direct partnerships with Tier 1 carrier networks all across the globe. We rely on high-quality local carriers, and don’t try to cut costs by using cheaper aggregators that exploit lower-quality routes. Low latency and high reliability mean your messages and voice calls need fewer retries than with other CPaaS alternatives.

Our direct partnerships and strong carrier relationships also let us lower costs, because the volume of traffic we send across our partners networks enables them to charge lower rates, and the savings we receive are reflected in the rates we offer.

It works for Deckers

Plivo customer Deckers Brands has seen how well Plivo can save an organization money. In an effort to lower support costs, the footwear giant built an application that texted customers to let them know where their orders were every step of the way. Adopting Plivo was nearly seamless — with a simple API and great documentation,​ implementing Plivo only took a week, says Jacob Martinez, project manager for Deckers’ ecommerce team.

With better communication, the company succeeded in reducing its support costs. The average cost per contact, Martinez says, is less than half of one percent of the cost of telephone contact, and track-package calls have decreased between 15 and 20% year-over-year since the launch of SMS delivery status notification. Using SMS to preempt those calls has paid for itself many times over.

What’s better than low cost? No cost!

What better way to manage costs at scale than to have no cost? In countries where receiving SMS messages is supported, Plivo lets businesses get incoming text messages for free. Unit costs of zero scale very well.

We also offer free trial accounts, and even give prospective customers usage credits so they can try building applications for any use case.

What’s the bottom line?

If two solutions can meet their needs, people generally decide between them on the basis of cost. Plivo is a cost-effective solution for small, midsize, and enterprise businesses because it helps them manage costs as their usage scales up. After a one-time migration project (and we make migration easy) you can be banking savings every month on your voice and SMS communications.

For more information on Plivo’s advantages, read our other Lessons in CPaaS Leadership blog posts: Find out why reliability, a strong carrier network, consultative customer support, and feature parity with Twilio make Plivo stand out among cloud communications platforms.

Migrating your Python SMS app from Twilio to Plivo is a seamless and painless process. The two companies’ API structures, implementation mechanisms, XML structure, SMS message processing, and voice call processing are similar. We wrote this technical comparison so that you can scope between Twilio and Plivo APIs for a seamless migration.

Understanding the differences between Twilio and Plivo development

Most of the APIs and features that are available on Twilio are also available on Plivo and the implementation mechanism is easier as the steps involved are almost identical. This table gives a side-side comparison of the two companies’ features and APIs. An added advantage with Plivo is that not only can you code using the old familiar API/XML method, you can also implement your use cases using PHLO (Plivo High Level Objects), a visual workflow builder that lets you create workflows by dragging and dropping components onto a canvas — no coding required.

Plivo offers one unique advantage: Not only can you code using APIs and XML, you can also implement your use cases using PHLO (Plivo High Level Objects), a visual workflow builder that lets you create workflows by dragging and dropping components onto a canvas — no coding required.

Plivo account creation

Start by signing up for a free trial account that you can use to experiment with and learn about our services. The free trial account comes with free credits, and you can add more as you go along. You can also add a phone number to your account to start testing the full range of our voice and SMS features. A page in our support portal walks you through the signup process.

You can also port your numbers from Twilio to Plivo, as we explain in this guide.

Migrating your Python SMS application

You can migrate your existing application from Twilio to Plivo by refactoring the code, or you can try our intuitive visual workflow builder PHLO. To continue working with the APIs, use one of the quickstart guides to set up a development environment for your preferred language. Plivo offers server SDKs in seven languages: Python, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, Ruby, and Go. For another alternative that lets you evaluate Plivo’s SMS APIs and their request and response structure, use our Postman collections.

How to send an SMS message

Let’s take a look at the process of refactoring the code to migrate your app from Twilio to Plivo to set up a simple Python application to send an SMS message by changing just a few lines of code.

import os
from twilio.rest import Client

account_sid =
os.environ["TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID"]
auth_token =
os.environ["TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN"]
client = Client(account_sid, auth_token)

message = client.messages.create(
    body="Hi there", 
    from_=" 15017122661", 
    to=" 15558675310"
)

print(message)
   

import os, plivo

auth_id =
os.environ["PLIVO_AUTH_ID"]
auth_token =
os.environ["PLIVO_AUTH_TOKEN"]
client = plivo.RestClient(auth_id, auth_token)

message = client.messages.create(
    src="+14151234567",
    dst="+14157654321",
    text="Hi there",
)
print(message)

Alternatively, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. For example, if you want to send an SMS message, your PHLO would be this:

How to receive and reply to SMS

You can migrate an application for receiving and replying to an incoming SMS from Twilio to Plivo just as seamlessly, as in this example:

from flask import Flask, request, redirect
from twilio.twiml.messaging_response
import MessagingResponse

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route("/reply_sms", methods=
["GET", "POST"])
def sms_reply():
    """Respond to incoming calls with a simple
    text message."""
    # Start our TwiML response
    resp = MessagingResponse()

    # Add a message
    resp.message("Thank you, we have 
received your request.")
    
    return str(resp)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(debug=True)
   

from flask import Flask, request,
make_response, Response
from plivo import plivoxml

app = Flask(__name__)


@app.route("/reply_sms",
methods=["GET", "POST"])
def sms_reply():

    from_number = request.values.get("From")
    to_number = request.values.get("To")
    text = request.values.get("Text")
    
    # Plivo Message XML to handle Reply
    response = plivoxml.ResponseElement()
    response.add(
        plivoxml.MessageElement(
            "Thank you, we have received your
            request.", 
            src=to_number, 
            dst=from_number
        )
    )
    
    return Response(response.to_string(),
    mimetype="application/xml")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(debug=True)

Here again, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. Your PHLO would look like:

For more information about migrating your SMS applications to Plivo, check out our detailed use case guides, available for all seven programming languages and PHLO.

How to send an MMS message

Let’s take a look at the process of refactoring the code to migrate your app from Twilio to Plivo to set up a simple Python application to send an MMS message by changing just a few lines of code.

import os
from twilio.rest import Client

account_sid = os.environ['TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID']
auth_token = os.environ['TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN']
client = Client(account_sid, auth_token)

message = client.messages.create(
    body='This is the ship that made the Kessel Run in fourteen parsecs?',
    from_='+15017122661',
    media_url=
['https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2899/14341091933_1e92e62d12_b.jpg'],
    to='+15558675310')
print(message)
   

import os, plivo

auth_id = os.environ["PLIVO_AUTH_ID"]
auth_token = os.environ["PLIVO_AUTH_TOKEN"]
client = plivo.RestClient(auth_id, auth_token)

message = client.messages.create(
    src='+14151234567',
    dst='+14157654321',
    text='hey there!',
    media_urls=
['https://media.giphy.com/media/26gscSULUcfKU7dHq/source.gif'],
    type_='mms')
print(message)

Alternatively, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. For example, if you want to send an MMS message, your PHLO would be this:

More use cases

You can migrate your applications serving other use cases too.

• Two-factor authentication
• Forward incoming SMS
• Delivery reports
• SMS alerts
• SMS marketing
• SMS notifications
• SMS survey
• SMS autoresponder
• Forward SMS to email
• Receive MMS

Simple and reliable

And that’s all there is to migrate your Python SMS app from Twilio to Plivo. Our simple APIs work in tandem with our Premium Communications Network to guarantee the highest possible delivery rates and the shortest possible delivery times for your SMS messages. See for yourself — sign up for a free trial account.

Plivo co-founder and CEO Venky B. spoke during a recent online summit about voice-enabled experiences. The event was sponsored by speech-to-text platform Deepgram, which provides speech APIs to deliver AI-enhanced transcription.

Deepgram CEO and Co-Founder Scott Stephenson started the event with a keynote in which he pointed out that voice can bring people together during these days when we’re all staying apart. He noted the value of AI to handle tasks and save expensive human time for uses for which humans are best suited. You can check out the recording of the event for his discussion on the relative ease of labeling images, which is a mature technology, and extracting insights from audio.

Some of the difficulties with speech recognition up until now that Stephenson noted included one-size-fits-all speech models that don’t take into account specific use cases, such as a company’s product names or industry acronyms, and may be challenged by things like accents and background noise. Customers can’t improve the accuracy of these off-the-shelf models. AI-assisted technology like Deepgram’s can train models to perform better — and better performance, meaning both speed and accuracy, matters for downstream tasks. And to be useful, actions have to be repeatable, which means they have to be cost-effective.

The roundtable Venky participated in was the first of three during the summit, and focused on the potential for voice technology and voice data. Moderator Dan Miller, Lead Analyst and Founder of Opus Research, hosted the panel, which also included

• Pete Ellis — Chief Product Officer, Red Box
• Shadi Baqleh — Chief Operating Officer, Deepgram
• Ted McKenna — SVP, Research and Innovation, Tethr

Venky noted that we’re seeing more adoption of voice for sales and customer use cases. In the post-COVID world there’s been huge acceleration around voice interactions, voice transcription, and voice analytics.

Miller cited an Opus Research survey that confirmed a trend toward real-time transcription use cases. Ellis noted that real-time transcription for sales and agent assistance has exploded in the last four months.

Baqleh said that over the last five or six months, half of Deepgram’s opportunities have involved real-time assistance. He cited as an example the benefit of immediate close-captioning for meetings that involve remote workers, and he pointed out that people are now more willing to be recorded than they were before the pandemic.

Ellis raised contact centers as an example, pointing out that there can be about 50 pieces of metadata per call for contact center agents. Getting a company to adopt voice transcriptions and perform analysis on them is a challenge because people don’t know what they don’t know, he said.

Venky agreed that agent assist is a huge use (which, though it didn’t come up, is part of the reason for Plivo’s new Contacto contact center platform). He pointed out the potential benefit of tagging and categorizing conversations and using support conversation information to inform marketing and sales initiatives. McKenna agreed with the value of “closed-loop actions” post conversations — taking steps to make sure customers are happy. Miller also pointed out the value of detecting in real time whether agents have fallen out of compliance with some mandated compliance practice.

Moderator Miller then wondered whether, given user acceptance of chatbots over the last few years, there were implications for voicebots. Venky said, “We’re seeing hybrid interactions. Internally we call this Jarvis. How do we augment customer assists, even if there’s a human being in the interaction — then how do we take this intelligence back and feed it into the bots?”

McKenna brought up the trend toward automating rote tasks in customer interactions, but asked, “Is it for them or for us? Do customers prefer that? I think that’s an open question.”

Baqleh said, “I think it’s both.” He said if you can involve AI into conversation and workflow you’re better off. You’ll have more efficient and faster ways to have customer responses and solve customer problems. The more you can help customers with their personal workflows, he said, the better off you are.

How to start exploiting voice technology

In the final part of the discussion, all the participants agreed that voice technology today is scalable and reliable, and each suggested a good way to start using it.

Ellis said you start by capturing information and putting it into a format that’s usable. Then you can figure out what you can do with it. You can use it to see how your company is dealing with its customers.

Baqleh said that if companies don’t start doing that now they’re going to fall behind. But, he suggested, “don’t boil the ocean” — pick one use case, win at that, then expand.

McKenna agreed, saying customer disloyalty is the place to start. Businesses should look for ways to improve situations with unhappy customers.

With the final word, Venky suggested picking a use case with a high ROI, so if you execute well it will have the most impact.

To close the session, Miller pointed out that voice technology isn’t just a call center story. It’s useful across the whole organization. Multiple touchpoints can benefit from the ingestion of all conversations and treating that information as valuable input.

Migrating from Twilio to Plivo is a seamless and painless process. The two companies’ API structures, implementation mechanisms, XML structure, SMS message processing, and voice call processing are similar. We wrote this technical comparison between Twilio and Plivo APIs so that you can scope the code changes for a seamless migration.

Understanding the differences between Twilio and Plivo development

Most of the APIs and features that are available on Twilio are also available on Plivo and the implementation mechanism is easier as the steps involved are almost identical. This table gives a side-side comparison of the two companies’ features and APIs. An added advantage with Plivo is that not only can you code using the old familiar API/XML method, you can also implement your use cases using PHLO (Plivo High Level Objects), a visual workflow builder that lets you create workflows by dragging and dropping components onto a canvas — no coding required.

Plivo account creation

Start by signing up for a free trial account that you can use to experiment with and learn about our services. The free trial account comes with free credits, and you can add more as you go along. You can also add a phone number to your account to start testing the full range of our voice and SMS features. A page in our support portal walks you through the signup process.

You can also port your numbers from Twilio to Plivo, as we explain in this guide.

Migrating your Voice application

As mentioned earlier, you can migrate your existing application from Twilio to Plivo by refactoring the code, or you can try our intuitive visual workflow builder PHLO. If you prefer the API approach, you can follow one of the voice quickstart guides based on your preferred language and web framework. Plivo offers server SDKs in seven languages: PHP, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, Ruby, and Go. For another alternative that lets you evaluate Plivo’s SMS APIs and their request and response structure, use our Postman collections.

How to make an outbound call

Let’s take a look at the process of refactoring the code to migrate your app from Twilio to Plivo to set up a simple PHP application to make an outbound call by changing just a few lines of code.

<?php
require_once '/path/to/vendor/autoload.php';
use Twilio\Rest\Client;
$sid = getenv("TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID");
$token = getenv("TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN");
$twilio = new Client($sid, $token);
$call = $twilio->calls->create(
   "+14155551212", // to
   "+15017122661", // from
  ["url" => "http://demo.twilio.com/docs
/classic.mp3"]);
print ($call->sid);

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';
use Plivo\RestClient;
$authId = getenv("PLIVO_AUTH_ID");
$authToken = getenv("PLIVO_AUTH_TOKEN");
$client = new RestClient($authId, $authToken);
$response = $client->calls->create(
   '<caller_id>', 
   ['<destination_number>'], 
   'https://s3.amazonaws.com
/static.plivo.com/answer.xml',
   );
print_r($response);

Alternatively, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. For example, if you want to make an outbound call, your PHLO would be this:

How to receive an incoming call

You can migrate an application for receiving and handling an incoming call from Twilio to Plivo just as seamlessly, as in this example:

<?php
require_once '/path/to/vendor/autoload.php';
use Twilio\TwiML\VoiceResponse;

$response = new VoiceResponse;
$response->say(
"Hello, you just received your first call", array(
    'voice' => 'alice'
));
print $response;

<?php
require '../vendor/autoload.php';
use Plivo\XML\Response;

$response = new Response();
$speak_body =
"Hello, you just received your first call";
$response->addSpeak($speak_body);

Header('Content-type: text/xml');
echo ($response->toXML());
?>

Here again, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. Your PHLO would look like:

For more information about migrating your Voice applications to Plivo, check out our detailed use case guides, available for all seven programming languages and PHLO.

How to forward an incoming call

You can migrate an application for forwarding an incoming call from Twilio to Plivo just as seamlessly, as in this example:

<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Twilio\TwiML\VoiceResponse;
class VoiceController extends Controller
{
    public function forwardCall()
    {
        $response = new VoiceResponse();
        $response->dial('415-555-4567');
        $response->say('Goodbye');
        Header('Content-type: text/xml');
        echo $response;
    }
}

<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
require '../../vendor/autoload.php';
use Plivo\XML\Response;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
class VoiceController extends Controller
{
    public function forwardCall()
    {
        $response = new Response();
        $dial = $response->addDial();
        $dial->addNumber("14155554567");
        Header('Content-type: text/xml');
        echo $response->toXML();
    }
}

Here again, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. Your PHLO would look like:

For more information about migrating your Voice applications to Plivo, check out our detailed use case guides, available for all seven programming languages and PHLO.

More use cases

You can migrate your applications serving various other use cases too.

• IVR
• Voice-controlled virtual assistant
• Number masking
• Supervisor coaching
• PINless conference
• Conference with PIN
• Voicemail
• Voice alerts broadcasting
• Voice survey
• Dial status reporting
• Screen incoming calls
• Record a call

Simple and reliable

And that’s all there is to migrate your PHP Voice app from Twilio to Plivo either using Plivo’s PHP SDK or PHLO. Our simple APIs work in tandem with our Premium Communications Network. See for yourself — sign up for a free trial account.

Migrating your PHP SMS app from Twilio to Plivo is a seamless and painless process. The two companies’ API structures, implementation mechanisms, XML structure, SMS message processing, and voice call processing are similar. We wrote this technical comparison so that you can scope between Twilio and Plivo APIs for a seamless migration.

Understanding the differences between Twilio and Plivo development

Most of the APIs and features that are available on Twilio are also available on Plivo and the implementation mechanism is easier as the steps involved are almost identical. This table gives a side-side comparison of the two companies’ features and APIs. An added advantage with Plivo is that not only can you code using the old familiar API/XML method, you can also implement your use cases using PHLO (Plivo High Level Objects), a visual workflow builder that lets you create workflows by dragging and dropping components onto a canvas — no coding required.

Plivo offers one unique advantage: Not only can you code using APIs and XML, you can also implement your use cases using PHLO (Plivo High Level Objects), a visual workflow builder that lets you create workflows by dragging and dropping components onto a canvas — no coding required.

Plivo account creation

Start by signing up for a free trial account that you can use to experiment with and learn about our services. The free trial account comes with free credits, and you can add more as you go along. You can also add a phone number to your account to start testing the full range of our voice and SMS features. A page in our support portal walks you through the signup process.

You can also port your numbers from Twilio to Plivo, as we explain in this guide.

Migrating your PHP SMS application

You can migrate your existing application from Twilio to Plivo by refactoring the code, or you can try our intuitive visual workflow builder PHLO. To continue working with the APIs, use one of the quickstart guides to set up a development environment for your preferred language. Plivo offers server SDKs in seven languages: PHP, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, Ruby, and Go. For another alternative that lets you evaluate Plivo’s SMS APIs and their request and response structure, use our Postman collections.

How to send an SMS message

Let’s take a look at the process of refactoring the code to migrate your app from Twilio to Plivo to set up a simple PHP application to send an SMS message by changing just a few lines of code.

<?php
require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';
use Twilio\Rest\Client;
$account_sid =
getenv('TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID');
$auth_token =
getenv('TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN');
$twilio_number = "<destination_number>";
$client = new Client($account_sid, $auth_token);
$client->messages->create( 
    '<source_number>' , 
    array(
    'from' => $twilio_number,
    'body' => 'Hello'
));
                  

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';
use Plivo\RestClient;
$authId = getenv('PLIVO_AUTH_ID');
$authToken = getenv('PLIVO_AUTH_TOKEN');
$client = new RestClient($authId, $authToken);
$response = $client->messages->create(
        [
            "src" => "<source_number>", 
            "dst" => "<destination_number>", 
            "text" => "Hello", 
        ]);
print_r($response);
?>
            

Alternatively, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. For example, if you want to send an SMS message, your PHLO would be this:

How to receive and reply to SMS

You can migrate an application for receiving and replying to an incoming SMS from Twilio to Plivo just as seamlessly, as in this example:

<?php
require_once "vendor/autoload.php";
use Twilio\TwiML\MessagingResponse;
header("content-type: text/xml");
$response = new MessagingResponse();
$response->message("Hello");
echo $response;
            

<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
require '../../vendor/autoload.php';
use Plivo\RestClient;
use Plivo\XML\Response;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
class SMSController extends Controller
{
    public function forwardsms()
    {
        $number = $_POST["From"];
        $to = $_POST["To"];
        $text = $_POST["Text"];
        $response = new Response();
        $params = array(
            'src' => <to_number> ,
            'dst' => <from_number> ,
        );
        $message_body = "Hello";
        $response->addMessage($message_body, 
        $params);
        Header('Content-type: text/xml');
        return $response->toXML();
    }
}
            

Here again, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. Your PHLO would look like:

For more information about migrating your SMS applications to Plivo, check out our detailed use case guides, available for all seven programming languages and PHLO.

How to send an MMS message

Let’s take a look at the process of refactoring the code to migrate your app from Twilio to Plivo to set up a simple PHP application to send an MMS message by changing just a few lines of code.

<?php 
require_once '/path/to/vendor/autoload.php';
use Twilio\Rest\Client;
$sid = getenv("TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID");
$token = getenv("TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN");
$twilio = new Client($sid, $token);
$message = $twilio->messages->create(
    "<destination_number>", 
        [
            "body" => "Hello",
            "from" => "<source_number>", 
            "mediaUrl" => ["https://c1.staticflickr
     .com/3/2899/14341091933_1e92e62d12_b.jpg"]
        ]
        );
print($message->sid);
   

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';
use Plivo\RestClient;
$authId = getenv('PLIVO_AUTH_ID');
$authToken = getenv('PLIVO_AUTH_TOKEN');
$client = new RestClient($authId, $authToken);
$response = $client->messages->create([
        "src" => "<source_number>", 
        "dst" => "<destination_number>", 
        "text" => "Hello", 
        "type" => "mms", 
        "media_urls" => ["https://media.giphy.
com/media/26gscSULUcfKU7dHq/source.gif"], 
        "media_ids" => ["801c2056-33ab-
499c-80ef-58b574a462a2"], 
        ]);
print_r($response);
?>
            

Alternatively, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. For example, if you want to send an MMS message, your PHLO would be this:

More use cases

You can migrate your applications serving other use cases too.

• Two-factor authentication
• Forward incoming SMS
• Delivery reports
• SMS alerts
• SMS marketing
• SMS notifications
• SMS survey
• SMS autoresponder
• Forward SMS to email
• Receive MMS

Simple and reliable

And that’s all there is to migrate your PHP SMS app from Twilio to Plivo either using Plivo’s PHP SDK or PHLO. Our simple APIs work in tandem with our Premium Communications Network to guarantee the highest possible delivery rates and the shortest possible delivery times for your SMS messages. See for yourself — sign up for a free trial account.

The foundation of any strategic communications is “right time, right place, right message.” A notoriously difficult challenge made somewhat simpler by the technology available to us today.

Contacto’s mission is to enable omnichannel customer communications with a personal touch — especially in a time when human connection is so important. We’ve come up with this list of 10 communications priorities to help you meet new and changing customer expectations, so you can provide a better customer experience and enhance loyalty.

Keep in touch

82% of U.S. consumers want more of the human element in their interactions with agents. That requires open lines of communication, across your audience’s preferred digital channels.

Omnichannel is best

The last two decades have seen a proliferation of new communications channels, from the rise of SMS/MMS, to social media, and now nearly ubiquitous mobile phone and mobile app usage. Your customers are everywhere — and they’d like you to be, too, because it’s more convenient that way. They want you to be there when they need you.

Offer self-service

Research from customer service expert Shep Hyken found that 67% of respondents use digital self-service tools, including AI-powered chat agents, and 41% said they prefer them. While there’s still a large percentage that prefers live agents, self-service can siphon off the low-touch enquiries to give agents more time to handle live interactions.

Be nimble

Over the last two years, amidst constantly changing conditions, agility has become a real competitive advantage. A proactive notification can keep customers in the loop when things are changing fast.

Consider CDC guidance that may lead to store closings or openings, demand-side shifts shaking up forecasting, and supply chain woes impacting inventory levels and fulfillment. Brands had to communicate fast and transparently.

Get the channel right

First, let’s be clear — omnichannel doesn’t mean every channel. Different consumer demographics, different business models, and different verticals all have unique needs — and brands will have a specific face they want to show to the world. That should all impact your channel mix. Plus, get to know what customer interaction types work best on which channels, so you can guide consumers to convenient customer journeys with the lowest friction.

Follow best practices

Omnichannel isn’t a whole new form of customer service. Classic best practices still apply here, in many cases. Even more so, perhaps, because an omnichannel contact center is so well suited to optimizing for metrics like first contact resolution, average response time, and measuring customer satisfaction.

Be dynamic

What’s convenient or most effective for one customer may be ineffective — or even inaccessible — for another. Being dynamic means that you can switch communication channels mid-conversation without losing the thread, to give your customer base a convenient and flexible journey to resolution.

Have a reliable backup

On Oct. 4, 2021, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp were down for the better part of a day. Back in December 2020, Gmail users were unable to fully access services on two separate occasions, over two days.

Outages happen, but if you’re in a competitive market, you don’t want a single minute of downtime to knock you off balance. Giving your audience more than one way to contact your customer service team creates redundancy that ensures you meet your customers’ needs when they need you

Carrier network matters

If you want to create great customer experiences, you can’t take carrier quality for granted.

Contacto is powered by Plivo’s Premium Communications Network. In Plivo’s 10 years, they learned that reliability depended upon building their own network of high-quality carriers, and that:

• Strong technology and infrastructure alone cannot compensate for poor carrier network quality.
• Relying on aggregators is not a good way to ensure carrier network quality.
• Building a premium carrier network requires redundancy.
• The infrastructure and technology layer all need to have the same commitment to quality.
• No provider can build a quality carrier network overnight.

Our advice to you: Be proactive and don’t accept carrier network quality as a given.

Choose a vendor that’s committed to your success

Using a cloud platform for communication services beats maintaining your own infrastructure. With a cloud contact center, you don’t need to buy and maintain expensive equipment, or handle carrier relationships in-house. You also don’t need expensive expert developers to keep the software updated.

Look for a vendor that minimizes complexity and  makes your success their priority, as Contacto does.

Ensuring customer success

Our commitment to our customers doesn’t end once they’re up and running. To help you get the most from us, we want to know about your business and how you use Contacto. Our customer success team has a great track record of keeping customers happy. They’re one of our not-so-secret weapons in our mission to provide superlative customer experience.

Our relationships carry the day

With telecommunications, not all problems come from the customer side of the connection. Often businesses have issues with carrier networks and connectivity, but we’re here to deal with the carriers to fix things

Need help bringing it all together?

Contacto offers an easy-to-use way to deliver streamlined, omnichannel customer service. It integrates with your existing business systems to give customer service teams all the data they need, from a single pane of glass. Read more about Contacto’s channels and features.

Migrating from Twilio to Plivo is a seamless and painless process. The two companies’ API structures, implementation mechanisms, XML structure, SMS message processing, and voice call processing are similar. We wrote this technical comparison between Twilio and Plivo APIs so that you can scope the code changes for a seamless migration.

Understanding the differences between Twilio and Plivo development

Most of the APIs and features that are available on Twilio are also available on Plivo and the implementation mechanism is easier as the steps involved are almost identical. This table gives a side-side comparison of the two companies’ features and APIs. An added advantage with Plivo is that not only can you code using the old familiar API/XML method, you can also implement your use cases using PHLO (Plivo High Level Objects), a visual workflow builder that lets you create workflows by dragging and dropping components onto a canvas — no coding required.

Plivo account creation

Start by signing up for a free trial account that you can use to experiment with and learn about our services. The free trial account comes with free credits, and you can add more as you go along. You can also add a phone number to your account to start testing the full range of our voice and SMS features. A page in our support portal walks you through the signup process.

You can also port your numbers from Twilio to Plivo, as we explain in this guide.

Migrating your voice application

As mentioned earlier, you can migrate your existing application from Twilio to Plivo by refactoring the code, or you can try our intuitive visual workflow builder PHLO. If you prefer the API approach, you can follow one of the voice quickstart guides based on your preferred language and web framework. Plivo offers server SDKs in seven languages: PHP, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, Ruby, and Go. For another alternative that lets you evaluate Plivo’s SMS APIs and their request and response structure, use our Postman collections.

How to make an outbound call

Let’s take a look at the process of refactoring the code to migrate your app from Twilio to Plivo to set up a simple Node.js application to make an outbound call by changing just a few lines of code.

const accountSid 
= process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID;
const authToken =
process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN;
const
client 
=
require('twilio')(accountSid,
authToken);

client.calls.create(
   {
      url:
      'http://demo.twilio.com/docs/voice.xml',
      to: 
      '+14155551212',
      from:
      '+15017122661'
    })
    .then(call
    => 
    console.log(call.sid));

const 
plivo 
= 
require('plivo');
const 
authId =
process.env.PLIVO_AUTH_ID;
const authToken
=
process.env.PLIVO_AUTH_TOKEN;
const client
=
new
plivo.Client(authId, 
authToken);
client.calls.create(
"+14151234567", // from
"+15671234567", // to
// answer_url
"https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.plivo.com/",
{
   answerMethod: "GET",
},
).then(function(response) {
    console.log(response);
});

Alternatively, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. For example, if you want to make an outbound call, your PHLO would be this:

How to receive an incoming call

You can migrate an application for receiving and handling an incoming call from Twilio to Plivo just as seamlessly, as in this example:

const express = require('express');
const VoiceResponse =
require('twilio').twiml.VoiceResponse;

const app = express();

app.post('/voice', (request, response) => {
    const twiml = new VoiceResponse();
    twiml.say({
        voice: 'alice'
    }, 'hello world!');

    response.type('text/xml');
    response.send(twiml.toString());
});
app.listen(3000, () => {
    console.log(
        'Now listening on port 3000. ' +
        'Be sure to restart when you make code
        changes!'
    );
});

var plivo = require('plivo');
var express = require('express');
var app = express();

app.all('/receive_call/', function(req, res) {
    var response = plivo.Response();
    var speak_body = "Hello, you just received
    your first call";
    response.addSpeak(speak_body);
    res.writeHead(200, {
        'Content-Type': 'text/xml'
    });
    res.end(response.toXML());
})

app.set('port', (process.env.PORT || 5000));
app.listen(app.get('port'), function() {
    console.log('Node app is running on
    port', app.get('port'));
});

Here again, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. Your PHLO would look like:

For more information about migrating your Voice applications to Plivo, check out our detailed use case guides, available for all seven programming languages and PHLO.

How to forward an incoming call

You can migrate an application for forwarding an incoming call from Twilio to Plivo just as seamlessly, as in this example:

Here again, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. Your PHLO would look like:

For more information about migrating your Voice applications to Plivo, check out our detailed use case guides, available for all seven programming languages and PHLO.

More use cases

You can migrate your applications serving other use cases too.

• IVR
• Voice-controlled virtual assistant
• Number masking
• Supervisor coaching
• PINless conference
• Conference with PIN
• Voicemail
• Voice alerts broadcasting
• Voice survey
• Dial status reporting
• Screen incoming calls
• Record a call

Simple and reliable

And that’s all there is to migrate your Node.js voice app from Twilio to Plivo. Our simple APIs work in tandem with our Premium Communications Network. See for yourself — sign up for a free trial account.

Migrating your Node.js SMS app from Twilio to Plivo is a seamless and painless process. The two companies’ API structures, implementation mechanisms, XML structure, SMS message processing, and voice call processing are similar. We wrote this technical comparison so that you can scope between Twilio and Plivo APIs for a seamless migration.

Understanding the differences between Twilio and Plivo development

Most of the APIs and features that are available on Twilio are also available on Plivo and the implementation mechanism is easier as the steps involved are almost identical. This table gives a side-side comparison of the two companies’ features and APIs. An added advantage with Plivo is that not only can you code using the old familiar API/XML method, you can also implement your use cases using PHLO (Plivo High Level Objects), a visual workflow builder that lets you create workflows by dragging and dropping components onto a canvas — no coding required.

Plivo offers one unique advantage: Not only can you code using APIs and XML, you can also implement your use cases using PHLO (Plivo High Level Objects), a visual workflow builder that lets you create workflows by dragging and dropping components onto a canvas — no coding required.

Plivo account creation

Start by signing up for a free trial account that you can use to experiment with and learn about our services. The free trial account comes with free credits, and you can add more as you go along. You can also add a phone number to your account to start testing the full range of our voice and SMS features. A page in our support portal walks you through the signup process.

You can also port your numbers from Twilio to Plivo, as we explain in this guide.

Migrating your Node.js SMS application

You can migrate your existing application from Twilio to Plivo by refactoring the code, or you can try our intuitive visual workflow builder PHLO. To continue working with the APIs, use one of the quickstart guides to set up a development environment for your preferred language. Plivo offers server SDKs in seven languages: PHP, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, Ruby, and Go. For another alternative that lets you evaluate Plivo’s SMS APIs and their request and response structure, use our Postman collections.

How to send an SMS message

Let’s take a look at the process of refactoring the code to migrate your app from Twilio to Plivo to set up a simple Node.js application to send an SMS message by changing just a few lines of code.

const accountSid = process.env.
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID;
const authToken = process.env.
TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN;
const client = require('twilio')(
accountSid, authToken);

client.messages
  .create({
     from: '<source_number>',
     to: '<destination_number>',
     body: 'Hello'
   })
  .then(message => console.log(message.sid));
   

const plivo = require('plivo');

const client = new plivo.Client
("<auth_id>", "<auth_token>");
response = client.messages.create(
      { 
          src: "<source_number>", 
          dst: "<destination_number>",
          text: "Hello"
      }
      ).then(function (response) {
        console.log(response);
});

Alternatively, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. For example, if you want to send an SMS message, your PHLO would be this:

How to receive and reply to SMS

You can migrate an application for receiving and replying to an incoming SMS from Twilio to Plivo just as seamlessly, as in this example:

Here again, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. Your PHLO would look like:

For more information about migrating your SMS applications to Plivo, check out our detailed use case guides, available for all seven programming languages and PHLO.

How to send an MMS message

Let’s take a look at the process of refactoring the code to migrate your app from Twilio to Plivo to set up a simple Node.js application to send an MMS message by changing just a few lines of code.

const accountSid = process.env.
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID;
const authToken = process.env.
TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN;
const client = require('twilio')
(accountSid, authToken);

client.messages
  .create({
     from: '<source_number>',
     to: '<destination_number>',
     body: 'Hello',
     mediaUrl: ['https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2
     899/14341091933_1e92e62d12_b.jpg']
   })
  .then(message => console.log(message.sid));
});
   

var plivo = require('plivo');
(function main() {
    'use strict';
    var client = new plivo.Client("<auth_id>
    ", "<auth_token>");
    client.messages.create(
      { 
          src: "<source_number>", 
          dst: "<destination_number>",
          text: "Hello",
          type: "mms",
          media_urls: ["https://media.giphy
          .com/media/26gscSULUcfKU7dHq/source.gif"],
          media_ids: ["801c2056-33ab-499c-
          80ef-58b574a462a2"]
      }
      ).then(function (response) {
        console.log(response);
    });
})();

Alternatively, you can implement the same functionality using one of our PHLO templates. For example, if you want to send an MMS message, your PHLO would be this:

More use cases

You can migrate your applications serving various other use cases too.

• Two-factor authentication
• Forward incoming SMS
• Delivery reports
• SMS alerts
• SMS marketing
• SMS notifications
• SMS survey
• SMS autoresponder
• Forward SMS to email
• Receive MMS

Simple and reliable

And that’s all there is to migrate your Node.js SMS app from Twilio to Plivo. Our simple APIs work in tandem with our Premium Communications Network to guarantee the highest possible delivery rates and the shortest possible delivery times for your SMS messages. See for yourself — sign up for a free trial account.