Personal IVR

A Personal Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System

Introduction

This goal of this project is to develop a personal Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system using Twilio and BaseX. Since the Twilio API uses TwiML to communicate with applications, it seemed natural to build a system with XQuery and a native XML database.

The application uses RESTXQ to handle incoming requests. Responses are all valid TwiML.

Functionality

Currently, the system authenticates users by their phone number. Obviously, this presents a problem if you call in from a different number. Once authenticated, users can select from the list of contacts and then opt either to call them or to send them a text message. A third option–to leave a message–is not yet implemented.

Configuration

The application requires two XML configuration files. These files should be placed in a BaseX database called "Twilio".

The first file ("auth.xml") contains your Twilio username, password, and phone number.

<auth xmlns="http://cliffordanderson.info/modules/twilio/auth">
    <userName>##################</userName>
    <password>##################</password>
    <phoneNumber>##########</phoneNumber>
</auth>

The second file ("ids.xml") contains the contact information of members of your IVR.

<ids xmlns="http://cliffordanderson.info/modules/twilio/contacts">
    <phone number="+1##########" option="1">
        <name>####</name>
    </phone>
    <phone number="+1##########" option="2">
        <name>####</name>
    </phone>
    <phone number="+1##########" option="3">
        <name>####</name>
    </phone>
    <phone number="+1##########" option="4">
        <name>####</name>
    </phone>
</ids>