twilio-voice-twiml

Overview

TwiML is XML that Twilio executes during a call. Your server returns a TwiML document in response to a Twilio webhook POST, and Twilio executes it.

Caller → Twilio → POST to your webhook → Your server returns TwiML → Twilio executes it

Prerequisites

• Twilio account with a voice-capable phone number — New to Twilio? See twilio-account-setup
• Webhook endpoint returning TwiML with Content-Type: text/xml
• SDK (for programmatic generation): pip install twilio / npm install twilio

Quickstart

A minimal inbound call handler that greets the caller and presents a menu:

Python (Flask)

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

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route("/voice", methods=["POST"])
def handle_call():
    response = VoiceResponse()
    gather = response.gather(num_digits=1, action="/menu-choice")
    gather.say("Welcome to Acme. Press 1 for sales, 2 for support.")
    response.redirect("/voice")  # Loop if no input
    return str(response)

@app.route("/menu-choice", methods=["POST"])
def menu_choice():
    digit = request.form.get("Digits")
    response = VoiceResponse()
    if digit == "1":
        response.dial("+15551234567")
    elif digit == "2":
        response.say("Connecting to support.")
        response.dial("+15559876543")
    else:
        response.say("Invalid option.")
        response.redirect("/voice")
    return str(response)

Node.js (Express)

const { VoiceResponse } = require("twilio").twiml;

app.post("/voice", (req, res) => {
    const response = new VoiceResponse();
    const gather = response.gather({ numDigits: 1, action: "/menu-choice" });
    gather.say("Welcome. Press 1 for sales, 2 for support.");
    response.redirect("/voice");
    res.type("text/xml").send(response.toString());
});

app.post("/menu-choice", (req, res) => {
    const digit = req.body.Digits;
    const response = new VoiceResponse();
    if (digit === "1") response.dial("+15551234567");
    else response.say("Invalid option.").redirect("/voice");
    res.type("text/xml").send(response.toString());
});