SMS to phone call. Is a call center the best option?

August 14, 2013 11:50 AM

I'm looking for a service or program that will convert a SMS/text message into a phone call, approximately 100 times per month. When making the phone call, the service or program needs to navigate through a simple "press 2 for support, press 3 for sales" before relaying the contents of the SMS to person that answers the phone.

I've researched a few options and a call center/answering service seems easiest, but I feel like there must be a better way. If a call center is the best way -- holy cow are they a dime a dozen -- is there one service provider that stands out?

posted by Hermanos to Technology (5 answers total)

Two questions - can you pick what number the text is sent to, and is the phone menu the same every time?
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 12:20 PM on August 14, 2013

Depending on your (access to) technical know-how, you may be able to script a solution together with Twilio.
posted by katrielalex at 12:22 PM on August 14, 2013 [2 favorites]

You can almost certainly do a callback IVR with Twilio. Here's an example on their site doing this in response to a web click, but triggering via SMS would be only a little different.
posted by rhizome at 1:37 PM on August 14, 2013

Response by poster: @Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug - Yes, we control what number the text is sent to, and yes the phone menu is the same every time.

@ katrielalex and rhizome, thank you. I hadn't heard of Twilio. I'll dig into it.
posted by Hermanos at 2:06 PM on August 14, 2013

Yep, that's why I asked. Twilio or Tropo or the like would be perfect for this.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 2:40 PM on August 14, 2013