VoIP Drupalbuilding sites that answer calls,

send SMS, and more

Leo Burd MIT Center for Civic Media

MIT – 2012.03.07

Goals

• Help people understand what VoIP Drupal is

• Demonstrate examples of what it can do

• Highlight the benefits of the platform

• Invite you to join the fun – it takes a village to raise

a platform!

Acknowledgements

VoIP Drupal DevelopmentBen Bunk*, Blair McNeib*, Kester Edmonds, Tamer Zoubi

VoIP Drupal UXAdam Kalsey*, Andy Oram*, Hector Iribarne, Keith Casey Jr.*, Konstantin Ordoulidis*, Lee Vodra*, Mark J. Pearrow*, Micky Metts*, Owen Barton*

Note: volunteers names are marked with (*)

The future of the web rests on voice-enabled

apps accessible even from regular phones (1)

(1) http://www.fastcompany.com/1719453/tim-berners-lees-voice-enabled-internet-quest-in-africa

6Photo: Leo Burd (2005)

VoIP Drupal is…

A software platform that enables Drupal sites to

•Make and answer phone calls

•Play and record audio messages

•Send and receive SMS

•Organize conference calls

•Implement voice menus and call routing

•Run polls, surveys, and many more things

VoIP Drupal modules

How things work

VoIP Drupal modules

Dialplan scripting commands– Dial number– Say text or audio file– Record audio from phone– GetInput from keypad– JoinConference– RejectCall– Hangup– SendText number, message– RunIvrMenu options

– Goto label– GotoIf label, condition– Gosub script name

$script = new VoipScript('hello_world');$script->addSay('hello world');$script->addHangup();

Hello world

$script = new VoipScript('voipscript_small_office_ivr'); $script->addSay(t('Welcome to our office hotline.’)); $script->addLabel(‘office_menu’);$options_menu = t(‘For sales, dial 1. For customer support, dial 2. For hours of operation, dial 3. To hang up, dial the star key.’);$input_options = array( ‘1’ => ‘sales’, ‘2’ => ‘customer support’, ‘3’ => ‘hours’, ‘*’ => ‘hang up’, ‘I’ => ‘hang up’, ‘t’ => ‘hang up’);$invalid_msg = t(‘Invalid option selected.’);$script->addRunIvrMenu($options_menu, $input_options, $invalid_msg);$script->addGoto(‘%ivr_option_selected’); $script->addLabel(‘sales’);$script->addSay(‘Sales department’);$script->addGoto(‘hang up’); $script->addLabel(‘customer support’);$script->addSay(t(‘Customer support department’));$script->addGoto(‘hang up’); $script->addLabel(‘hours’);$script->addSay(t(‘Our office is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.’));$script->addGoto(‘office_menu’); $script->addLabel(‘hang up’);$script->addSay(t(‘Thanks so much for calling our office. Bye bye.'));$script->addHangup(); 

Office hotline

SameBoat South Wood County, Wisconsin

Potential Outreach

Population

45,803200 community organizations

Signs located at: Walmart Job Center Food Pantry

PDF Bulletins: Buyers Guide Job Center Food Pantry

Community Hotline715-952-9020

Potential VoIP Drupal applications• Go Out to Vote campaigns• 2-1-1 and 3-1-1 community hotlines• Call centers• Phone- and SMS-based surveys• Group communication• Story recording / playback• Audio speed dating services• Language training• Audio tours• Adventure games

• Interactive community radio programs

• Emergency announcements

• And much more!

Key benefits of the platform

• Facilitates the construction of unified communications systems integrating SMS, email, web, and voice

• Makes Drupal accessible from any phone – no data plan required!

• Enables the expansion of “community plumbing” beyond the web

• Is open source and free – you are in control

Benefits for administrators

• Easy installation and configuration – no programming required

• Fully customizable – enable only the features you need

• Run as part of the Drupal system itself

– Enable access to VoIP Drupal features using roles and permissions

– Assign Rules, Actions and Triggers

• Enhance user interaction with ready-to-use audio blogs, click-to-call fields, phone recorders, audio announcements, etc.

Benefits for developers

• Well defined API that can be extended to other VoIP services

• 20+ sample scripts that can be customized

• 20+ modules that already implement common functionality – no need to reinvent the wheel

• Simple, yet powerful PHP-like scripting language with a short learning curve

• Visual programming language for novice developers and fast prototyping

Future directions

• VoIP Drupal 1.0

• What’s Up and other VoIP apps

• Drupal 7 port

• Visual VoIP Drupal

• Integration with Drupal Commons, CiviCRM, OpenScholar, Open

Atrium and other systems

• Expand beyond MIT

Visual VoIP Drupal

Ways to get involved

• Join http://groups.drupal.org/voip-drupal

• Play with script examples in the sandbox

• Create new modules; new sites

• Contribute code, documentation

• Organize meetups

• Help us spread the word!

Key take-aways

Much better understanding of

• What VoIP Drupal is

• How VoIP Drupal expands the power of computing beyond the browser

• Its potential uses for non-profit and for-profit organizations

• How to get started and where to find resources

– Sandbox

– Discussion group

– VoIP Drupal’s project page

Upcoming events

• 3/14 :: Impromptu hands-on session with Micky on how to set up VoIP Drupal and get it to say ‘hello‘

• 3/20-23 :: Drupal Con Denver

– Introductory and hands-on sessions (TBD)

– Twilio contest: http://bit.ly/xAlgpV

– Tropo hackaton: http://bit.ly/z9IrUs

• Biweekly web gatherings after that

leoburd@media.mit.edu

http://groups.drupal.org/voip-drupal

http://linkd.in/vIewAW

For additional information

Special thanks to