Live data from Hacker News

Twilio has an incredible API

callinwith.us

21–30 of 66 posts

Re: Twilio has an incredible API

#21
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trouble is offsetting the twilio bill. Getting money is the hardest UX problem ever, so I just decided to skip it as long as I can afford it haha

You might consider adding something like this: "This meeting cost me $3.45, which I'm paying out of my own pocket. Want to donate that amount? Click the Paypal button below. Thanks! -Jeff"

ooo! I love it! How could I communicate that though? I don't track emails. I COULD send an sms afterwards, but I don't have a good way to figure out who was the originator of the conference call.

Maybe I could just put a side note on the page saying how much the average meeting costs and asking for donations there?

Re: Twilio has an incredible API

#22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

premium number is audio advert free?

From a UX perspective, it'd be great, unfortunately getting advertisers hooked into their system would need much more work than it took to actually build the project in the first place. I was thinking of just putting it out for free until it got too expensive, then asking for donations and if that didn't make ends meet putting some restriction on such as advertisements or a time limit or something.

clearly your conference call gets rickrolled after 10 mins unless you call the premium no :P

Re: Twilio has an incredible API

#23
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can't monetize it, you can at least sell the source code as an enterprise solution -- i think there are many SMB would like to get this simple system in house.

Honestly, Twilio's API is so well done I don't believe my code is worth anything. However, it's available here: https://github.com/dickeytk/callinwithus for anyone to take a look at if they're curious how it works.

Remember, people don't pay for code, they pay for solutions to their problems. The amount they are happy to pay isn't related to the code, but to their problem.

If it's easy to write the code, you will (or might...) quickly have competitors, that's all. But since you couldn't find any, that might not be the case...

Re: Twilio has an incredible API

#24
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, Twilio's API is so well done I don't believe my code is worth anything. However, it's available here: https://github.com/dickeytk/callinwithus for anyone to take a look at if they're curious how it works.

Great that in 2 hours it is done that much code:)

Most of it is just what you get on a standard Rails app. The interesting stuff is right here: https://github.com/dickeytk/callinwithus/blob/master/app/con...

Re: Twilio has an incredible API

#25
post #7

I wish Twilio was available in the rest of the world though...

Take a look at Tropo — in my opinion it's better than Twilio, not least because scripts can be written in Ruby and hosted on Tropo, and has (or had) much better international support.

I do like that they don't charge dev rates, but it does cost 3x as much in production.

And twilio works great with ruby, callinwith.us is a rails app.

Although if I needed international support I guess that would be an issue. Being a naive American has some perks though.

Re: Twilio has an incredible API

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a UX perspective, it'd be great, unfortunately getting advertisers hooked into their system would need much more work than it took to actually build the project in the first place. I was thinking of just putting it out for free until it got too expensive, then asking for donations and if that didn't make ends meet putting some restriction on such as advertisements or a time limit or something.

clearly your conference call gets rickrolled after 10 mins unless you call the premium no :P

Maybe the rickroll could start out quiet but just get louder and the other callers get quieter until you pay!

Re: Twilio has an incredible API

#27
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can't monetize it, you can at least sell the source code as an enterprise solution -- i think there are many SMB would like to get this simple system in house.

Honestly, Twilio's API is so well done I don't believe my code is worth anything. However, it's available here: https://github.com/dickeytk/callinwithus for anyone to take a look at if they're curious how it works.

Thank you so much for sharing the code. <3

Re: Twilio has an incredible API

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take a look at Tropo — in my opinion it's better than Twilio, not least because scripts can be written in Ruby and hosted on Tropo, and has (or had) much better international support.

I do like that they don't charge dev rates, but it does cost 3x as much in production. And twilio works great with ruby, callinwith.us is a rails app. Although if I needed international support I guess that would be an issue. Being a naive American has some perks though.

We've got great coverage for voice in countries all over the world: http://www.twilio.com/pricing/international-calling-rates You can both call to those countries and receive calls from them. We also just recently added local numbers in the UK in beta (http://www.twilio.com/uk-voice), which is just touching on the surface of what will be coming outside the US.

You've got my email now so we can get international calling enabled for your account if you'd like. Just reply in our other thread and let me know.

Re: Twilio has an incredible API

#29
post #6

This is as simple is it gets.

Trouble is offsetting the twilio bill. Getting money is the hardest UX problem ever, so I just decided to skip it as long as I can afford it haha

Trouble is offsetting the twilio bill.

This is the least hard problem in startup-dom, because Twilio lets you solve Serious Problems for Serious Businesses and they are ecstatic to pay money for them. (P.S. In case it isn't obvious, don't charge based on what you're paying for Twilio. Underlying phone service: cheap. Application logic: expensive.)

There are a lot of one-week Twilio applications worth 5 or 6 figures to the right people.

Re: Twilio has an incredible API

#30
post #29
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trouble is offsetting the twilio bill. Getting money is the hardest UX problem ever, so I just decided to skip it as long as I can afford it haha

Trouble is offsetting the twilio bill. This is the least hard problem in startup-dom, because Twilio lets you solve Serious Problems for Serious Businesses and they are ecstatic to pay money for them. (P.S. In case it isn't obvious, don't charge based on what you're paying for Twilio. Underlying phone service: cheap. Application logic: expensive.) There are a lot of one-week Twilio applications worth 5 or 6 figures t…

I guess I feel that since it's SO simple and obvious it isn't worth anything. It was more of an itch I wanted to scratch, so I did.
Post reply on HN