Integrating Plivo into Ruby on Rails Application

Introduction

Plivo is a powerful cloud communications platform that enables developers to integrate voice and messaging capabilities into their applications seamlessly. In this guide, we’ll walk through the process of integrating Plivo into a Ruby on Rails application, allowing you to send SMS messages and make phone calls with ease.

Step 1: Sign Up for a Plivo Account

Before getting started, you’ll need to sign up for a Plivo account. Navigate to the Plivo website and sign up for an account. Once you’ve registered, you’ll have access to your Plivo API credentials, which you’ll need to authenticate requests to the Plivo API.

Step 2: Install Plivo Ruby Gem

To interact with the Plivo API from your Ruby on Rails application, you’ll need to install the Plivo Ruby gem. Add the following line to your Gemfile:

gem 'plivo'

# run bundle install

Step 3: Configure Plivo API Credentials

Next, you’ll need to configure your Plivo API credentials in your Rails application. You can do this by creating an initializer file (config/initializers/plivo.rb) and adding the following code:

# config/initializers/plivo.rb

Plivo.configure do |config|
  config.auth_id = 'your_plivo_auth_id'
  config.auth_token = 'your_plivo_auth_token'
end

Replace ‘your_plivo_auth_id’ and ‘your_plivo_auth_token’ with your actual Plivo API credentials.

Step 4: Sending SMS Messages

Now that you’ve configured your Plivo API credentials, you can start sending SMS messages from your Rails application. Here’s an example of how to send an SMS message using the Plivo Ruby gem:

# app/controllers/messages_controller.rb

class MessagesController < ApplicationController
  def send_sms
    response = Plivo::RestAPI.new.messages.create(
      src: 'your_plivo_phone_number',
      dst: 'recipient_phone_number',
      text: 'Hello, from Plivo!'
    )

    if response.success?
      flash[:success] = 'SMS sent successfully!'
    else
      flash[:error] = 'Failed to send SMS. Please try again.'
    end

    redirect_to root_path
  end
end

Step 5: Making Phone Calls

In addition to sending SMS messages, you can also use Plivo to make phone calls from your Rails application. Here’s an example of how to make a phone call using the Plivo Ruby gem:

# app/controllers/calls_controller.rb

class CallsController < ApplicationController
  def make_call
    response = Plivo::RestAPI.new.calls.create(
      from: 'your_plivo_phone_number',
      to: 'recipient_phone_number',
      answer_url: 'http://your_application.com/answer_url'
    )

    if response.success?
      flash[:success] = 'Phone call initiated successfully!'
    else
      flash[:error] = 'Failed to initiate phone call. Please try again.'
    end

    redirect_to root_path
  end
end

Conclusion

By following this guide, you can easily integrate Plivo into your Ruby on Rails application to send SMS messages and make phone calls. With Plivo’s powerful API and the flexibility of Ruby on Rails, you can enhance the communication capabilities of your application and provide a seamless user experience.

Happy coding!