Start by signing up for a free trial account that you can use to experiment with and learn about our services. The free trial account comes with free credits, and you can add more as you go along. You can also add a phone number to your account to start testing the full range of our voice and SMS features. A page in our support portal walks you through the signup process.
You can start making and receiving calls either by using our PHLO visual workflow builder or our APIs and XML documents. Follow the instructions in one of the tabs below.
You must set up and install Java 1.8 or higher and Plivo’s Java SDK before you make your first call.
You can check your Java version under macOS or Linux by running the command java -version in a terminal window. Under Windows there are several ways to check. If you don’t have Java installed or need a more current version, download and install it.
You should also download and install IntelliJ Idea.
Use Spring Initializr to create a boilerplate project with the Spring Boot framework.
Choose the Spring Web dependency. Give the project a friendly name and click Generate to download the boilerplate code and open it in IntelliJ Idea.
Install the Plivo Java package by adding the dependency in pom.xml
<dependency>
<groupId>com.plivo</groupId>
<artifactId>plivo-java</artifactId>
<version>5.9.3</version>
</dependency>
Once you’ve set up your development environment, you can start making and receiving calls using PHLO, our visual workflow design studio, or using our APIs and XML documents. Here are three common use cases to get you started.
You can create and deploy a PHLO to make an outbound call with a few clicks on the PHLO canvas, and trigger it with some simple code.
To create a PHLO, visit the PHLO page of the Plivo console. If this is your first PHLO, the PHLO page will be empty.
Click Create New PHLO.
In the Choose your use case pop-up, click Build my own. The PHLO canvas will appear with the Start node.
From the list of components on the left side, drag and drop the Initiate Call component onto the canvas. When a component is placed on the canvas it becomes a node.
Draw a line to connect the Start node’s API Request trigger state to the Initiate Call node.
In the Configuration pane at the right of the canvas, configure the Initiate Call node with a caller ID in the From field. Enter the destination number you wish to call in the To field.
Once you’ve configured the node, click Validate to save the configuration.
Similarly, create a node from the Play Audio component. Connect the Initiate Call node to the Play Audio node using the Answered trigger state.
Configure the Play Audio node to play a message to the user by entering text in the Speak Text box in the Prompt section of the Configuration pane — for example, “Hello, you just received your first call.”
Connect the Initiate Call node’s Answered trigger state to the Play Audio node.
After you complete the configuration, give the PHLO a name by clicking in the upper left, then click Save.
Your PHLO is now ready to test.
You integrate a PHLO into your application workflow by making an API request to trigger the PHLO with the required payload — the set of parameters you pass to the PHLO. You can define a static payload by specifying values when you create the PHLO, or define a dynamic payload by passing values through parameters when you trigger the PHLO from your application.
In either case, you need your Auth ID and Auth Token, which you can get from the overview page of the Plivo console.
You also need the PHLO ID, which you can copy from the PHLO list page.
When you configure values when creating the PHLO, they act as a static payload.
Edit the PlivoVoiceApplication.java file in the src/main/java/com.example.demo/ folder and paste into it this code.
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package com.example.demo;
import com.plivo.api.Plivo;
import com.plivo.api.PlivoClient;
import com.plivo.api.exceptions.PlivoRestException;
import com.plivo.api.models.phlo.Phlo;
import com.plivo.api.models.phlo.PhloUpdateResponse;
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
import java.io.IOException;
@SpringBootApplication
@RestController
public class PlivoVoiceApplication {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SpringApplication.run(PlivoVoiceApplication.class, args);
}
@GetMapping("/outbound")
public PhloUpdateResponse triggerPhlo() throws IOException, PlivoRestException {
final String authId = "<auth_id>";
final String authToken = "<auth_token>";
PlivoClient client = new PlivoClient(authId, authToken);
String phloId = "<phlo_id>";
Plivo.init(authId, authToken);
Phlo phlo = Phlo.getter(phloId).client(client).get();
PhloUpdateResponse response = Phlo.updater(phloId).run();
return response;
}
}
Replace the auth placeholders with your authentication credentials from the Plivo console. Replace the phlo_id placeholder with your PHLO ID from the Plivo console.
To use dynamic values for the parameters, use Liquid templating parameters when you create the PHLO and pass the values from your code when you trigger it.
Edit the PlivoVoiceApplication.java file in the src/main/java/com.example.demo/ folder and paste into it this code.
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package com.example.demo;
import com.plivo.api.Plivo;
import com.plivo.api.PlivoClient;
import com.plivo.api.exceptions.PlivoRestException;
import com.plivo.api.models.phlo.Phlo;
import com.plivo.api.models.phlo.PhloUpdateResponse;
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
@SpringBootApplication
@RestController
public class PlivoVoiceApplication {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SpringApplication.run(PlivoVoiceApplication.class, args);
}
@GetMapping("/outbound")
public PhloUpdateResponse triggerPhlo() throws IOException, PlivoRestException {
final String authId = "<auth_id>";
final String authToken = "<auth_token>";
PlivoClient client = new PlivoClient(authId, authToken);
String phloId = "<phlo_id>";
Plivo.init(authId, authToken);
Phlo phlo = Phlo.getter(phloId).client(client).get();
Map<String, Object> payload = new HashMap<>();
payload.put("from", "<caller_id>");
payload.put("to", "<destination_number>");
PhloUpdateResponse response = Phlo.updater(phloId).payload(payload).run();
return response;
}
}
Replace the auth placeholders with your authentication credentials from the Plivo console. Replace the phlo_id placeholder with your PHLO ID from the Plivo console. Replace the phone number placeholders with actual phone numbers in E.164 format (for example, +12025551234).
Save the file and run it from IntelliJ Idea.
You can create and deploy a PHLO to receive an inbound call with a few clicks on the PHLO canvas, without writing a single line of code.
To receive incoming calls, you must have a voice-enabled Plivo phone number. You can rent numbers from the Numbers page of the Plivo console, or by using the Numbers API.
To create a PHLO, visit the PHLO page of the Plivo console. If this is your first PHLO, the PHLO page will be empty.
Once you have created and configured your PHLO, assign your PHLO to a Plivo number.
Once you’ve created and configured your PHLO, assign it to a Plivo number.
You can now make a call to your Plivo phone number and see how the inbound call is handled.
For more information about creating a PHLO application, see the PHLO Getting Started guide. For information on components and their variables, see the PHLO Components Library.
You can create and deploy a workflow to implement call forwarding with a few clicks on the PHLO canvas.
To receive incoming calls, you must have a voice-enabled Plivo phone number. You can rent numbers from the Numbers page of the Plivo console, or by using the Numbers API.
To create a PHLO, visit the PHLO page of the Plivo console. If this is your first PHLO, the PHLO page will be empty.
From the list of components on the left side, drag and drop the Call Forward component onto the canvas. When a component is placed on the canvas it becomes a node.
Draw a line to connect the Start node‘s Incoming Call trigger state to the Call Forward node.
In the Configuration tab at the right of the canvas, configure the Call Forward node to select the From number using a variable. Enter two curly brackets to view all available variables, and choose the appropriate one. Enter all the numbers you want to call in the To field, separated with commas.
Once you’ve configured the node, click Validate to save the configuration.
Once you’ve created and configured your PHLO, assign your PHLO to a Plivo number.
You can now call your Plivo phone number and see how the inbound call is forwarded.
For more information about creating a PHLO application, see the PHLO Getting Started guide. For information on components and their variables, see the PHLO Components Library.
We illustrate more than 20 use cases with code for both PHLO and API/XML on our documentation pages.
You must set up and install Java 1.8 or higher, Spring, and Plivo’s Java SDK before you make your first call.
You can check your Java version under macOS or Linux by running the command java -version in a terminal window. Under Windows there are several ways to check. If you don’t have Java installed or need a more current version, download and install it.
You should also download and install IntelliJ Idea.
Use Spring Initializr to create a boilerplate project with the Spring Boot framework.
Choose the Spring Web dependency. Give the project a friendly name — we used Plivo Voice — and click Generate to download boilerplate code, which will be named PlivoVoiceApplication.java based on the friendly name we supplied. Open it in IntelliJ Idea.
Install the Plivo Java SDK by adding the dependency in pom.xml
.
<dependency>
<groupId>com.plivo</groupId>
<artifactId>plivo-java</artifactId>
<version>5.9.3</version>
</dependency>
Once you’ve set up your development environment, you can start making and receiving calls using our APIs and XML documents. Here are three common use cases to get you started.
Plivo requests an answer URL when the call is answered (step 4) and expects the file at that address to hold a valid XML response from the application with instructions on how to handle the call. To see how this works, you can use https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.plivo.com/answer.xml as an answer URL to test your first outgoing call. The file contains this XML code:
<Response>
<Speak>Congratulations! You've made your first outbound call!</Speak>
</Response>
This code instructs Plivo to say, “Congratulations! You’ve made your first outbound call!” to the call recipient. You can find the entire list of valid Plivo XML verbs in our XML Reference documentation.
Edit the PlivoVoiceApplication.java
file in src/main/java/com.example.demo/ and paste into it this code.
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package com.example.demo;
import com.plivo.api.Plivo;
import com.plivo.api.exceptions.PlivoRestException;
import com.plivo.api.models.call.Call;
import com.plivo.api.models.call.CallCreateResponse;
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
import com.plivo.api.exceptions.PlivoXmlException;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Collections;
@SpringBootApplication
@RestController
public class PlivoVoiceApplication {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SpringApplication.run(PlivoVoiceApplication.class, args);
}
@GetMapping(value="/outbound", produces={"application/json"})
public CallCreateResponse makeCall() throws PlivoXmlException, IOException, PlivoRestException {
Plivo.init("<auth_id>","<auth_token>");
CallCreateResponse response = Call.creator("<caller_id>",
Collections.singletonList("<destination_number>"),
"https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.plivo.com/answer.xml")
.answerMethod("GET")
.create();
System.out.println(response);
return response;
}
}
Replace the auth placeholders with your authentication credentials from the Plivo console. Replace the phone number placeholders with actual phone numbers in E.164 format (for example, +12025551234).
Save the file and run it.
Plivo requests an answer URL when it answers the call (step 2) and expects the file at that address to hold a valid XML response from the application with instructions on how to handle the call. In this example, when an incoming call is received, Plivo’s text-to-speech engine plays a message using the Speak XML element.
You must have a voice-enabled Plivo phone number to receive incoming calls; you can rent numbers from the Numbers page of the Plivo console, or by using the Numbers API.
Edit the PlivoVoiceApplication.java
file in src/main/java/com.example.demo/ and paste this code into it after the makeCall function block.
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package com.example.demo;
import com.plivo.api.Plivo;
import com.plivo.api.exceptions.PlivoRestException;
import com.plivo.api.models.call.Call;
import com.plivo.api.models.call.CallCreateResponse;
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
import com.plivo.api.exceptions.PlivoXmlException;
import com.plivo.api.xml.Response;
import com.plivo.api.xml.Speak;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Collections;
@SpringBootApplication
@RestController
public class PlivoVoiceApplication {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SpringApplication.run(PlivoVoiceApplication.class, args);
}
@GetMapping(value="/outbound", produces={"application/json"})
public CallCreateResponse makeCall() throws PlivoXmlException, IOException, PlivoRestException {
........;
........;
}
@GetMapping(value="/inbound", produces={"application/xml"})
public String receiveCall() throws PlivoXmlException {
return new Response()
.children(new Speak("Hello, you just received your first call")).toXmlString();
}
}
Run the project and you should see your basic server application in action at http://localhost:8080/inbound/.
To receive incoming calls, your local server must connect with Plivo API services. For that, we recommend using ngrok, which exposes local servers running behind NATs and firewalls to the public internet over secure tunnels. Using ngrok, you can set webhooks that can talk to the Plivo server.
Install ngrok and run it on the command line, specifying the port that hosts the application on which you want to receive calls (80 in this case):
./ngrok http 80
This starts the ngrok server on your local server. Ngrok will display a forwarding link that you can use as a webhook to access your local server over the public network.
Associate the controller you created with Plivo by creating a Plivo application. Visit Voice > Applications and click Add New Application. You can also use Plivo’s Application API.
Give your application a name — we called ours Receive_call
. Enter the server URL you want to use (for example https://<yourdomain>.com/receivecall/
) in the Primary Answer URL
field and set the method to POST
. Click Create Application to save your application.
Navigate to the Numbers page and select the phone number you want to use for this application.
From the Application Type drop-down, select XML Application
.
From the Plivo Application drop-down, select Receive Call
(the name we gave the application).
Click Update Number to save.
Make a call to your Plivo number using any phone.
Plivo requests an answer URL when the call is answered (step 4) and expects the file at that address to hold a valid XML response from the application with instructions on how to handle the call. In this example, when an incoming call is received, Plivo forwards the call using the Dial XML element.
You must have a voice-enabled Plivo phone number to receive incoming calls; you can rent numbers from the Numbers page of the Plivo console, or by using the Numbers API.
Edit the PlivoVoiceApplication.java
file in src/main/java/com.example.demo/ and paste this code into it after the receiveCall function block.
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package com.example.demo;
import com.plivo.api.Plivo;
import com.plivo.api.exceptions.PlivoRestException;
import com.plivo.api.models.call.Call;
import com.plivo.api.models.call.CallCreateResponse;
import com.plivo.api.xml.Dial;
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
import com.plivo.api.exceptions.PlivoXmlException;
import com.plivo.api.xml.Response;
import com.plivo.api.xml.Speak;
import com.plivo.api.xml.Number;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Collections;
@SpringBootApplication
@RestController
public class PlivoVoiceApplication {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SpringApplication.run(PlivoVoiceApplication.class, args);
}
@GetMapping(value="/outbound", produces={"application/json"})
public CallCreateResponse makeCall() throws PlivoXmlException, IOException, PlivoRestException {
........;
........;
}
@GetMapping(value="/inbound", produces={"application/xml"})
public String receiveCall() throws PlivoXmlException {
........;
........;
}
@GetMapping(value="/forward", produces={"application/xml"})
public String forwardCall(@RequestParam("From") String fromNumber) throws PlivoXmlException {
Response res = new Response()
.children(
new Dial()
.callerId(fromNumber)
.children(
new Number("<destination_number>")
)
);
// Returns the XML
return res.toXmlString();
}
}
Replace the destination number placeholder with an actual phone number (for example, 12025551234).
If you haven’t done so already, expose your local server to the internet.
Associate the Java application you created with Plivo by creating a Plivo application. Visit Voice > Applications in the Plivo console and click on Add New Application, or use Plivo’s Application API.
Give your application a name — we called ours Forward Call
. Enter the server URL you want to use (for example https://<yourdomain>.com/forward_call/
) in the Answer URL
field and set the method to POST
. Click Create Application to save your application.
Navigate to the Numbers page and select the phone number you want to use for this application.
From the Application Type drop-down, select XML Application
.
From the Plivo Application drop-down, select Forward Call
(the name we gave the application).
Click Update Number to save.
Make a call to your Plivo number using any phone. Plivo will send a request to the answer URL you provided requesting an XML response and then forward the call according to the instructions in the XML document the server provides.
We illustrate more than 20 use cases with code for both API/XML and PHLO on our documentation pages.