Forward Incoming SMS

This tutorial will allow you to forward SMS text messages (sent to your Plivo number) to your another phone number. This is especially useful in use cases that involve message routing such as CRM softwares, sales teams, and help desk applications. The functionality behind forwarding text messages can be broken down into these two steps:

  1. Your friend sends you an SMS to your Plivo Number
  2. The SMS gets forwarded to another phone number

Getting Started

  1. Sign up for a free Plivo trial account.
  2. Check out our server SDKs page and install the right helper based on the programming language you want to use.
  3. Buy a Plivo phone number (optional).
    Note: A phone number is required only for sending SMS to US and Canadian phone numbers. However, country-specific carrier conditions may still apply. You can buy a US or Canadian phone number through the Buy Numbers" tab on your Plivo account UI.
  4. Use a web hosting service to host your web application. There are many inexpensive cloud hosting providers that you can use for just a few dollars a month. Follow the instructions of your hosting provider to host your web application.
    Note: If you are using a Plivo Trial account for this example, you can only send sms to phone numbers that have been verified with Plivo. Phone numbers can be verified at the Sandbox Numbers page.

Set up a Web Server

Let’s assume your web server is located at http://example.com. Below is a snippet to set up a route on your webserver. Now when we send an HTTP request to http://example.com/forward_sms this route will be invoked.

Note: For PHP, the route will be example.com/forward_sms.php.
  1. Copy the relevant code below into a text file and save it. Let’s call it, 'forward_sms'.
  2. Configure the 'to_forward' parameter to the phone number you want to forward the SMS to. Be sure that all phone numbers include country code, area code, and phone number without spaces or dashes (e.g., 14153336666).
  3. Next, you will now have to configure this URL in your Plivo application.
    Note: If you are using a trial account, your destination number needs to be verified with Plivo. Phone numbers can be verified at the Sandbox Numbers page.

Code

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from flask import Flask, request, make_response, Response
import plivo
from plivo import plivoxml

app = Flask(__name__)


@app.route('/forward_sms/', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def inbound_sms():
    # Sender's phone number
    from_number = request.values.get('From')
    # Receiver's phone number - Plivo number
    to_number = request.values.get('To')
    # The text which was received
    text = request.values.get('Text')
    # Print the message
    print('Message received - From: %s, To: %s, Text: %s' %(from_number, to_number, text))

    # The phone number to which the SMS has to be forwarded
    to_forward = '+14152223333'

    # send the details to generate an XML
    response = plivoxml.ResponseElement()
    response.add(
        plivoxml.MessageElement(
            text,  # The text which was received
            src=to_number,  # Sender's phone number
            dst=to_forward,  # Receiver's phone Number
            type='sms',
            callback_url='http://foo.com/sms_status/',
            callback_method='POST'))
    print(response.to_string())  # Prints the XML
    # Returns the XML
    return Response(response.to_string(), mimetype='application/xml')


if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', debug=True)

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require "plivo"
require "sinatra"

include Plivo
include Plivo::XML

post "/forward_sms/" do
  # Sender's phone number
  from_number = params[:From]
  # Receiver's phone number - Plivo number
  to_number = params[:To]
  # The text which was received
  text = params[:Text]

  # Print the message
  puts "Message received - From: #{from_number}, To: #{to_number}, Text: #{text}"

  body = "Forwarded message : #{text}"
  to_forward = "+14152223333"
  # send the details to generate an XML
  response = Response.new
  params = {
    src: to_number,  # Sender's phone number
    dst: to_forward, # Receiver's phone Number
    type: "sms",
    callbackUrl: "https://www.foo.com/sms_status",
    callbackMethod: "POST",
  }

  message_body = body
  response.addMessage(message_body, params)
  xml = PlivoXML.new(response)

  puts xml.to_xml() # Prints the XML
  content_type "application/xml"
  return xml.to_s() # Returns the XML
end

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var plivo = require('plivo');
var express = require('express');
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
var app = express();

app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({
    extended: true
}));
app.use(function (req, response, next) {
    response.contentType('application/xml');
    next();
});
app.set('port', (process.env.PORT || 5000));
app.all('/forward_sms/', function (request, response) {
    // Sender's phone number
    var from_number = request.body.From || request.query.From;
    // Receiver's phone number - Plivo number
    var to_number = request.body.To || request.query.To;
    // The text which was received
    var text = request.body.Text || request.query.Text;
    // Prints the message
    console.log('Message received - From: ' + from_number + ', To: ' + to_number + ', Text: ' + text); //Print the message

    var to_forward = '+14152223333'; //The phone number to which the SMS has to be forwarded

    //send the details to generate an XML
    var r = plivo.Response();
    var params = {
        'src': to_number, //Sender's phone number
        'dst': to_forward, //Receiver's phone Number
        'type': "sms",
        'callbackUrl': "https://www.foo.com/sms_status",
        'callbackMethod': "POST"
    };

    var message_body = text; //The text which was received
    r.addMessage(message_body, params);
    console.log(r.toXML()); //Prints the XML
    response.end(r.toXML()); //Returns the XML
});
app.listen(app.get('port'), function () {
    console.log('Node app is running on port', app.get('port'));
});

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<?php
    require 'vendor/autoload.php';
    use Plivo\XML\Response;
    // Sender's phone numer
    $from_number = $_REQUEST["From"];
    // Receiver's phone number - Plivo number
    $to_number = $_REQUEST["To"];
    // The SMS text message which was received
    $text = $_REQUEST["Text"];
    // Prints the message
    echo("Message received - From $from_number, To: $to_number, Text: $text");

    // The phone number to which the SMS has to be forwarded
    $to_forward = '+14152223333';

    // send the details to generate an XML
    $response = new Response();
    $params = array(
        'src' => $to_number, //Sender's phone number
        'dst' => $to_forward, //Receiver's phone Number
        'type' => "sms",
        'callbackUrl' => "https://www.foo.com/sms_status/",
        'callbackMethod' => "POST"
    );
    $message_body = $text; //The text which was received
    $response->addMessage($message_body, $params);

    Header('Content-type: text/xml');
    echo($response->toXML()); // Returns the XML
?>

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import static spark.Spark.*;
import com.plivo.api.xml.Message;
import com.plivo.api.xml.Response;

public class HelloWorld {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        get("/forward_sms", (request, response) -> {
            // Sender's phone number
            String from_number = request.queryParams("From");
            // Receiver's phone number - Plivo number
            String to_number = request.queryParams("To");
            // The text which was received
            String text = request.queryParams("Text");
            // Returns the response in application/xml type
            response.type("application/xml");
            // Print the message
            System.out.println(from_number + " " + to_number + " " + text);

            // The phone number to which the SMS has to be forwarded
            String to_forward = "+14152223333";
            // send the details to generate an XML
            Response res = new Response().children(
                    // from_number,to_forward,text is being passed
                    new Message(from_number, to_forward, text).callbackMethod("POST")
                            .callbackUrl("http://foo.com/sms status/").type("sms"));
            // Returns the XML
            return res.toXmlString();
        });
    }
}

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package main

import (
	"net/http"

	"github.com/go-martini/martini"
	"github.com/plivo/plivo-go/xml"
)

func main() {
	m := martini.Classic()
	m.Get("/", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) string {
		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/xml")
		// Sender's phone number
		fromnumber := r.FormValue("From")
		// Receiver's phone number - Plivo number
		tonumber := r.FormValue("To")
		// The text which was received
		text := r.FormValue("Text")
		// Print the message
		print("Message Received - ", fromnumber, " ", tonumber, " ", text)

		//The phone number to which the SMS has to be forwarded
		toforward := "+14152223333"

		//send the details to generate an XML
		response := xml.ResponseElement{
			Contents: []interface{}{
				new(xml.MessageElement).
					SetCallbackMethod("POST").
					SetCallbackUrl("http://foo.com/sms_status/").
					SetDst(toforward). // Sender's phone number
					SetSrc(tonumber).  // Receiver's phone number
					SetType("sms").
					SetContents(text),
			},
		}
		return response.String()
	})
	m.Run()
}

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using Nancy;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Reflection;
using Plivo.XML;

namespace NancyStandalone
{
  public class FunctionsModule : NancyModule
  {
    public FunctionsModule()
    {
      Post("/forward", parameters =>
      {
          // Sender's phone number
          String from_number = Request.Form["From"];
          // Receiver's phone number
          String to_number = Request.Form["To"];
          // The text which was received
          String text = Request.Form["Text"];
          // Print the message
          Console.WriteLine("Message received - From: {0}, To: {1}, Text: {2}", from_number, to_number, text);

          String to_forward = "+14152223333"; // The phone number to which the sms has to be forwarded

          Plivo.XML.Response resp = new Plivo.XML.Response();

                // Generate the Message XML
                Plivo.XML.Response resp = new Plivo.XML.Response();
                resp.AddMessage(text,
                new Dictionary<string, string>()
                {
                  {"src", to_number},
                  {"dst", to_forward} ,
                  {"type", "sms"},
                  {"callbackUrl", "http://foo.com/sms_status/"},
                  {"callbackMethod", "POST"}
                  });
                  var output = resp.ToString();
                  var res = (Nancy.Response)output;
                  res.ContentType = "application/xml";
                  return res;
            };
        }
    }
}