How to connect Twilio SMS & Voice
Connect your Twilio account to send and receive SMS messages and make voice calls directly from Bugalou.
Overview
Connect your Twilio account to Bugalou to send and receive SMS messages and make voice calls directly from your dashboard. All SMS conversations appear in your team inbox alongside WhatsApp, email, and other channels.
Twilio SMS & Voice is available on the Pro plan and above.
Prerequisites
Before connecting, you need:
- A Twilio account — create one at twilio.com
- A Twilio phone number with SMS and/or Voice capabilities purchased in the Twilio Console
- Your Account SID and Auth Token from the Twilio Console dashboard
Connecting Twilio
Step 1: Navigate to Twilio settings
Go to Channels → Twilio in your dashboard, or find the Twilio card in the Channel Catalog.
Step 2: Enter credentials
Fill in your Twilio credentials:
- Account SID — starts with
AC, found in your Twilio Console dashboard - Auth Token — found below the Account SID in the Twilio Console
Step 3: Connect
Click "Connect Twilio". Bugalou will verify your credentials, automatically sync all your phone numbers from Twilio, and configure the webhooks. Once connected, you'll see a green "Connected" status.
Managing Phone Numbers
After connecting your Twilio account, manage your phone numbers in Settings → Calls. Here you can:
- View all synced numbers — your Twilio phone numbers are automatically imported
- Add additional numbers — add more numbers from your Twilio account
- Set a default number — used for outbound SMS and as caller ID
- Assign to a team — incoming messages and calls are routed to that team
- Assign to a user — incoming calls ring only that user's browser, SMS conversations are auto-assigned
- Enable/disable SMS and Voice — per phone number
- Add labels — e.g. "Sales", "Support" for easy identification
Multiple Phone Numbers
Bugalou supports multiple Twilio phone numbers per workspace. This allows you to have separate numbers for different teams or purposes, for example a Sales number and a Support number. Each number can be independently assigned and configured.
Call Routing
Incoming calls and SMS messages are routed based on the phone number configuration:
- Assigned to a user — incoming calls ring only that user's browser. New SMS conversations are auto-assigned to that user.
- Assigned to a team — incoming calls ring all users in the workspace. New conversations are assigned to that team.
- No assignment — incoming calls ring all users. Conversations appear in the shared inbox.
The default number is used as the outbound caller ID when a user doesn't have a specific number assigned.
SMS Messaging
With SMS enabled, you can:
- Receive incoming SMS messages in your team inbox
- Reply to SMS conversations like any other channel
- Create new SMS conversations via the compose button
- Assign SMS conversations to team members
VoIP Voice Calls
With Voice enabled, a phone icon appears in the contact sidebar (right side) on the inbox page, and in the main sidebar on other dashboard pages. Click it to open the VoIP panel with three tabs:
Dialpad
Enter a phone number or search for a contact, then click the call button to initiate an outbound call. As you type, Bugalou automatically searches your contacts by name or phone number — click a result to fill in the number instantly.
During a call, you have the following controls:
- Mute/Unmute — toggle your microphone on or off
- Hold/Unhold — put the caller on hold with a visual indicator
- Transfer — transfer the call in two ways:
- To a team member — select a colleague from the list to transfer the call internally
- To an external number — type a phone number to transfer externally
- Open conversation — jump to the caller's conversation in your inbox
- Hang up — end the call
A live call timer shows the duration of the current call.
Call History
View a log of all incoming and outgoing calls with duration, status, and timestamps, grouped by date. Click a call record to navigate to the associated conversation.
Settings
Configure your VoIP preferences:
- Call Queue — toggle yourself In Queue or Out of Queue. When you are in the queue, incoming calls will ring your browser. When out of queue, callers are routed to other available agents or go to voicemail. Your queue status is shown as a colored badge on your avatar in the sidebar.
- Ringtone — choose from four built-in ringtones: Default, Classic, Modern, or Silent
- Output device — select your speaker or headset for call audio
- Input device — select your microphone
- Test microphone — click to test that your microphone is working correctly
Audio settings are saved locally so they persist across sessions.
Queue Status & Badges
Your VoIP status is visible to your team:
- A green phone badge on your avatar means you are in the call queue and available
- A red pulsing phone badge means you are currently on an active call
- When you set your status to Away or Offline, you are automatically removed from the call queue
The VoIP panel header also shows a live counter of calls in queue and active calls across your workspace.
Incoming Calls
When someone calls your Twilio number, an incoming call notification appears with the caller's name (if known) and phone number. You can Accept or Decline the call. The phone panel opens automatically when an incoming call arrives.
Disconnecting
To disconnect Twilio, go to Channels → Twilio and click "Disconnect". You'll need to confirm the action. This removes all phone numbers and stops SMS and voice functionality but does not affect your Twilio account itself.