TextMeSlacker: Replying To Texts In Slack with Slackbots and Twilio
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April 26, 2016
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You don’t need to climb a phone tree to get a response from a company. You can SMS your way straight to an answer. But what does that company do with a flooded SMS inbox? Build a Slackbot, duh.
The developers behind Network Effects, Justin Jackson and Marty Dill thought that answer was obvious. “GETTING TEXT MESSAGES IN SLACK IS MAGICAL,” says Justin (in all caps).
They built a Slackbot using Twilio that allows a user to text a company’s Twilio powered number. That text will populate in a Slack channel. The company can then /sms reply straight to the user’s phone. Behold the contextual goodness of Slack paired with the ease of SMS in a GIF.
Justin uses his own hack to talk with fans of his podcast, MegaMaker, a show that profiles the DIY creative community and makers of all sorts. “It’s so nice to just have texts pop into my chat window occasionally, and to be able to reply right there is amazing. Without leaving Slack I can interact with someone over SMS. It’s actually really helpful,” says Justin.
If you’re Slackbot appetite is not quenched by Justin and Marty’s hack, there’s another helping coming your way. We’re hosting a sub-conference within SIGNAL dubbed /bots which focuses on all things bots. Command line bots, slackbots, chatbots – you name it. Grab your tickets here.
Learn more about Justin and Marty’s company Network Effects here.
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