Telerivet's voice functionality can be enabled or disabled for each project. To determine whether the voice functionality is already enabled for your project, go to the Messages page. If the voice functionality is enabled, a "Call" dropdown will be visible at the top-right of the page:
If the Call dropdown is not visible, enable the "Voice Calls" module on the Project Settings page (Dashboard > Edit Settings).
Configuring a Virtual Number
In order to send and receive voice calls with Telerivet, you'll first need to configure how Telerivet connects to the phone networks. Telerivet currently supports Vonage and Twilio, two popular services that can send outgoing voice calls to phone networks worldwide, and which provide virtual numbers in dozens of countries that can receive incoming voice calls.
Most functionality will work the same in Telerivet regardless of whether you use Vonage or Twilio under the hood. However, the services may differ in terms of their pricing, availability of virtual numbers in particular countries, available text-to-speech voices, call quality (in some countries), and whether or not the virtual numbers also support SMS.
If you are using the Telerivet Android app as an SMS gateway, note that Telerivet's voice features do not work with the Android app due to technical limitations. (The Telerivet Android app supports receiving notifications of incoming calls, but cannot answer an incoming call or place an outgoing call.) However, projects using the Android app can add a virtual number via Nexmo or Twilio, using the virtual number for voice calls and the Android app for SMS.
To configure a voice-enabled virtual number, go to the Routes page in your Telerivet project. If your project already has a route, click "Add Route" at the top-right of the Routes page. Select the "Voice" capability.
Depending on your country, Telerivet will provide recommended options for how to configure voice functionality.
If you want to have full control over your virtual number, lower pricing, and a direct line to the provider's support, you can connect your own account with a third-party provider such as Twilio or Vonage.
In some countries, Telerivet may offer the option to get a new virtual number directly from Telerivet, without needing to set up a separate account with a third-party provider. This virtual number would actually be a Twilio virtual number, but you would pay Telerivet for the cost of the messages and calls that you send and receive (in addition to the normal monthly price of your Telerivet service). This may be more convenient to set up initially (if you don't already have a Twilio account), but has the disadvantage of somewhat higher pricing than if you purchased the number directly from Twilio , and the disadvantage of not being able to contact Twilio support if you encounter any problems.
Note that if your virtual number is provided directly by Telerivet, the price of calls (and SMS messages) is not included in the price of your monthly Telerivet plan. In this case, you will need to maintain a positive balance on your Telerivet account in order to send or receive calls or send SMS messages. In addition, active calls may be terminated after a short grace period if your Telerivet account balance is negative.
When you select which type of route you want to add, Telerivet will show you the instructions for connecting the phone number to your Telerivet account.