PrerequisitesBefore you get started, ensure you have the following:

• A Twilio account with a purchased phone number.
• A VICIdial installation.
• PHP installed on your server.
• A web server (Apache/Nginx) with PHP support.

Basic knowledge of PHP and web development.Step 1: Set Up Your Project

Create a new project directory and set up the following composer.json file:

{
    "name": "masterfermin02/smschat",
    "description": "Simple php sms chat",
    "keywords": [
        "sms",
        "chat",
        "smschat",
        "vicidial",
        "Twilio"
    ],
    "homepage": "https://github.com/masterfermin02",
    "license": "MIT",
    "autoload": {
        "psr-4": {
            "FpApp\\": "src/"
        },
        "files": [
            "src/helpers.php"
        ]
    },
    "require": {
        "twilio/sdk": "^6.9",
        "vlucas/phpdotenv": "^5.6",
        "twig/twig": "^3.11",
        "patricklouys/http": "^1.4",
        "nikic/fast-route": "^1.3"
    }
}

Run the following command to install dependencies:

composer install

Step 2: Project Structure

Organize your project with the following structure:

project-root/
├── src/
│   ├── helpers.php
│   ├── Env.php
│   ├── Factories/
│   │   ├── SmsFactory.php
│   │   ├── SmsGatewayFactory.php
│   │   ├── SmsModelFactory.php
│   └── Middleware/
│       └── AgentIsOnline.php
├── resources/
│   └── views/
│       ├── chat.twig
│       └── chat-screen.twig
├── public/
│   └── index.php
├── .env
├── composer.json
└── vendor/

Step 3: Handling Incoming SMS

Create a public/index.php file to process Twilio requests:

require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';

use Dotenv\Dotenv;
use Http\HttpRequest;
use Http\HttpResponse;
use Twig\Environment;
use Twig\Loader\FilesystemLoader;
use FpApp\Factories\SmsFactory;
use Twilio\TwiML\MessagingResponse;

$dotenv = Dotenv::createImmutable(__DIR__ . '/../');
$dotenv->load();

$loader = new FilesystemLoader(__DIR__ . '/../resources/views');
$twig = new Environment($loader);

$request = new HttpRequest(
    $_GET, $_POST, $_COOKIE, $_FILES, $_SERVER,
    file_get_contents('php://input')
);
$response = new HttpResponse();
$response->setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/xml');

$sms = SmsFactory::create();
$sms->handleIncoming($request->getParameter('From'), $request->getParameter('Body'));

$twiml = new MessagingResponse();
$twiml->message("Thank you for your message.");

$response->setContent($twiml);
echo $response->getContent();

Step 4: Sending SMS

Use the following script to send SMS messages:

$sms = SmsFactory::create();
$result = $sms->send(
    '+1234567890',
    Env::get('TWILIO_PHONE_NUMBER'),
    'Hello, this is a test message.'
);

Step 5: Automating SMS Workflows

You can set up automated workflows for:

• Lead follow-ups
• Appointment reminders
• Survey collections

Use the routing and middleware capabilities of your project for integration.

Conclusion

By structuring your PHP project with Twilio using modern practices like dependency management and routing, you can create an efficient SMS chat system. This can be integrated with VICIdial to enhance your customer engagement.