How to have callin.io watch an SMS opt-in response and update Airtable

I appreciate the thoughtful response! Not a bad idea. However, the standard “mo” for SMS opt-in is all within the text message itself. And every time I reply to an automated text message, I expect a response within a minute or two myself. I might concede to 12 minutes using callin.io to save Ops. I am looking into other applications that can do this with RingCentral, but for now, I will just concede and use callin.io somehow.

Why does your post seem so dismissive? I already have the Core plan, and they all start at 10k/mo, that’s the point. I have reasons to use callin.io over Zapier, thank you. However, the fact is that charging by ops is a bit unreasonable to me compared to Pabbly or Zapier charging by execution. Again, if I wanted to respond in a timely manner, I would have to check SMS every 1-2 minutes! Feel free to do the math on that.

I'm just trying to assist. I'm not sure why you need to poll so frequently for incoming SMS messages. Couldn't you utilize a RingCentral instant trigger to initiate the workflow solely when inbound messages arrive, and then examine the phone number and content?

I believe the core issue lies in how "Conversation" is interpreted concerning SMS messages.
How can RingCentral (or any service) accurately associate a specific message with a conversation? SMS inherently functions as a continuous, ongoing dialogue.

Let's break down a potential scenario:

1. Send SMS to user → "Please confirm you want to receive text messages from us. Reply Yes or No."
2. User does not respond within X minutes → Assume the answer is "No".
3. User responds "No" within X minutes → The answer is "No".
4. User responds "Yes" within X minutes → The answer is "Yes".
5. User responds "nope" within X minutes → Invalid response. Should we ask again?
6. User responds "yep" within X minutes → Invalid response. Should we ask again?
7. etc…
8. User responds "No" or "Yes" or anything else AFTER X minutes → The answer is already considered "No" due to the lack of timely response. This subsequent "No", "Yes", or any other input then initiates a new "conversation". → How should this be handled?

All these scenarios need to be managed within callin.io, unless you can implement filtering within RingCentral beforehand.

It's straightforward to determine if an initial message sent to each number receives a response within the X-minute window, even if you don't process the responses immediately.
The challenge arises if you delay confirming their response, potentially leading them to send multiple messages, which complicates your workflow.

My recommendation is to configure an event within RingCentral that triggers a callin.io Webhook.
This webhook should then analyze the message content, query your Airtable, and respond appropriately.

This process involves approximately 4 operations per incoming SMS: callin.io Webhook → Router (free) → Airtable (to check the timestamp of your last message) → Airtable (to update their status as "Yes" or "No") → Webhook response or RingCentral Send SMS (if a confirmation or clarification is needed).

If you consistently surpass your monthly or annual operation limits (depending on your plan), you'll need to upgrade. For occasional overages, you can opt for purchasing additional operations.

Thanks, I appreciate the help! I think that's what I was missing. While I'm not an expert in all these tools, I'm a quick learner. I did some research on instant triggers and understand they're typically based on webhooks. So, you're right, it wouldn't consume many operations. I'm going to try configuring it using the webhook. I also looked into ways to script a webhook into Airtable to make it instant, as it's not a native feature for Airtable within callin.io, though RingCentral seems to support it. I'll report back after I've had a chance to test it out.