# Automatically Transcribe and Summarize Phone Calls One use for the Deepgram API is to transcribe calls between a caller and an agent. When paired with Twilio, a cloud communication platform that lets developers integrate a number of communication technologies into their applications, Deepgram's API can be used to streamline your workflow by providing bite-sized versions of call recordings. In this guide, you'll learn how to use Twilio Functions and Deepgram's [Summarization](/guides/self-hosted-deployments-6-summarization) feature to send phone call summaries via SMS once a conversation has ended. Using Twilio, you will build a phone number that forwards callers to your agent and begins recording. When the call is complete, Deepgram will provide both a transcript and summary of the call. Finally, the transcript and summary will be sent to both the caller and agent via SMS. If you need reference material or you'd rather not follow along with this guide, we provide a [full version of the sample code](#full-sample-code) after the tutorial. ## Before You Start Before you run the code, you'll need to do a few things. ### Create a Deepgram Account :::callout{intent="info"} Before you can use Deepgram, you'll need to [create a Deepgram account](https://console.deepgram.com/signup?jump=keys). Signup is free and includes **$200** in free credit and access to all of Deepgram's features! ::: ### Create a Deepgram API Key :::callout{intent="info"} Before you start, you'll need to follow the steps in the [Make Your First API Request](/guides/guides-fundamentals-make-your-first-api-request) guide to obtain a Deepgram API key, and configure your environment if you are choosing to use a Deepgram SDK. ::: ### Create a Twilio Account Before you can use Twilio, you'll need to [sign up for a Twilio account](https://console.twilio.com/). Once signed up, make sure you have a phone number with SMS and Voice capabilities set up in your account. ### Have Access to Two Phones To test your project, you'll need access to two phones--one to make a call and one to receive a call. ## Setting Up Twilio To use Twilio, you will need to create a new service, add the Deepgram SDK as a dependency, and add the appropriate environment variables. ### Create a Service Create a new service, which can contain multiple Twilio Functions and assets related to a single project. 1. Log in to the Twilio Console, and navigate to **Developer Tools** > **Functions & Assets**. 2. Create a new service. It’s important that you create a new service rather than a standalone function. ### Add Dependencies Inside your new service, add the Deepgram SDK as a dependency: 1. Locate the **Dependencies** section. 2. Add `@deepgram/sdk`. To get the latest version, omit the version number. ### Add Environment Variables Inside your new service, add your Deepgram API Key and your agent phone number as environment variables: 1. Locate the **Environment Variables** section. 2. Add the following variables: | Variable name | Variable content | | ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `DEEPGRAM_KEY` | Value of your Deepgram API Key generated in your Deepgram Console | | `FORWARDING_NUMBER` | Value of your agent phone number in [E.164 formatting](https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/223183008-Formatting-International-Phone-Numbers) (example: +14155552671) | ## Recording and Forwarding Inbound Calls Create a Twilio function that receives incoming call data and forwards it to your agent while recording it: 1. Rename the `/welcome` function to `/inbound`. 2. Replace the entire file with the following code: **`JavaScript`** ```javascript JavaScript exports.handler = function (context, event, callback) { let twiml = new Twilio.twiml.VoiceResponse(); const dial = twiml.dial({ record: "record-from-answer-dual", recordingStatusCallback: "/recordings", }); dial.number(process.env.FORWARDING_NUMBER); return callback(null, twiml); }; ``` :::callout{intent="info"} When the call is completed, call data will be sent to `/recordings`, which you will create later in this guide. ::: 3. Save the function, and select **Deploy All**. Once deployed, this function is ready to be used. ### Configure Your Twilio Number Now that you have created a function to receive incoming calls, apply it to your Twilio number: 1. Navigate to your Twilio number settings. 2. Under **A Call Comes In**, select **Function**. 3. Under **Service**, select your service. 4. Under **Function Path**, select `/inbound`. When a call comes in, use a Function. Default service with the /inbound function path. ## Transcribing and Summarizing Calls Now that your Twilio number is configured to record the phone call, you can use Deepgram to transcribe and summarize it. ### Transcribe the Call When a call is received, use Deepgram to transcribe it: 1. Create a new Twilio function named `/transcribe`. 2. Replace the boilerplate code with the following code: **`JavaScript`** ```javascript JavaScript import { DeepgramClient } from "@deepgram/sdk"; const deepgram = new DeepgramClient({ apiKey: process.env.DEEPGRAM_API_KEY }); exports.handler = async function (context, event, callback) { const { RecordingUrl, CallSid } = event; const twilioClient = context.getTwilioClient(); const { from: caller, to: twilioNumber } = await twilioClient.calls(CallSid).fetch(); // Further code here return callback(null, true); }; ``` :::callout{intent="info"} This code uses the `CallSid` to look up the call to find additional call information. Once done, the caller’s phone number will be available in a variable called `caller`, and the number they placed the call to will be available in a variable called `twilioNumber`. ::: 3. Generate a transcription of the call using Deepgram’s Node.js SDK: **`JavaScript`** ```javascript JavaScript const result = await deepgram.listen.v1.media.transcribeUrl({ url: RecordingUrl, punctuate: true, tier: "enhanced", summarize: "v2", }); ``` ### Summarize the Call From Deepgram's transcription, isolate the summary: **`JavaScript`** ```javascript JavaScript const summary = result.results.summary.short; ``` ## Sending Summary Messages Now that you have a summary of the call, you can send it to both the caller and the agent. ### Send the Summary via SMS Finally, you can send Deepgram's summary via SMS: **`JavaScript`** ```javascript JavaScript for (let number of [process.env.FORWARD_NUMBER, caller]) { await twilioClient.messages.create({ body: summary, to: number, from: twilioNumber, }); } ``` Save both files again, and deploy all functions in your service. ## Testing Your Implementation To test your implementation, call your Twilio number, pick it up on your "agent device", speak, and hang up. You should receive a summary message via SMS a few seconds later. ## Full Sample Code In case you need it for reference, we provide the full sample code used in this tutorial below: **`JavaScript`** ```javascript JavaScript // /inbound exports.handler = function (context, event, callback) { let twiml = new Twilio.twiml.VoiceResponse(); const dial = twiml.dial({ record: "record-from-answer-dual", recordingStatusCallback: "/transcribe", }); dial.number(process.env.FORWARDING_NUMBER); return callback(null, twiml); }; // /transcribe import { DeepgramClient } from "@deepgram/sdk"; const deepgram = new DeepgramClient({ apiKey: process.env.DEEPGRAM_API_KEY }); exports.handler = async function (context, event, callback) { const { RecordingUrl, CallSid } = event; const twilioClient = context.getTwilioClient(); const { from: caller, to: twilioNumber } = await twilioClient.calls(CallSid).fetch(); const result = await deepgram.listen.v1.media.transcribeUrl({ url: RecordingUrl, punctuate: true, tier: "enhanced", summarize: "v2", }); const summary = result.results.summary.short; for (let number of [process.env.FORWARDING_NUMBER, caller]) { await twilioClient.messages.create({ body: summary, to: number, from: twilioNumber, }); } return callback(null, true); }; ``` ## Related pages - [Automatically Generating WebVTT & SRT Captions](./pre-recorded-audio-automatically-generating-webvtt-and-srt-captions.md) - [Getting Started with Deepgram Whisper Cloud](./pre-recorded-audio-deepgram-whisper-cloud.md) - [Generating and Saving Transcripts From the Terminal](./pre-recorded-audio-generating-and-saving-transcripts-from-the-terminal.md) - [Using Callbacks to Return Transcripts to Your Server](./pre-recorded-audio-using-callbacks-to-return-transcripts-to-your-server.md) - [When Callback Is Not Received](./pre-recorded-audio-payload-too-large.md) - [When To Use Multichannel and Diarization](./pre-recorded-audio-multichannel-vs-diarization.md) - [When To Use Keywords and Search](./pre-recorded-audio-keywords-vs-search.md) # Agent Instructions Cite this page’s canonical URL and keep its documentation version. 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