Voice Overview

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SignalWire cXML is a set of actions defined in an XML document you can use to tell SignalWire what to do when you receive an incoming call or instructions for outbound calls.

When a call is made to one of your SignalWire phone numbers, SignalWire looks up the SignalWire cXML document from the URL you configured and reads the instructions you provided to determine what to do.

SignalWire cXML allows you to dynamically control what happens, responding with specific instructions based on the caller, time of day, incoming call, and much more.

Not making a call? Check out Messaging XML for more details.

Request for XML

SignalWire makes an HTTP request to your configured endpoint just like a regular web form submission (POST) or page load (GET). The request includes contextual information about the call, allowing you to respond dynamically and fluidly to the call to meet the needs of your application.

You can configure the endpoint URL and HTTP Method in your phone number settings panel on your SignalWire Dashboard, or via the REST API.

Request parameters

SignalWire sends the following parameters, as either URL query parameters or POST parameters, to your endpoint when it receives a call:

AccountSid
string

The unique ID of the Account this call is associated with.

ApiVersion
string

The version of the SignalWire API. Incoming calls use the API version placed on the number called. Outgoing calls use the version of the REST API request.

CallSid
string

A unique identifier for the call.

CallStatus
string

The status of the call. Can be one of the following values: ringing, in-progress, queued, failed, busy, no-answer, or completed.

Direction
string

An identifier to describe the direction of the call: outbound-dial: calls launched through the <Dial> verb, outbound-api: calls launched through the REST API, inbound: for inbound calls.

From
string

The phone number that sent this call, in E.164 format.

ParentCallSid
string

A unique identifier for the call that created this call.

To
string

The phone number of the call recipient, in E.164 format.

CallStatus values

The following are the possible CallStatus parameter values. These are also used in <Dial>’s DialCallStatus:

Value
ringingThe call is ringing.
in-progressThe call was answered and is in progress.
queuedThe call is ready and in line to initiate.
failedThe call could not be completed. Usually occurs when phone number does not exist.
busyThe caller encountered a busy signal.
no-answerThe call ended without an answer.
completedThe call was answered and ended normally.
canceledThe REST API canceled the call while it was ringing or queued.

Responding to SignalWire

An example of a SignalWire cXML document that reads a message to the caller before playing an audio file:

1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2<Response>
3 <Say>Hello, World!</Say>
4 <Play>https://your-application.com/audio.mp3</Play>
5</Response>

When a message comes into one of your SignalWire phone numbers, SignalWire makes an HTTP request to the URL endpoint you configured for that number. Your response to that request instructs SignalWire on what to do next.

Responses to the HTTP request are in SignalWire cXML. SignalWire starts at the top of your Compatibility XML document and executes your XML commands in order, from top to bottom.

SignalWire cXML verbs and their attributes are case-sensitive, so using <play>instead of <Play> will result in an error.

Status callbacks

SignalWire can send your application callbacks at various lifecycle stages of your call. Status callbacks do not allow you to change the application execution directly, so callbacks do not have to respond with SignalWire cXML, but they allow your application to get updates as a call is happening.

You should respond to any callbacks with a 200 OK or 204 No Content, otherwise you will see failures in your application log on SignalWire.

The StatusCallback request contains the Standard Request Parameters plus the following optional parameters:

AudioInMos
string

The mean opinion score that helps to determine audio quality. The scale is from 1-5 with 1 being worst and 5 being best.

CallbackSource
string

The source of the status callback.

CallDuration
integer

The duration, in seconds, of the finished call. Only present on the completed event.

CallerName
string

The name of the caller. Only available if Caller ID lookup is enabled.

ForwardedFrom
string

The number this call was forwarded from.

HangupBy
string

An indicator of which number ended the call.

HangupDirection
string

An indicator of which direction ended the call.

RecordingDuration
integer

The duration, in seconds, of the recording.

RecordingSid
string

The unique identifier for the audio recording.

RecordingUrl
string

The URL of the recorded audio call.

SequenceNumber
integer

The order in which events occur. Starts at 0. Although events are fired in order, they each take time and may not appear in the order you expect.

Timestamp
string

The timestamp, in RFC 2822 format, of when the event occurred.

Instructions

Instructions (verbs and nouns) tell SignalWire what actions to take during a call. They are executed sequentially, so one instruction must complete fully before the next one is executed. Some instructions have optional attributes that can override the flow of execution, allowing you to dynamically change what happens based on events within the call.

All instructions are case-sensitive, so calling <ThisAction> is different from calling <thisaction>.

Call actions

The following instructions cause the specified action to take place during the call:

Call control

The following instructions control what happens to the call itself: