ListenLine

Twilio number required

Family portal · Canada

They dial one number. They hear what you left.

Record a message or upload a song. When they call your Twilio number, they press 1 for messages or 2 for music. A cell number or a TextNow number will not play this library.

Create a household account

On the call

1 messages · 2 music

Each recording stops at 5 minutes. The 8-digit listener code is only a backup if the call does not arrive on your Twilio number.

Get the number

How to get a Twilio number for this site

ListenLine answers only a number whose phone company sends the call here. Twilio is the service this site is built for.

  1. Open a Twilio account. Go to twilio.com and sign up. Twilio will ask you to verify a phone you already own. That verification number is not the number they will call.
  2. Buy a voice number. In the Twilio console, open Phone Numbers, then Buy a number. Choose a Canadian number with Voice turned on if they will dial from Canada.
  3. Put this site on the public internet with HTTPS. Twilio cannot reach a computer that only has http://127.0.0.1:8787. Use a host name such as https://your-site.example.
  4. Point the number at ListenLine. On that Twilio number, set “A call comes in” to Webhook, HTTP POST, and this address: https://listenline.org/ivr/voice. When you deploy, that address must be your public https URL plus /ivr/voice.
  5. Connect the account token. In this app’s .env file set PUBLIC_BASE_URL to your https site and TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN to the token from the Twilio console. Restart ListenLine.
  6. Save that same number on your library page. That is the only number they dial. A trial Twilio account can place test calls only to numbers you verified until you upgrade the account.

This is not a way around prison phones

In Canada, inmate calling is controlled by the Correctional Service of Canada and by provincial and territorial jails. Calls usually go only to numbers on an approved list, are time-limited, and are recorded except for solicitor-client calls. ListenLine only answers a normal phone number and plays audio. It does not hide a call, bypass monitoring, or put a number onto a facility list. A facility has to allow that Twilio number before anyone inside can dial it.

Upload only recordings you have the right to use. This portal does not fetch, rip, or pirate music.