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Plugin Description
Research has proven click to call buttons on mobile friendly websites raise conversions, increase revenues and customer satisfaction. The easier you make it for your visitors to call you the more times your phone will ring, it really is that simple!
This plugin was built to help get my own phone ringing. It soon became something more powerful which could answer the phone, record calls, take voicemail when I wasn’t around and automatically reply to text messages.
Basic version
This “Click to Call Button” / “Call Now Button” plugin will show an icon to your visitors on mobile devices which makes it easy for them to call you.
This link uses the ‘tel‘ link protocol which instructs mobile phones to prompt the user to confirm their intent to call, here’s an example link:
<a href="tel:+447987654321">Call Me!</a>
The button can be styled with options for different colors; curves on corners, transparency / opacity plus control over where it is placed.
The settings page for the plugin lets you specify what days and times the button should be displayed on your site; it then uses JavaScript to show and hide itself automatically.
You can choose to show the button the moment a page loads or you can wait thirty, sixty or ninety seconds before making it visible.
The button will automatically include Google Analytics onclick events tracking so you can monitor the number of calls you get.
If you’re only running the basic version of the plugin the button will be hidden on large screen browsers. That’s the biggest limitation of all the click to call and call now button plugins which use the tel link protocol: they don’t work on desktop machines with fully featured browsers like Chrome! That’s why I wrote some advanced options into the plugin to overcome that restriction.
Advanced version
The advanced options of the plugin turns your website into a telephone with call recording, voicemail and SMS / text message features thanks to the Twilio API.
Please note: you do not need a Twilio account to use the basic features of the plugin, only the advanced ones.
Using WEBRTC (web real time communications) it is possible to turn browsers into telephones which enable your users to click and call from their computer, no additional software is required, the user simply clicks the icon and grants your website access to their microphone, see screenshots.
Within moments the phone number you set in the options will start ringing and you’ll be able to chat with your visitor; the only difference is instead of them using a phone to call you they’re using the microphone and speakers on their computer to chat with you.
The user doesn’t have to fill in any forms as they call through their computer; this gives them instant satisfaction waiting for a callback; they don’t need any extra software and most modern browsers are supported. If your user’s browser does not support the features needed to make a phone call through the web the button will be hidden from their view.
Advanced features:
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Inbound Call Handler You can point an unlimited amount of Twilio numbers to the plugin and have them forward calls to the number you set; see the settings page for the Request URL you need to configure your numbers with.
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Call Recording Call recording can easily be enabled or disabled. This records both calls through the website button and inbound phone calls.
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Answering Machine / Voicemail When you are unable to take a call the built in answering machine will ask your callers to leave a message. This also works on both the button and inbound phone calls.
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SMS and email notifications Get recordings of calls and voicemail messages sent to you by SMS text message, email or both.
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Control the plugin by SMS If you point a SMS capable Twilio Number to the plugin you will be able to turn the service on and off by texting on or off to that number. See the settings page for the Request URL to point your numbers to. This gives you control over the button when you’re away from your desk; at the airport departure lounge or just playing golf!
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SMS forwarder You can point any number of SMS capable Twilio numbers at the plugin and each time someone texts your number they will receive your default reply and you’ll get their message forwarded on to you by SMS, email or both. This tiny feature turns your site into an SMS to email client and makes it easy to get your inbound text messages sent to an inbox.
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SMS Keywords to PHP Functions The first word of any inbound text message is called a ‘keyword’, the plugin maps keywords to PHP functions which make the text message gateway flexible and extensible. Start your function names with ctcb_sms_ followed by the keyword, for example: ctcb_sms_hello, this function would then be executed each time you received a message starting with the word hello.
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Action Hook’able There are action hooks at the core points in the plugin so that you can write your own plugins to extend the functionality of this one.
Screenshots
The Click to Call Button on my website; viewed with an iPhone.
Once I click the button my iPhone asks me to confirm my intent to place a call; the number shown is a Twilio number which is powered by this plugin and that value can be configured on the plugin’s settings page.
Advanced mode – button dormant: The Click to Call Button in action on my laptop; viewed with the latest version of the Chrome browser the button. The color can be changed in the settings page to match the look and style of your wite.
Advanced mode – button clicked: The button will change to the color you specify in the settings page once it has been clicked.
Advanced mode – microphone access: The browser will ask your visitor if it can have access to their microphone; if your website is SSL secure (https) the browser will only ask this once, on unsecure sites (http) it will ask the user to confirm every time they click the button.
Advanced mode – microphone live status: in the title bar of the browser (right at the very top of the screen) there should be an icon that indicates the microphone is live.
The end result! My phone ringing with a call through my click to call button!
