I'm over at Code for America ( http://codeforamerica.org ) and we've got an app ( https://github.com/codeforamerica/balance/ ) built on Twilio that lets people on food stamps check their EBT card balance via text message.
In ~3 weeks we've got almost 300 successful balance checks so far!
We're trying to expand to states outside California, and I'm bumping up against a tricky issue with some states:
Right now, we're triggering an outbound phone call with sendDigits to navigate the phone tree.
(For example, wait 2 seconds, press 1 to select English, wait 2 seconds, enter the client's EBT card number)
The URL parameter given just basically has a Record with a transcribeCallback.
The problem is in some states, the recording is starting too late (because the phone line starts talking very soon after the EBT card has been input).
My first thought as that the URL request is too slow, but I'm seeing ~25ms response from our app.
Are there any good solutions for this? For example, is there an easy way to record & transcribe the ENTIRE call (i.e., not just AFTER the digits have been pressed, but the whole thing)?