Twilio

Building a SMS Survey with Twilio and Airtable

David Pacold

• 1 min read

This tutorial demonstrates creating a SMS survey application by integrating Twilio Studio with Airtable. The workflow checks a database for existing contacts, welcomes returning users, retrieves active survey questions, and stores responses—all through text messaging.

Three Airtable Tables

  • Contacts: Stores user names and phone numbers
  • Questions: Contains survey questions with an "Active" status field to control which question is deployed
  • Response: Records user answers, associated contacts, and questions

Workflow Process

The system performs a contact lookup via Airtable API when an SMS arrives. New users are prompted for their name; existing users receive personalized greetings. Both paths lead to retrieving the active survey question and capturing the response.

Technical Requirements

  • Twilio account (trial includes $15 credit)
  • Airtable account (free tier available)
  • HTTP requests to Airtable's REST API using authentication keys
  • Liquid templating in Twilio Studio to reference dynamic variables like incoming phone numbers

The complete implementation enables dynamic, database-driven SMS interactions without custom backend infrastructure.