Text back every missed call
You're up a ladder or with a client, the phone rings, and by the time you ring back they've booked someone else. I built this n8n workflow for trades and clinics. When Twilio reports a missed call, the caller gets a text with your booking link, the call goes into your Google Sheet and you get an email about it.
Buy the pack The pack, $19, plus local sales tax or VAT where it applies
The question
this build answers
How do I automatically text back a missed call with my booking link?
Send your Twilio number's missed calls to this n8n workflow. It texts the caller your booking link, logs the call in a Google Sheet, emails you, and sends one nudge after 4 hours, the default, if they haven't booked or replied. STOP is respected, recent callers aren't texted twice, and it starts in preview mode, so every text comes to your own inbox until you switch sending on.
From the first trigger
to the finished job.
The working version, step by step.
Catch the missed call
Twilio posts each missed, busy or voicemail call to a webhook in n8n. Answered and outbound calls are dropped. Every webhook needs your secret key, so a stranger who finds the address can't trigger texts.
Skip the people you shouldn't text
Withheld numbers, numbers on your ignore list, anyone who has texted STOP and anyone texted recently are logged and never texted. The same call is never texted twice.
Send your booking link
Everyone else gets one text with your booking link. After hours the wording changes and says when you open. The link carries a short ref, so a booking closes that exact call.
Log it and tell you
Each call goes into the Calls tab of your Google Sheet and you get an email. Replies are emailed to you too, and a reply with one of your urgent words, such as leak or emergency, is flagged URGENT. You edit that word list.
One nudge, then it stops
If the caller hasn't booked or replied after 4 hours, one nudge goes out, and only inside your sending window. You can change the delay and the window in the settings. When your booking tool posts to the booking webhook, the call is marked Booked and nothing more is sent.
Remind you to ring back
It emails you once about any texted caller nobody has rung back after two hours, while you're open (you mark a caller Called back in the sheet once you've rung them).
A digest every morning
A second workflow emails you at 08:00 with who was missed, who booked and who is still open.
The pack, $19, plus local sales tax or VAT where it applies
Missed call text back for n8n, with Twilio and a Google Sheets call log
You pay on Stripe and the receipt brings you back to a signed download. The zip holds the missed-call workflow and the daily digest for your own n8n, a README with the Twilio setup and a test plan, and a sample sheet. It starts in preview mode, so the first texts come to your own inbox.
Buy the packWho this is for
Plumbers, electricians, cleaners, physios and anyone else who misses calls because their hands are full. The caller who gets a booking link straight away has a reason to wait for you instead of ringing the next number.
What it doesn't do
It doesn't answer calls, and there's no voice AI or back-and-forth chat. It doesn't book the appointment either: your booking link does that, and a call is only marked Booked if your booking tool posts the phone number or the ref back to the workflow.
It doesn't check Twilio's request signature. The webhook key is a shared secret, so keep the addresses private. It doesn't text withheld numbers, send WhatsApp messages or sync to a CRM.
How I tested it
I last tested it on 31 Oct 2026 on n8n 2.23.4 with real Google Sheets and Gmail. A fake call, a text reply, a booking, the hourly check and the daily digest all ran without errors. Twilio wasn't connected, so no real text has gone out, which is why it starts in preview mode.
What it costs to run
There's no AI key and no model call. You pay Twilio for the number and for each text at Twilio's own rates, on top of whatever your n8n costs you. If you forward calls through Twilio to your mobile, Twilio also charges for those call minutes. In the US, Twilio needs A2P 10DLC registration before texts to US callers are delivered, and that runs on Twilio's timeline, not mine.
Before you spend anything
The fit matters.
Who should not build this
If someone already answers your phone all day, or your phone system already texts missed callers, you don't need a second one.
If you don't have an online booking link, the text has nothing useful to send. Get a booking page first.
If you want an AI that talks to callers, this isn't it. It sends a text and keeps a record.
If your n8n can't be reached from the internet, Twilio can't reach the webhooks, so it won't run.
Yours to keep
What lands
on your desk.
- Two n8n workflows to import into your own n8n: the missed-call workflow and the daily digest
- A README with the Twilio setup, the sheet tabs, every setting and a step-by-step test plan
- A sample-calls-sheet.csv to make the Calls tab
See the work
Open the proof.
Published case studies of running systems. Each links to the thing itself.
A few useful
answers.
What do I need to run it?
n8n, reachable from the internet. Workflow 1 needs n8n 1.102.0 or later and the digest needs 1.59.0 or later. You also need a Twilio number with Voice and SMS, and Gmail and Google Sheets credentials. There's no AI key. Callers have to ring your Twilio number, either as your published number or with your current line forwarding to it.
Will it text the same person twice?
No. The same call is never texted twice, anyone texted recently is skipped, and there is at most one nudge.
What happens if a caller replies STOP?
The caller is marked Opted out and isn't texted again.
Does it work with US numbers?
Yes, once your Twilio account has A2P 10DLC registration. Until then, texts to US callers aren't delivered.
Can I use another SMS provider?
Yes, if it can post the caller's number and the call outcome to the webhook. You swap the two Twilio send nodes for its SMS node.
Has it sent real texts?
I last tested it on 31 Oct 2026 on n8n 2.23.4 with real Google Sheets and Gmail. A fake call, a text reply, a booking, the hourly check and the daily digest all ran without errors. Twilio wasn't connected, so no real text has gone out, which is why it starts in preview mode.
What does it cost?
$19 once, plus local sales tax or VAT where it applies, paid on Stripe. Each text costs whatever Twilio charges you.
A little further down
the same path.
Related builds for the rest of your business.
Make this work for you
Your tools.
Your working version.
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