Poll Everywhere Monitor

A monitoring tool that sends phone call notifications via Twilio when polls are posted on Poll Everywhere.

Features

• 📞 Phone call notifications when polls are posted
• 🌐 Web interface for easy configuration
• 🔄 Supports multiple poll types (text polls, multiple choice polls)
• ⚡ Configurable polling interval
• 🔍 General poll detection that works with any Poll Everywhere poll format

Setup

1. Install dependencies:

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate
   pip install -r requirements_phone.txt

2. Configure Twilio credentials in .env file:

   cp env.phone.example .env
   # Edit .env and add your Twilio credentials

3. Start the TwiML server (for phone call messages):

   python twiml_server.py
   # In another terminal, expose it with ngrok:
   ngrok http 80

4. Update .env with your ngrok URL:

   TWILIO_TWIML_URL=https://your-ngrok-url.ngrok-free.app/twiml
   

Usage

Web Interface (Recommended)

Start the web app:

python web_app.py

Open http://localhost:5001 in your browser and:

1. Enter your Poll Everywhere URL (e.g., https://pe.app/krishavsingla)
2. Enter your phone number (e.g., +15551234567)
3. Click "Start Monitoring"

Command Line

Start monitoring:

python pollwatch_phone.py

The script uses environment variables from .env:

• POLL_URL - Poll Everywhere page URL
• TWILIO_TO_NUMBER - Phone number to receive calls
• INTERVAL_SEC - Polling interval (default: 30 seconds)

Configuration

Required Environment Variables

• TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID - Your Twilio Account SID
• TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN - Your Twilio Auth Token
• TWILIO_FROM_NUMBER - Your Twilio phone number (must be verified)
• TWILIO_TWIML_URL - Your TwiML endpoint URL (ngrok or Twilio TwiML Bin)

Optional Environment Variables

• INTERVAL_SEC - Polling interval in seconds (default: 30)

How It Works

1. Polls the Poll Everywhere page at regular intervals
2. Detects when a new poll is posted or when a poll starts accepting responses
3. Extracts the username from the Poll URL
4. Makes a phone call via Twilio with a custom message: "{username} has just posted a poll. Go check it out!"
5. Tracks state to avoid duplicate notifications

Project Structure

• pollwatch_phone.py - Main monitoring script (command line)
• web_app.py - Web interface for managing monitors
• twiml_server.py - Flask server for generating TwiML responses
• env.phone.example - Example environment variables file

License

MIT