Send SMS Messages with Cloud Functions For Firebase Gen 2

This tutorial guides users in setting up a second-generation HTTP function using Firebase Cloud Functions Gen 2 and the Vonage Messages API to send and receive SMS messages, rather than relying on the SMS API. Users need to create a Firebase project, set up their environment with the required APIs enabled, install necessary dependencies, and deploy the functions. The tutorial then proceeds to set up a Vonage API account and virtual phone number, installs the Vonage Server SDK for Node.js, and adds environment variables for authentication. It also creates two functions: one to capture incoming SMS messages and log them to Firebase Realtime Database, and another to send SMS messages using the Vonage Messages API. Finally, users can test out their setup by sending an SMS message to the virtual phone number linked to the application.