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Twilio Integration (SMS Broadcasting) | Axero Documentation

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Twilio Integration (SMS Broadcasting)

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Communicate with employees on any device with the Axero integration with Twilio. Send your broadcasts via SMS text messages, browser and mobile push notifications, and email alerts. It is a good option to reach frontline workers or send urgent communications in times of crisis.

Before you start, you need a Twilio account, and the steps below assume everything in this list is already in place.

  • A Twilio phone number that can send text messages. This is the number you will enter in step 5. Buy one from the Phone Numbers section of the Twilio Console.
  • A2P 10DLC registration, if you are sending to recipients in the United States. United States carriers require every business that sends text messages from a ten-digit number to register a brand and a campaign with Twilio first. Unregistered messages are filtered more aggressively and carry extra carrier fees. Registration is done in the Twilio Console. Twilio does not publish a fixed review time and it can run to weeks, so start it early and check Twilio’s current guidance for what to expect. See Twilio's A2P 10DLC documentation.
  • If you are sending outside your own country, enable that destination in Twilio first. A new Twilio account can only send to the country you verified at signup. Messages to any other country are blocked until you enable it in the Twilio Console under Messaging, then Settings, then Geo Permissions. See Twilio's SMS Geo Permissions documentation.
  • If you are on a Twilio trial account, each recipient must be verified in Twilio first. Messages to any other number will not arrive. A trial account is given its sending number automatically, so you can skip buying one.

Set up SMS in Axero

1. Go to Control Panel > System > System Properties, then search for "SMS".

The System Properties screen filtered by a search for SMS, listing the six SMS properties

2. Click the edit button for "SMSEnabled" and "SMSEnabledForBroadcasts" and enable both properties. Every SMS property is listed on System Properties.

Red arrows marking the Edit buttons beside SMSEnabled and SMSEnabledForBroadcasts

The Edit dynamic property screen for SMSEnabled with the Value toggle switched to Enabled

The property list showing SMSEnabled and SMSEnabledForBroadcasts set to true

3. Open the Twilio Console and copy both "Account SID" and "Auth Token".

The Twilio Console showing the Account SID and Auth Token in the Account Info panel

4. In System Properties click edit "SMSProviderAccountID" and "SMSProviderAuthToken" and put the two Twilio values just copied to their corresponding property.

Red arrows marking the Edit buttons beside SMSProviderAccountID and SMSProviderAuthToken

The Edit dynamic property screen for SMSProviderAccountID with an empty Value box

5. Click edit for "SMSProviderSenderPhone" property and enter the Twilio phone number that your broadcasts will be sent from.

NOTE: enter the number in international format, with no spaces, hyphens, or other special characters. Write the sender number with the leading plus sign and the country code, for example +15554441111 for a United States number. On the recipient side the country code is what matters, because Axero adds the plus sign if it is missing; a number saved without its country code will not reach anyone.

The property list with a red arrow on the Edit button beside SMSProviderSenderPhone

NOTE: Axero reads these settings once when the site starts, so restart the site now that you have finished changing them. Until you do, text messages will not go out and no error is shown. See Restart Site.

Send SMS Broadcast

1. Go to Create > Broadcast.

The Create menu open on the Axero home page with Broadcast marked

2. Enter in broadcast information then click the "SMS/Text" toggle under "Communication channels".

The Add Broadcast screen with the SMS/Text toggle switched on under Communication channels

3. Finish creating the broadcast by selecting recipients and sending or scheduling.

The Recipients tab of the Add Broadcast screen with a recipient selected

The Send or schedule tab of the Add Broadcast screen with Send now selected

4. Your recipients will receive your broadcast message in Axero and as an SMS text message. Turning on SMS adds a channel rather than replacing one, so everyone still gets the broadcast email and the browser notification in Axero.

NOTE: the number is taken from the Phone field on each recipient's profile. If your site has added other phone fields, such as Mobile Phone or Primary Phone, they are ignored, so a recipient whose number is only in one of those will not get the message. See Default User Profile Fields.

NOTE: Only the Broadcast Headline will show in the SMS body along with a link to the broadcast in Axero. Anything longer than the SMSCharactersLimit property allows is cut at the nearest whole word. That limit is 1600 characters unless someone has changed it.

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