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Text messages with Twilio

Send an SMS or WhatsApp message from your own Twilio number when a form is answered or an automation runs: a booking confirmation, a reminder, an alert.

What it does

The Text message (Twilio) step sends one SMS or WhatsApp message to one mobile number. The number and the message can use answers from the form, like {{phone}} and {{first_name}}, so each person gets their own text.

Some ways people use it:

  • Confirm a booking as soon as someone books.
  • Text the person on call when an urgent job comes in.
  • Let a customer know their request was approved.

What you need

  • A Twilio account. A trial account works, but it can only text numbers you’ve verified in Twilio.
  • A Twilio phone number that can send SMS in your country, or a Messaging Service.
  • For WhatsApp: a WhatsApp sender approved in Twilio. WhatsApp only delivers these messages to people who have messaged your WhatsApp number in the last 24 hours.

Connect Twilio

  1. Sign in at console.twilio.com. On the home page, under Account info, copy the Account SID (it starts with AC) and the Auth Token.
  2. Under Phone Numbers > Active numbers, copy the number you’ll send from, like +61400000000.
  3. In Rellova, open WorkspaceIntegrations and choose Twilio.
  4. Paste the Auth Token, the number and the Account SID, give the connection a name like Booking texts, and save.

Test on the connection checks the Account SID and Auth Token with Twilio. It doesn’t send a text, so it costs nothing.

Add a text to an automation

  1. Open the automation and add the Text message (Twilio) step.
  2. Choose Send as: SMS or WhatsApp.
  3. In To, put the answer with the person’s mobile number, like {{phone}}. You can also type a fixed number, like the person on call.
  4. Choose the country for numbers written without a country code. With Australia, a number typed as 0412 345 678 is sent to +61 412 345 678.
  5. Write the Message. Use answers in it, like Hi {{first_name}}, your booking for {{date}} is confirmed.
  6. Leave Send from empty to use the number saved with the connection, or put a different Twilio number for this step only.
SettingWhat to know
ToOne number. Spaces, dashes and brackets are fine. 00 at the start counts as +.
MessageUp to 1,600 characters. A text over 160 characters (or 70 with emoji) is sent in parts, and Twilio charges for each part.
Send fromA Twilio number like +61400000000, or a Messaging Service SID (MG…).

The step sends at most one text per run, so if a run is retried, the person isn’t texted twice.

Ask Rellova AI

You can ask Rellova AI for it in your own words, like “text the customer when their booking is approved”. It adds the step, puts the phone answer in To and uses the number saved with your Twilio connection. Connect Twilio first so the step has a connection to use.

If a text isn’t sent

The run shows the step as failed with the reason. You can see it on the run.

What you seeWhat to do
“… isn’t a mobile number”The answer wasn’t a phone number. Make the form question a Phone question, or check the country setting on the step.
There’s no number to send fromAdd your Twilio number to the connection, or to the step’s Send from.
Twilio says the number is unverifiedTrial accounts can only text verified numbers. Verify the number in Twilio, or upgrade the account.
Twilio no longer accepts this connectionThe Auth Token was changed in Twilio. Paste the new one on the connection in Integrations.
WhatsApp messages aren’t deliveredCheck the WhatsApp sender is approved in Twilio, and that the person has messaged you in the last 24 hours.

Any other reason comes from Twilio itself. To see whether a sent text reached the phone, open the messaging logs in the Twilio console.