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Connect Twilio

Create a Twilio account, get a sending number and connect it so Pop Dispatch can text customers.

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OwnerAdministrator
Hosting
Office serverYour own hosting
Devices
ServerWeb browser
Business
All businesses

Checked against Pop Dispatch 0.1.0

You will connect your own Twilio account so Pop Dispatch can send customer text messages. Twilio charges you for the number and for each message; Pop Dispatch adds no fee.

Before you start #

  • You need the owner or manager role.
  • Read Twilio's pages on messaging rules for your country. Some countries require registering the business or the message type before texts are delivered. Twilio's own pages (twilio.com/docs/messaging) are the source for those rules.

Create the account and number #

  1. Go to twilio.com and sign up. Verify your email address and phone number as Twilio asks.
  2. In the Twilio Console, buy a phone number that can send text messages. The Console's phone number pages show which numbers support SMS.
  3. Write the number down with a plus and its country code, for example +15557122661.

Find your account details #

  1. Open the Twilio Console home page at twilio.com/console.
  2. Find the Account SID, which starts with AC, and the Auth Token. Twilio shows the token behind a "show" control.

Connect it in Pop Dispatch #

  1. Open Settings > Connections and find "Twilio text messages".
  2. Type the Account SID, the Auth Token and the sending number.
  3. In "Country code for numbers without one", type the digits your customers' numbers start with, for example 1 for the United States and Canada. Pop Dispatch uses it for numbers saved without a plus.
  4. Select "Save details", then "Switch on".
  5. Select "Test connection". Pop Dispatch reads your Twilio account with the details you gave and shows whether Twilio accepted them. The test sends no text.

Check a real message #

  1. Add your own mobile number to a test customer.
  2. Move a test tow call to "Dispatched" and open Settings > Customer messages. The outbox lists a text message as "Sent".
Technical details

Pop Dispatch sends each text with a POST to Twilio's Messages resource for your Account SID (/2010-04-01/Accounts/{AccountSid}/Messages.json) using basic authentication and the fields To, From and Body. Twilio documents this at twilio.com/docs/messaging/api/message-resource. Twilio also supports API keys in place of the Auth Token; Pop Dispatch uses the Account SID and Auth Token pair.

If something goes wrong #

  • "Twilio did not accept the account details": check the Account SID and Auth Token for stray spaces.
  • Texts show "Sent" in Pop Dispatch but do not arrive: check the message log in the Twilio Console for your country's registration rules.