SMS (Basic): Connect, verify, disconnect Twilio

The SMS feature is devoted to urgent client communication. To send SMS messages to your clients, you should first connect your account to Twilio and wait for it to verify your firm. In this article, we will learn how to set the integration with Twilio.

Note! The SMS feature is available only for firm owners from the US and Canada.

SMS connection and Twilio verification

Due to A2P 10DLC regulations, Twilio should vet and approve all brands to let them send and receive SMS. It is critical that the details you provide exactly match those in your US EIN listing (or that of their relevant national Tax ID if your business is located outside the US).

To start the connection and verification, follow these steps:

Step 1. Connection and brand registration
Step 2. Campaign verification
Step 3. Sharing your phone number with clients

Step 1. Connect to Twilio and register a brand

1. Go to Settings > Integrations, select the SMS subtab and click Connect SMS.

2. Read the Info page of the connection sidebar about regulations and payment to connect to Twilio.

3. Fill out the Firm info sidebar. Ensure all provided information matches official company records:

Attention! We strongly recommend you verify all details via your tax form or equivalent national tax record. If there are any differences (for example, in the business name or address), it may impact messaging limits and registration. Learn more about registration and vetting in the Twilio help article.

a. Firm name (Exactly as registered with the IRS)

b. Country (For now, available for US and Canada only)

c. Street address, city, state/province/region and postal code

d. Business type

e. Tax ID number (exactly as registered with the IRS, it should contain 9 digits without any symbol in between them, including prefixes)

Note! For Canadian businesses, Twilio requires using a Canadian Business Number (BN) instead of the NEQ (Numéro d'entreprise du Québec) or other corporation, incorporation, registry ID numbers. If you've submitted your NEQ before, you must update your registration with the correct Business Number (BN) to comply with the current requirements.

f. Industry

g. Website (Crucial for Twilio approval. If you don't have any, create one using our site builder. Alternatively, use your TaxDome portal login page if it has the firm member's name you provide in the subsequent sidebar).

h. Social network (Optional)

Click Continue to proceed to the next step of brand registration.

4. Complete the Contact info sidebar:

Full name
Phone number (should contain the country code)
Business title
Job position

Click Continue to proceed to the next step of brand registration.

5. In the Payment sidebar, top up your balance and make a first payment.

Once submitted, the brand registration process with Twilio is fully handled by TaxDome.

Note! Twilio verification may take up to 30 business days. Filling in the website field can expedite the registration process.

Step 2. Verify a campaign

You don't need to do something during this step; after your brand is registered in Twilio, the campaign verification will start automatically.

We will notify you once the campaign verification is finished, so monitor your email for updates on the verification status.

During Twilio verification, problems may arise due to non-compliance and incorrect data. For example, the company's name does not match the one registered in official documents (e.g., the IRS for the USA). Read more in the Troubleshooting article.

Step 3. Know your phone number

Once your registration is complete, you will be automatically provided with the phone number (you can't select it). You can find your phone number on the SMS tab of the Settings > Integrations page.

We strongly recommend you share your phone number with your clients so they can reach you at any time. For example, you can inform your clients about it with firm announcements or by sending bulk message to them.

Note! Once Twilio is connected, when signing up, your clients have a choice whether to consent to receive up to 100 SMS per month from you. If consent is given, they can also unsubscribe at any time.

Port your phone number from another Twilio account

If you already have an existing account in Twilio and want to save the phone number, you can transfer it to the new account. The whole process can take up to 4 weeks and will cost you $1.15.

To port your phone number, fill out the TaxDome form. In the form, specify:

Email address: The email address associated with your TaxDome firm.
Phone number: The full phone number you wish to move.
WhatsApp sender enabled: Let us know if any numbers have a sender enabled on them that need transferring.
Owning entity: The provider from which you purchased this number: Twilio or ZipWhip (Twilio's daughter company).
Losing/gaining account SID: The AC SID for the account or subaccount that gives/receives the phone number.
Approval from the losing/gaining account: The losing/gaining account needs to contact Twilio support to approve this transfer. Alternatively, you can CC them on your support ticket and have them reply approving the transfer.
Time frame: The requested time frame for your numbers to be transferred: ASAP or a later date/time with the timezone.

Phone number regulations

If any of your numbers have regulatory requirements, we’ll need the address SID and bundle SID already approved and on the gaining account. You can find them using these steps.

WhatsApp sender

If the phone number is currently registered with the WhatsApp API, specify if you would like the WhatsApp sender transferred as part of this transfer request. The WhatsApp sender must be on the same account SID as the phone number to continue working. Before the transfer for the WhatsApp Sender:

1. Remove the phone number and associated sender from any messaging service sender pool.

2. Read and accept the WhatsApp Terms of Service on the gaining account.

Disconnect Twilio

To disable Twilio integration entirely, go to Settings > Integrations from the sidebar menu, select the SMS tab and click Disconnect at the bottom right.

Note! If you disconnect Twilio from your TaxDome firm, the SMS campaign and the assigned phone number will be irreversibly deleted.

Troubleshooting

This section moved here.