What is Twilio?
Twilio is a service that helps businesses send texts, make calls, and communicate with customers. It’s like a toolkit that lets you add messaging or calling features to your app or website easily, without needing to build everything yourself. This way, you can stay connected with your users through SMS, WhatsApp, voice, and more.
Getting Connected
Once you have registered for a Twilio account you will be directed to the Twilio main dashboard as shown below.
To use Twilio's SMS and WhatsApp features you are required to purchase a number
Simply click the - Get phone number button.
Purchasing a Twilio Number
Here, you can select the country you want to register the number in. There are standard filters that allow you to type in numbers you'd like to include within the number itself. You can also refine the filter using the 'Advanced Search' to get a more localized number if you prefer, such as one based on your city.
Once you've decided on a number go ahead and purchase it.
Note: You can 'purchase' a number without paying anything. It will be defined as a trial number that you can use for testing purposes only. Once you enter your billing details, the number will become active.
Once done it will take you through the next steps, which are mostly tick boxes and verifying your number select.
Tick agree and Click next
The select end user step is where you can chose between Business or Individual. This is optional to what you do. For example, when selecting Business you will have to fill out your business credentials. If selecting Individual, no business details are required - just a photo ID is required.
When you reach this step, if you have not already set up your bundle, you will need to do that first. If you have already created a bundle in Twilio, it will be displayed in the 'Assign Approved Bundle' tab.
Creating a Bundle
To create a bundle within Twilio, navigate to the main dashboard > Regulatory Compliance > Bundles
Follow the steps - it will guide you through step by step.
Creating a Service
Creating a Messaging Service in Twilio enables you to send messages. To set up your messaging service, go to the main Twilio dashboard and select Messaging > Services. You will then see the dashboard shown in the image below.
Messaging Services are for sending bulk SMS and WhatsApp messages.
Link The Service to Your Phone Number
The final step is to link the Messaging Service to your Twilio phone number.
First, navigate to the main Twilio dashboard > Phone numbers > Manage > Active numbers.
Click on your phone number you want to add the messaging service to.
Once you have selected the number to add the service to, a new window will open. Scroll down toward the bottom.
Under the Messaging Service tab you will be able to select the service you have created. Select the service and click Save at the bottom left side.
That's you now connected with Twilio and ready to start sending SMS and WhatsApp messages to your customers.
Below is a simple flow diagram for reference: