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I'd like to start using Twilio portal to send Whatsapp messages and/or SMS.
For SMS I didn't find particular problem, whilst for Whatsapp I found that there are many things to consider.
Before buying some credit on Twilio site I need to get answer to all my following questions :
1) I'd like to customize my Whatsapp icon by changing the Twilio logo: is it possible ?
2) I understood the sandbox for Whatsapp is not intended for "production" use, it's only for test uses.
...so the use of international Whatsapp number should stop and this is good for me; it seems that
the use of sandbox could finish when some approvals of Mr. Whatsapp should happen, but I can't understand what Whatsapp
should approve.
3) Should I have a new Italian mobile number to bind to Whatsapp Twilio services to get an Italian number for
Whatsapp reaching my customers ?
4) Should I create a Facebook profile... I'm only developing for a possible business (but not mine) and I don't want
to bother myself with Facebook.
5) Can I send ads and/or reminders to my 1000 customers via whatsapp with Twilio ? I don't want to bother my customers with :
"please register ..." or "join my sandbox" or whatelse. I don't want Whatsapp block my account too because of
something that I didn't understand : "opt-in", I read somewhere on Twilio website.
6) I'd like to send a picture with my business logo to my Whatsapp customer, but the mediaUrl only accepts http or https; I loaded
my picture in the Assets area, but as I read, anybody could reach that picture and that is not very beautyful. I changed to
private asset my picture, but in such case the resource has no longer an http/https prefix, how can I reach my private picture ?
could I load my picture from my disk with Python ?
7) I don't want to manage inbound messages (neither SMS, nor Whatsapp), since if somebody send me a reply that cost me, I'd like
to disallow inbound messages, is it possible ?
Thanks.
Over
Twilio developer evangelist here.
When you are approved to use the API by WhatsApp, you will get a new business profile which you will be able to use your own images for.
WhatsApp are rolling out access to the API in a controlled manner. To get approved you need to request access to the WhatsApp API.
You will need to purchase a Twilio number that will get enabled as a WhatsApp business number when your request is approved. You can choose whichever country you want as long as Twilio has numbers available in that country.
WhatsApp is owned by Facebook and the API is ultimately administered through Facebook. You will need a business profile, but our sales team can help with setting it up.
In order to send messages to your users via WhatsApp, WhatsApp's terms state that your users need to opt in to receive those messages. Notably this is not through the use of sending a message saying "join random-words" that is just how the Twilio API for WhatsApp sandbox works. You do have to be able to demonstrate that your users have opted in to receive messages though. Also, with WhatsApp there are further restrictions. If you are outside of a session (which lasts 24 hours since the last message the user sent you) then you can only send messages in pre-approved templates. Once a user replies to you the messages can then be freeform.
You can host images behind HTTP basic authentication and then give the url in the format https://username:password#example.com/image.jpeg. That way, Twilio can access your image but no-one else can. I don't think it's possible to do that with Twilio Assets though.
It's not possible to disallow inbound messages to a WhatsApp number.
Related
By default, Twilio trial accounts can only send SMS to numbers that are listed as Verified Caller IDs in the Twilio console. These numbers have to be added manually, and require a verification message before they can receive SMS. This is an excellent feature for development, as it prevents accidentally sending SMS to wrong numbers.
My problem, is that I am developing for a client whose account is already out of trial status. I don't want the software in development to be able to send text messages to any number, because there is a risk of sending dev messages to the client's actual customers. However, we need to be able to send to some numbers for testing. Is there any way to turn the trial behavior back on? That is, can we somehow configure Twilio to only allow sending SMS to verfied numbers, even if it is not a trial account?
If this isn't possible, I think I can query the Outgoing Caller IDs resource from my program to verify the recipient number against the list before sending. However, this puts the responsibility back on my development team, and the possibility for mistakes remains. I'd like to be able to block the behavior at the Twilio level.
This behavior is only applied for trial accounts, however I'll pass this feedback on internally.
You'll need to replicate this behavior yourself for your applications using an upgraded account.
As you mentioned, you can query the Outgoing Caller IDs to get the phone numbers you have already verified with Twilio and use that as an accept list.
However, for your use case, you can store and fetch the accept list using whatever way is most convenient for you, like in code, file, database, etc.
Depending on your needs, you could embed this logic directly into your app, or use a single shared library, or create a web API that all other apps have to use to send texts.
Good luck! We can't wait to see what you build!
Update after getting internal feedback.
You can create a new trial account, even with the same Twilio profile, which would give you promotional credits and the same verified Caller ID limits again.
The promotional credit should last you a long time for test scenarios.
I am building a service where we need to create a new phone number to each new account and later act as its Whatsapp intermediary. So every new user can have their own Whatsapp number and see chats (and interract with them) in our external app. Basically a client for whatsapp numbers. Is there a way to do it with Twilio or Vonage? I tried to but it seems like it allows to build such functionalities only with one, WhatsappBusiness account. But it doesn't allow to scale new numbers programmatically.
Twilio developer evangelist here.
We do have an alternative process for creating accounts that service other businesses through WhatsApp if you are an independent software vendor or system integrator. However, it's still not an API process. I believe this is because there is an amount of back and forth between you, Twilio and Facebook to set up, review, and approve each business account and number.
The restrictive nature of this is on Facebook's side, since they have stricter rules for how WhatsApp can be used to engage users. So I don't imagine any partner will be able to offer this process entirely through an API.
I am trying to use a Twilio phone number for Apple's two factor authentication, but when I set up the phone number on Apple's site the initial verification SMS is never received by the Twilio number. I have confirmed that Apple is able to send the text to a Google Voice number. I have also confirmed with Apple support that the message sent is a standard SMS. Is there something on Twilio's side preventing receiving the message?
This is actually by design. By default, Twilio long code numbers can't receive SMS messages from short code numbers. Look for the section titled "Are you expecting to receive SMS from a short code?" at the following link. https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/223133447-Not-Receiving-Incoming-SMS-and-MMS-Messages-on-Twilio-Phone-Number
When I asked this question the functionality wasn't available at all, but now the feature can be requested. There are caveats. https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/223181668-Can-Twilio-numbers-receive-SMS-from-a-short-code-
As a followup to ryechus' answer, I requested this functionality and was still not able to receive 2fa codes from apple in Twilio. Their support said:
the unfortunate limitation you're likely facing is that I have know
Apple to prevent verification codes from being sent to virtual phone
numbers.
Some services review the offered number and only send verification SMS
to phone numbers associated with genuine handsets as a measure to
protect against fraud.
Unfortunately, regardless of the Twilio configuration, in my
experience Apple will not delivery verification messages to Twilio.
Interestingly, it does work with google voice.
I have been trying to personalize my messages and send in masses to my customers in google spreadsheet through whatsapp. Have been trying to work on this with an expert but it seems that currently they only allow twilio number which we have to buy from them. May I check whether any of you know when twilio will be able to enable non-twilio number(our personal contact number) for the whatsapp?
WhatsApp does not support certain uses cases, so verify this is this a promotional use case.
You will need to WhatsApp enable a Twilio number. Based on where you are located, porting your number to Twilio may be an option.
WhatsApp Commerce Policy
What use cases and businesses are allowed to use WhatsApp on Twilio.
There is any way for send text message to mobile number by any free service.
I have done that by twilio, but I don't want to purchase any thing,
Is there any in-build functionality in rails, to send text message in phone number like email ?
There is No build-in functionality in rails for sending text messages.
Instead of that you can use third party services. (msg91, sendgrid,
gupshup). In that Per account they will give 100 free sms per month.
You can use that service without buying anything.
If you want to send more messages you have to purchase paid services.
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