Recommendation Request for SMS

[premium2]

I have a client who is currently all set up and operable. Sip trunk is Callcentric, and works properly. The customer requests SMS service that integrates with 3cx. Callcentric's SMS doesn't do that.

Is there a recommended provider (just for sms) that we can implement? I would like something that integrates well.

 

[Evolute IT]

Twilio, use the Hosted SMS service (partial porting of the numbers to enable SMS only.)

 

[premium2]

I had a look at Twillio earlier.......... Numerous things in their interface are not yet familiar to me. Is there a good tutorial to reference? Thank you.

 

[Evolute IT]

I had a look at Twillio earlier.......... Numerous things in their interface are not yet familiar to me. Is there a good tutorial to reference? Thank you.

Probably a few on Youtube.

 

[premium2]

I'll experiment a bit tonight. I'm not one of the folks that lives for coding.... so it's going to be a challenge.

 

[Evolute IT]

I'll experiment a bit tonight. I'm not one of the folks that lives for coding.... so it's going to be a challenge.

We'd be happy to assist if needed.

 

[SteveITS]

Twilio, use the Hosted SMS service

Since Twilio isn't very fast at replying, can I ask, does this feed SMS into 3CX apps? Or is it "hosted" in the sense of using their web site?

(I find their web site very confusing for some reason...)

 

[Guillaume Bourgeois]

The last time I checked Twilio, SMS functionality was only available through the API.
There wasn't a cloud application for Twilio, but it worked well with 3CX.

 

[SteveITS]

Maybe it's their labeling that is confusing me...? They wrote me, "Hosted SMS is a feature offered by Twilio that allows businesses to add SMS capabilities to their existing voice-capable US toll-free phone numbers without needing to port the number into Twilio. This means that businesses can leverage Twilio's powerful messaging API to send and receive text messages while maintaining their current voice services with another provider." Fine but note that also only mentions toll-free numbers.

However further down their emailed feature list it says, "The business can manage SMS communications through Twilio's platform." A product announcement on their site links "hosted SMS" to https://www.twilio.com/en-us/messaging/channels/sms, which doesn't contain the word "hosted"...hence my confusion. Just trying to understand before I involve a client.

If "hosted SMS" is just the normal 3CX SMS setup then I am way overthinking it.

 

[Evolute IT]

Yeah it's just a partial port of the number to allow the Twilio Messaging API to use that DID inbound and outbound for SMS only, and leave the calling to another carrier.

Telnyx also has a similar feature.

 

[biggreyphone]

Flowroute works well

 

[SteveITS]

Just to follow up, after telling me the partner program would take 1-2 weeks for approval, 3 weeks later they tell me they will not consider any new applications until next quarter.

On the plus side they told me about twilio.org, where they offer nonprofit discounts.

I'll look into the others, thanks.

 

[SteveITS]

@ConceptsWeb Are you able to set up a new Twilio account for SMS? After a bunch of back and forth they tell me, "The Hosted SMS feature is currently in developer preview, and as such, it is not recommended for new customers to start using it at this stage." It sounds like they don't have a way to apply...or rather their sales folks aren't telling me and the "request access" links on their site go to general "about Hosted SMS" type web pages with no way to apply that I can see. Clicking around their docs I see things like this which talk about replacing their current API by the end of this year, which may be why they are discouraging new accounts.

@biggreyphone Flowroute seemed to be a functional option in general, however, they are looking for a very high volume of texts in order to set up an account for this client. Or we migrate all our clients, or similar. Basically, not feasible.