Unable to send Twilio SMS messages from Bitrix24

By now, many clients would have noticed that Twilio SMS messages from their Bitrix24 CRM are not being delivered to their clients.

What’s the reason for this?

For years Twilio and other SMS and call service providers have been requesting for businesses to submit their profiles and all other necessary information they need to approve a company to utilize their platform without much success. 

So, earlier this year (2023), Twilio enforced campaign registrations and vetting.

This is an industry-wide requirement intended to reduce spam, fraud, and unwanted messaging, and protect SMS as a trusted communications channel in the U.S. Every messaging provider who services A2P Campaigns is required to conduct this vetting. 

How to Pass Twilio Vetting Process

1. Every business that wants to use or continue using Twilio services including SMS must provides the following information:

1. Tax EIN number

2. Legal entity name

3. Type of legal entity

4. Address of entity

5. Phone number

6. Details of Registered agents of the company
   
   Usually, this information will take some time to get vetted and approved.
   
   
   

2. After your business is approved, the next step is to submit a mock campaign for approval.
   A mock campaign contains 

1. the content of the SMS you will be sending to your existing or potential clients

2. An opt-in/opt-out option.  The receivers of your SMS campaigns must be able to choose if they want to continue receiving your text messages or not, and if they want to, the process must be an easy one.
   Meaning: your clients must agree and WANT to be on your SMS list.
   Twilio verifies this.

3. Your privacy policy  - your privacy policy, terms and conditions must state clearly what you will be doing for your marketing. You also need to make sure all the forms on your website explicitly state that you will be sending SMS messages, and to opt into your mailing list, it must NOT be a required field.
   
   

3. CNAM (CallerID Name) Approval

This is the name that is displayed on the recipient’s phone when a call or an SMS is received, alongside the phone number. It helps phone call and SMS receivers identify what business has contacted them.

What can you do to stay ahead?

Twilio’s new vetting policy clearly states that All Campaigns created after January 26th, 2023 require their new Campaign Vetting process.

On Twilio’s websites, they state that the process can take 2-3 weeks, but in reality, it takes more time than that.

To stay ahead of this, we advise all our clients to 

1. submit the above listed requirements to Twilio, and constantly check in with them to hasten the process.

2. plan for new SMS campaigns at least 2 months in advance.

In the meantime, you can still send SMS messages to VOIP numbers. The problem is with mobile phone numbers.

How does this affect the functionality of our Twilio SMS to CRM module?

It doesn’t.

Our Twilio SMS to CRM will still receive inbound SMS in Bitrix24. So, there’s no need to worry about this. 

Sending SMS is what requires vetting.

This is an industry-wide requirement that must be met by all companies that intend to use any SMS service in any CRM.

For more information on their vetting process, please contact Twilio Support.