Send SMS and WhatsApp with your own Twilio account
Connect Twilio to send survey invitations by SMS and WhatsApp from your own numbers, receive replies in Conversations and see each message's delivery status.
On this page
Connect your Twilio account and Polzy sends this workspace's SMS and WhatsApp messages — campaign invitations and reminders, workflow messages and replies in a conversation — from your own Twilio numbers. People can text back: replies arrive in the conversation in Polzy, and each message's log shows whether it was delivered.
SMS and WhatsApp are on Business and up, and only Admins can connect a provider. Connect Twilio on the Integrations page, or under Messages → Integrations.
Before you start
You need:
- A workspace on Business or higher, and the Admin role in it.
- An upgraded Twilio account (not a trial), with a number that can send SMS, or a Messaging Service.
- For WhatsApp: a WhatsApp sender registered in Twilio (see WhatsApp).
- Your participants' mobile numbers on their records. Polzy stores them in international format, such as
+31 6 1234 5678; a number typed without its country code is read in your organization's country, the one in Invoice details.
How Polzy uses Twilio
- SMS and WhatsApp. Once you choose Twilio for SMS, WhatsApp or both, every message the workspace sends on that channel goes through your account.
- Replies. When someone texts back, the reply is added to their open conversation in Polzy (see Conversations).
- Delivery. Each message's log in Messages shows Delivered or Failed, with Twilio's reason.
- What it costs. Twilio bills you for these messages. They do not count against your organization's monthly messages in Polzy, which cover only Polzy's own sender.
Step 1: Set up Twilio
- In the Twilio Console, buy a number that can send SMS to the countries you need, or create a Messaging Service under Messaging → Services and add your numbers to its sender pool. A Messaging Service picks the right number for each message.
- Copy your Account SID and Auth Token from Account Info on the Console's home page.
- If you send to other countries, check that they are allowed in your account's SMS geographic permissions.
See Twilio: Messaging Services.
Step 2: Connect Twilio in Polzy
- Open Integrations in the sidebar, the Available tab, and click Connect on Twilio's row. Or open Messages, the Integrations tab, and click Set up on Twilio.
- In the Connect Twilio panel, fill in the fields:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Account SID | Starts with AC. Required. |
| Auth Token | Required. Polzy also uses it to check that delivery receipts and replies come from Twilio. |
| Messaging Service SID | Starts with MG. Recommended for SMS. |
| From Phone Number | A Twilio number in international format, if you do not use a Messaging Service. |
| WhatsApp From Number | Your WhatsApp sender's number, such as +15550000000, for WhatsApp. |
Fill in a Messaging Service SID or a From Phone Number: Polzy needs one of them, even if you only send WhatsApp. When both are filled in, the Messaging Service is used for SMS.
- Click Test connection. You should see Connected to Twilio account: and your account's name.
- Click Connect.
Step 3: Choose Twilio for SMS and WhatsApp
- Open Settings, then the Notifications tab, and scroll to Channels.
- On the SMS row, change Polzy · shared account to Twilio, and make sure the switch is on.
- To send WhatsApp too, do the same on the WhatsApp row.
Slack
TeamsA campaign then sends through Twilio when you choose SMS or WhatsApp as its channel on the Delivery tab. A campaign uses one channel.
Step 4: Receive replies
Delivery receipts need nothing more: Polzy asks Twilio for a status callback with every message it sends. Replies need one setting in Twilio.
- In Polzy, open Twilio's page from Integrations and find Receiving. Copy the address shown there.
- In the Twilio Console, open your number's messaging configuration and set the incoming-message webhook ("a message comes in") to that address, with the HTTP POST method. With a Messaging Service, set it on the service's integration settings instead. For WhatsApp, set it on the WhatsApp sender.
- Paste the address exactly as shown: Twilio signs each request together with the address, so a changed address fails the check.
A reply from someone with an open conversation on that channel is added to it, and the person who opened the conversation is told. A message from anyone else is not shown in Polzy. See Twilio: Messaging webhooks.
WhatsApp messages go through a WhatsApp sender that you register in the Twilio Console under Messaging → Senders → WhatsApp senders: you link a WhatsApp Business Account through Meta, verify the number, and complete Meta's business verification before going to production. Enter the number as WhatsApp From Number in Polzy. See Twilio: Register WhatsApp senders using Self Sign-up.
WhatsApp only allows a business to write freely within 24 hours of the person's last message to it. Outside that window, it accepts only a template that Meta has approved, and Twilio refuses anything else with error 63016. What that means in Polzy:
- Campaign invitations are sent as ordinary messages, so WhatsApp delivers them only to people who have written to your WhatsApp number in the last 24 hours. For everyone else, the message fails with error 63016. For a first contact, send by SMS or email.
- Conversations. Within 24 hours of the person's last message, reply freely. After that, Polzy says WhatsApp only allows free replies within 24 hours of their last message. Send an approved template to reopen it.
- Templates. Twilio sends an approved template only by its content ID, which Polzy does not send: a template chosen with Send template goes out through Twilio as ordinary text, and Twilio refuses it outside the window. With Twilio, the conversation continues once the person writes again.
See Twilio: Send WhatsApp notification messages with templates and Twilio: Error 63016.
Limits and costs
- SMS segments. An SMS holds up to 160 characters, or 70 when the text has a character outside the standard GSM alphabet — an emoji, or a script such as Arabic. A longer message is sent in parts, and Twilio charges for each.
- Quiet hours. With Respect quiet hours on under Settings → Notifications, campaign messages wait until 08:00 in the recipient's time zone rather than going out between 20:00 and 08:00.
- Your account's limits. Twilio's own sending limits and country rules apply.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Why, and what to do |
|---|---|
| Authenticate | Twilio refused the Account SID and Auth Token. Copy both again; if the token was changed in Twilio, use the new one. |
| Either Messaging Service SID or From Number is required | Fill in a Messaging Service SID or a From Phone Number. |
| Messages fail with Permission to send an SMS has not been enabled for the region | Allow that country in your Twilio account's SMS geographic permissions. |
| WhatsApp messages fail with error 63016 | The person has not written to your WhatsApp number in the last 24 hours (see WhatsApp). |
| SMS shows as not available in a campaign | SMS is switched off, or has no provider, under Settings → Notifications → Channels. |
| Replies never arrive | Check the incoming-message webhook in Twilio, and that the address was pasted exactly. The Activity section of Twilio's page shows Incoming message refused when the check fails, for example after the Auth Token was changed in Twilio but not in Polzy. |
Good to know
- A new Auth Token. If you change the Auth Token in Twilio, enter the new one in Polzy (Configure) straight away: sending, delivery receipts and replies all use it.
- Polzy's own sender. Without a provider of your own, SMS goes out one-way from Polzy's shared sender, counted against your organization's monthly messages, and people cannot text back to it. WhatsApp goes through your own Telnyx or Twilio account until Polzy's WhatsApp number is verified.
- If Twilio stops working, Polzy keeps trying it and marks it Needs attention. If you disconnect it, SMS goes back to Polzy's shared sender.
- What Polzy keeps. The Auth Token is stored encrypted and never shown again.
Useful links
Related articles
Signed-in members can ask Polzy or message the team from Support. How fast we reply depends on your plan.