Text Messaging: Twilio

By Adam Morsa - github: @ramblingadam

Problem:

We need a way to deliver game results, reminders, weekly eliminations, and/or messages from the commissioner to players via SMS.

Solution Requirements:

• Must be able to send custom messages from the app to phone numbers as SMS or MMS
• Global number support would be nice

Assumptions:

• N/A

Solution:

Twilio is by far the most robust solution for app-to-SMS/MMS on the market. It is simple to set up and easy to use. No other options compare.

//Download the helper library from https://www.twilio.com/docs/node/install
//Find your Account SID and Auth at twilio.com/console
//and set the environment variables.  See http://twil.io/secure
const accountSid = process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID;
const authToken = process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN;
const client = require('twilio)(accountSid, authToken);

client.messages
  .create({
    from: '+15557771212',
    body: 'Ahoy! This message was sent from my Twilio phone number!',
    to: '+15559991111'
  })
  .then(message => console.log(message.body));

Security Considerations:

• As the industry leader in app-to-SMS services, Twilio boasts respectable security practices. Read more here.

Cost Analysis:

• Each SMS sent costs a total of between $0.0109 and $0.0129/msg: $0.0079/msg+ Carrier Fee (between $0.0030 and $0.0050/msg depending on the recipient carrier)
• Sender phone numbers cost $1.15/mo for a Twilio-leased phone number, or $0.50/mo to bring our number

Cross-Region Considerations:

• In many parts of the world outside the US, WhatsApp is the defacto platform for text messaging. Twilio supports WhatsApp as well, should we ever aim to expand beyond the US.

Operational Readiness:

• Setup is simple and quick.

Risks:

• We’ll need to be sure our code is not sending an extraneous or excessive number of texts to protect the source number from reports of spam or from incurring larger-than-necessary costs
• We may want to consider an opt-in for texts sent from the app on a per-user basis

Solutions Considered and Discarded:

• No other options were considered- everybody and their mother says Twilio is the best.

Work Required:

• (S) Lease a number from Twilio or set up our own and import it
• (XL) Set up our API calls for all instances where SMS messages are required/desired to be sent. Pick deadline reminders, weekly game results, elimination notifications, and custom commissioner messages.

References

• Twilio Docs
• Twilio Security