Twilio Registration

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Anyone figured received additional details on this requirement? The only number that I send texts to is my cell, so not worried about the cost increase but am concerned about the filtering/missing text messages.

It seems that the "Sole Proprietor Brand" registration will start on April 17. The email that I received earlier this week mentioned this as an alternative for people who do not have an EIN (Tax ID)i:

New Requirements for Sole Proprietor Brands
 
If you fit within the Sole Proprietor Brand type, please complete the registration and One Time Password (OTP) verification process starting on April 17, 2023, to avoid future service interruption. The following fees apply for Sole Proprietor brands:
One-time Sole Proprietor Brand registration fee: $4 
One-time Campaign vetting fee: $15 (existing Campaigns will be exempt from this fee for now)
Monthly Sole Proprietor Campaign fees: $2 (applicable to existing Campaigns)
Sole Proprietor brands have the following limits:
1 Sole Proprietor Campaign per Brand
1 Phone Number per Campaign
1 Message Per Second (1MPS) throughput limit
New Sole Proprietor campaigns will be subject to the changes in the Campaign Creation process, as well as the newly introduced vetting process.
 
If you previously registered a Starter Brand and it was deleted, weā€™ll delete the A2P Starter Bundles associated with those Brands for you. Weā€™ll also provide more technical details about Sole Proprietor registrations in the Twilio support center as it gets closer to launch.
 
Twilio doesnā€™t plan to support Externally Registered Campaigns within Sole Proprietor Use Cases. This means you canā€™t use a Campaign you previously registered directly with The Campaign Registry (TCR) or with another provider; you can only use Campaigns you register via Twilio.
 
What if you donā€™t take action?
 
Messages from unregistered numbers may be filtered or blocked. In the future, you may not be able to send messages from unregistered numbers.
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I read through it and gave up. I figured I would just wait and see. I kind of doubt a mobile operator would bother blocking with the message volume you or I will likely generate but if they do I'll deal wit it then. Meanwhile I've migrated most of my notifications to Pushover, which actually has some better functionality. If only it worked with Car Play!

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I was using Pushover previously but did not want another "app" and the delays in SMS from Gmail were annoying! Will wait to see what happens with this...

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I'm gonna wait and see also. I agree that no more than I use it can't be significant.

I still use Pushover for a lot of stuff. But my new car has Carplay and Pushover, or the HE app doesn't work thru that. And thus while I am driving I don't get any notification sound. And I don't always feel the phone vibration. So by using the Twilio I can get a text which shows up on my Carplay screen. Also I maintain a friend's system and he needs a phone call when his alarm goes off.

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New to Hubitat and Twilio, former ST. I too went with Twilio, sms txt alerts mainly for critical events ie smoke/co, water leaks, sump pump alarm. Initially I cringed at paying for txt alerts (only ST benefit imo). Currently Twilio is charging me $1.15/mth for local # and around $0.01 per txt msg including carrier fees. If I also send txt alerts for vehicle-driveway and mailbox events I average $3 to $5/mth total. So, if I keep Twilio and register for A2P 10DLC as ā€˜Sole Proprietor Brandā€™ I pay $19 one time fees and additional $2/mth. Is the $2/mth paid to Twilio or yet another 3rd party service? What defines a 'campaign' since limit one per 'brand'? Also, one phone # limit per campaign, is that sending # or recipients? Seems like lots of proverbial red tape and hoops to jump through just to send 3 to 5 txt messages a day to mine and my wifeā€™s cell phones. With that said my family relies on sms txt alerts for priority home events. Previous alerts over the years have saved our home from fire, water damage, and flooded basement. I too want to wait and see what happens after April 17 but concerned that a smoke or water event might get filtered and not received. I understand and appreciate the intent to deter spam but I wish they would have excluded low volume personal use scenarios from A2P registration.

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I use Twilio and just decided to ignore all that red tape and see what happens. I don't think the new regulations are designed for us... they're designed for marketers. The 1 # limit is the sending number.

I have migrated most of my alerts to Pushover. One time registration fee and it has an emergency mode that the recipient must explicitly acknowledge to make it stop. It is not quite as convenient as SMS for some things (like carplay) but it works well.

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Thanks for clarifying the one phone # limit. I agree this is focused on marketing campaigns and spam prevention. We are dolphins getting caught in tuna nets lol. I assume Pushover is an app using push notifications on your cell phone? My wife and I have Samsung Galaxy S9's and push notifications have never been reliable for us. We've had trouble getting push notifications from the ST app, Ring DB, and many others. Not sure if it's our phones or carrier related (Cricket(AT&T)).

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Yes. I only use it on iOS though so can't speak to what your performance would be like.

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You did see my post on another thread about getting pushover notifications on CarPlay.

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that does ring a bell now that you mention it. Will have to go look at it. in any case OP is an Android user.

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UPDATED APRIL 13, 2023

A2P 10DLC REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS for LOCAL NUMBERS

IMPORTANT: The following information ONLY applies to LOCAL PHONE NUMBERS used to send sms messages from applications (A2P) like Twilio. All of this was provided by Twilio via customer support and online documentation. Toll-free phone numbers are handled differently than local numbers but are also subject to filtering/blocking. To prevent filtering of toll-free numbers there is a free ā€˜verificationā€™ process however itā€™s for registered business names only. As of April 13, 2023 some including myself have observed that ā€˜un-verifiedā€™ toll-free and ā€˜un-registeredā€™ local numbers are still working for Twilio / Hubitat sms alerts. According to Twilio, cell carriers currently not filtering/blocking will eventually start enforcing registration/verification requirements. For personal use (no registered business name) scenarios such as Hubitat SMS message alerts Twilio recommends using Local Numbers and submitting A2P 10DLC registration on or after April 17, 2023.

I hope to clarify recent changes and new requirements regarding Twilio and local phone number A2P (Application To Person) 10DLC (10 Digit Long Code (standard phone # ie xxx-xxx-xxxx) sms messaging. Iā€™m a new Hubitat and Twilio user and found all of this very confusing. So, Iā€™ve spent the past few weeks researching and exchanging numerous messages with Twilio support. Iā€™m no expert but wanted to share what Iā€™ve learned so far.

(1) INTENT: Cell phone carriers attempt to prevent sms txt spam abuse.

(2) IMPACT: Yes, it includes all of us! People like myself using Hubitat and Twilio to send sms txt alerts to my familyā€™s cell phones. Any sms message sent to a phone number in the United States using a software application like Twilio is an A2P message. US carriers now require everyone sending A2P messages from Local Numbers to register an A2P Campaign. This applies to everyone, businesses AND individuals. No more exemptions for low volume users. This is for anyone sending one or more messages.

(3) REGISTRATION TIMELINE: On April 17, 2023 Twilio will launch Sole Proprietor A2P 10DLC Brand Registration (formerly Starter Brand) on their web site. This applies to individuals (personal use, non-business) without a Tax ID (EIN), like myself. Despite documentation stating a ā€˜registered business name is requiredā€™ Twilio support told me: ā€œIf you are not a business entity but instead a hobbyist / college student, etc., please provide first and last name.ā€

(4) REGISTRATION COST: One-time fees totaling $19 (one-time Sole Proprietor Registration fee $4 and one-time Campaign Vetting fee $15). Additional/new monthly recurring Sole Proprietor Campaign fee $2 added to your Twilio account.

(5) RISK OF NOT REGISTERING: Per Twilio, most US cell carriers will start filtering/blocking unregistered A2P sms messages sent from Local Numbers. Carriers and exact dates are uncertain but this is expected to increase over time. Some carriers that donā€™t initially block these messages will increase their carrier fees per message, as much as double the rate.

I hope this information helps some of you.

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Does this only apply to sms messages? How about voice calls?

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All of this information is specific to sms messaging to US cell phones. My ticket is still open with Twilio. I will ask them if there is any impact on voice calls as well. Their response is typically 1 to 2 days but I will follow up here once I hear from them. Great question.

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I was using Plivo and they are enforcing the same thing. I attempted to switch to a toll-free number but Plivo search didn't return any toll free with SMS abilities.

So now back to Twilio (ditched for Plivo) and I see you can buy a toll free number with SMS and not have to worry about 10DLC rules.

So what is the down side to this, I must be missing something? Its only a $2 to rent the number and the SMS rate is low. No need to worry about 10DLC costs and issues.

Going to re-integrate Twilio plugin to my hub and give it a try. Miss my SMS since Plivo shut it down...

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I Asked Twilio Support: "Do any of these changes we've discussed affect Twilio voice messaging services?"

Twilio Support Reply: "No, these changes affect Twilio's programmable messaging only (SMS and MMS) at the moment."

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This is good to know. I mainly use Twilio for phone calls when my alarm goes off. Also use it for a friends system also for phone calls only. I don't really need the texting as pushover does me just fine.

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I'm not sure Pineview. Plivo told me to switch to toll free to avoid most of the fees and red tape.

From what I see in other sources seem to suggest toll free is also different then local 10DLC, they are often treated differently...

Link

Link

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If you look at other SMS providers, it seems the whole verification with TCR is not required. I don't think it's the same like your suggestion. But it's pretty clear twilio and others are learning as they go and carriers are calling the shots somewhat on the fly...

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UPDATED APRIL 13, 2023

SMS A2P USING TOLL-FREE NUMBERS

Toll-free phone numbers are handled differently than local numbers but are also subject to filtering/blocking. To prevent filtering of toll-free numbers there is a free ā€˜verificationā€™ process however itā€™s for registered business names only. As of April 13, 2023 some including myself have observed that ā€˜un-verifiedā€™ toll-free numbers are still working for Twilio / Hubitat sms alerts. According to Twilio, cell carriers currently not filtering/blocking will eventually start enforcing verification requirements. For now low volume users are less likely to experience filtering but at some point messages sent from ā€˜un-verifiedā€™ toll-free numbers will start getting blocked, per Twilio. For personal use (no registered business name) scenarios such as Hubitat SMS message alerts Twilio recommends using Local Numbers and submitting A2P 10DLC registration on or after April 17, 2023.

Symionow you are absolutely correct: "...other sources seem to suggest toll free is also different than local 10DLC." Thank you for your valuable info and my sincere apologies for my previous misleading reply. I removed that reply and I've updated my original A2P 10DLC registration post to be specific to local phone numbers. I confess this is all very confusing and overwhelming lol. My sincere intent was to help others by sharing what I've learned.

PER TWILIO SUPPORT:

"Toll-Free Verifications are currently open and can be submitted. There is no relation between Toll-Free Verification and A2P 10DLC (local numbers). These two are different processes. Let me know if you are interested in the Toll-Free process, and we can get started with that as well. Yes, Toll-Free numbers also need to be Verified, or you will encounter a 30032 or 30007 error.

I suggested toll-free (assuming you have a Verified toll-free number) if the number is not verified, that will also be subject to filtering. Apologies if I was not clear. I checked your account and your current toll-free number is not verified and hence will also be subject to 30032 and 30007 error (Twilio and/or carrier filtering). Hope this helps. My suggestion would be to either register for Toll-Free Verification now or if you want to use a Local Number, wait till April 17th for Sole prop registration."

PER TWILIO DOCUMENTATION:

"On October 1, 2022, restricted (previously ā€œunverifiedā€) traffic was fully blocked in Canada, and increased filtering with lower daily limits were applied in the US. Beginning April 1, 2023, the thresholds for Toll-Free numbers in both Restricted and Pending states will have new limits applied (see below) and traffic to Canada will continue to be fully blocked until verified.

On April 1, 2023 Twilio implemented industry-wide limits for unverified toll-free #'s:
Daily: 500 message segments
Weekly: 1,000 message segments
Monthly: 2,000 message segments

Restricted traffic that exceeds the daily limit or is filtered for spam will see a 30032 error code returned for both scenarios. To avoid this, we recommend submitting your number(s) for verification as soon as possible."

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I agree: "But it's pretty clear twilio and others are learning as they go and carriers are calling the shots somewhat on the fly...". My own adventures trying to get clear and concise information from Twilio support have been a roller coaster ride. Starting to feel like once I have a good understanding of local A2P 10DLC and toll-free 'verification' the players will make even more changes. All of this time and effort so my refrigerator can talk to my cell phone, ha. Thanks again for steering me back on the right path!