Introduction

Twilio is a cloud communications platform that provides a set of API and tools for developers to build and integrate various communication features into their applications. The primary use of Twilio is to enable businesses and developers to add communication capabilities such as messaging SMS and Voice into their web and mobile applications.

Twilio SMS Account Creation

Please note Twilio may make some small changes to their account creation process that may not exactly reflect the instructions below. Please contact help@6storage.com if you need assistance signing up with Twilio.

Go to https://www.twilio.com/ and click Sign up.

Complete the form. Notice that the password requires 16 characters.

 

It will have you verify your email. Check your spam and junk boxes if you do not see it in your inbox. Click on the link in your email to verify your email.

After verifying your email, and logging in, it will ask you to do a two-factor verification with your cell-phone number. Enter your cell phone number.

You will get a code texted to you. Enter the code and click the blue Submit button.

Answer the next questions with the answers provided. They are not important, so if you accidentally select the wrong option, it is not a big deal.

When the next question pops up, choose 3^rd party integrations and then click the blue Get Started with Twilio button

Click Upgrade in the light green box.

 

Insert your billing address and then click the blue Continue button.

Select if you are tax exempt (most likely not) and then click the blue Continue button.

There is a minimum monthly charge of $1.00 and then after that you are charged per text message at a rate of $0.0079 per text message (as of Oct. 2023 – check Twilio’s website for current rates). You are required to preload a minimum amount of $20.00 to your fund bank, so enter an amount between $20 and $2,000. The more you enter, the less often it will charge to reload. Click the blue Continue button.

 

 Enter your payment information and click the blue Confirm $xx payment button

In this next screen, click on buy additional phone numbers.

 

At this point, it may kick you out and have you log in and do the text message verification again.

Once back in, it will provide a recovery code. Copy and paste that recovery code to a document to send to your account set-up representative. Click the blue Finish button.

Click Configure +1 000 000 000 button.

Click the plus sign.

Read carefully - On this screen, you are going to replace the current link with this link: https://6storageapi.6storage.com/api/sms/ReceiveSMS    then click blue Save button.

The next section on the Twilio integration help article page will show you where to enter the below credentials into your 6Storage account.

Click Initiate A2P registration in the alert box at the top

      Select your applicable option.

I      If you select yes, I have a TAX ID, in the next question, you will need to select is Yes, I would like to register for a Primary Customer Profile.

1. Enter your Tax ID. Click Search. If the search comes up that they didn’t find your entity, it’s okay, click Continue anyway.

   2. Enter your Tax ID Information. Choose “Direct Customer” under Business Identity and complete the fields for the rest of the page. Click Save and continue.

       You should receive a success message and click Continue.

      Next, enter your business information. Click Save and continue.

      Notification Settings. Enter the information accordingly. Click Save and continue. 

      On the next page, verify all the information you entered is correct and then click Submit for review.

      You should get a success notification. 

      Next, you’ll register your brand. Complete the form applicable to you below. The majority of 6Storage customers will choose the options the same as in the below screenshot.

​Click Register. It will spin for a few seconds, so don’t click or refresh the page

 

Next page you’ll see the below screenshot. Click Continue and then Continue again on the next page as well. 

Next, you’ll need to Register a Campaign.

Complete the remaining portions of the form. You can use the screenshot on the next page for reference. For the Sample Messages #1 and #2 below, you’ll want to refer to your SMS templates in the 6Storage software in order to provide sample messages of the texts you send to your customers.

 

Note – you will leave Opt-In Keyword and Opt-in Message BLANK. Do not even click in the box or it will give you an error when trying to continue. If you do accidentally click in the box, you will need to scroll down to the bottom, click Cancel, and then restart this step.

Click Create.

Click Confirm.

       You will see A2P Campaign registration is in progress.

Scroll down and click Continue.

Next, select your Twilio number and click Register.

That completes the registration process. However, as mentioned in the email, Twilio is behind on their approval process. We recommend logging back into your Twilio account periodically to check on the status of your registration.

You can check on the status of your campaign registration by:

1.       Logging into your Twilio Account

2.       Navigating to the left menu bar – Messaging > Regulatory Compliance > Campaigns

Please contact Twilio support if you have any questions or need assistance.

Click on Docs and Support Center in the lower left of your Twilio portal to find help or submit a ticket. 

Follow the below steps to configure Twilio into 6storage,

Go to Settings-> Integration-> Click on Twilio

Then click on the Enable SMS checkbox

Enter Account SID, Auth Token Twilio Phone Number(Inclusive of Country Code) that you can get it from your Twilio account.

To get the Account SID, Auth Token Login into your Twilio account. If you didn’t remember your password then use “ Forgot Your Password” option.

After login, you can find Account SID and Auth Token.

Take these information and paste in the 6Storage Twilio configuration page. Add the Twilio webhook link that you can find it below:

Twilio webhook configuration link:

https://qa-webservice.8storage.com/api/sms/ReceiveSMS

Finally Click on Save. Thus, The Twilio is now configured Successfully.

Twilio two-way messaging notifications-

The two-way SMS capabilities are designed for one-on-one communication with tenants which can be tracked in the admin profile. While admins can send/receive texts from tenants, this new feature helps admins receive notification on the receipt of each message, in addition to an autogenerated email on the unread messages.

This feature encourages Contactless move-in, diminishes the communication barriers, and saves a lot of time for both admins and tenants. 

How to configure Twilio two-way messaging:

Go to https://www.twilio.com/en-us and click on “Login”

If you didn’t get your password originally, just use Forgot Password.

After login, Click on Phone Numbers -> Manage->Active numbers (Click on Active numbers)

After that Click on your blue underlined number

https://6storageapi.6storage.com/api/sms/ReceiveSMS

Finally click on Save button, thus the two-way communication is now active.

How does it work?

Whenever the admin receives a message from the tenant, the bell icon at the top of the page indicates the receipt of notifications.

By clicking on the icon, the admin can see the notifications on all the text messages received and other online move-ins that occurred since their last visit to the portal. 

The Operator can open any tenants and start texting from Tenant’s profile page.