📱 Setting Up Your Twilio SMS Account

SMS sending (review requests, follow-ups, customer texts) routes through your own Twilio number. Each rep brings their own number so customers see a local-looking caller ID instead of a shared one.

Step 1 — Sign up for Twilio

Open twilio.com/try-twilio in a new tab.
Sign up with your work email — the same address you use to send customer emails from this app (your Linked Email in Settings).
Verify your real cell phone — Twilio uses it as the account-owner number.
When asked "What do you plan to build?", pick SMS.
Trial accounts get ~$15 free credit — plenty to test. Upgrade to pay-as-you-go any time (no monthly fee).

Step 2 — Buy a phone number ($1.15/mo)

In the Twilio Console, go to Phone Numbers → Manage → Buy a number.
Filter to your area code (so customers see a local number) and the SMS capability box checked.
Pick one. ~$1.15/mo + a fraction of a cent per text.

Trial accounts can only text verified caller IDs. Add your own cell + a test customer cell at Verified Caller IDs before testing. When you upgrade (add $20 credit), the restriction lifts.

Step 3 — Grab three values

On the Twilio Console home page, copy:
- Account SID — starts with AC…, 34 chars
- Auth Token — click "show" to reveal
From Phone Numbers → Active Numbers, copy your phone number in E.164 format (e.g. +16085551212 — must include the +1).

Step 4 — Paste them into the app

Open Settings in this app.
Find the 📱 SMS / Twilio section.
Paste the three values + Save.
Hit Send Test SMS to your own cell — you should get the message within 5 seconds.

Step 5 — Compliance (one-time)

US carriers (A2P 10DLC registration) is recommended for business-text reliability. Twilio will prompt you in-console. Skip for now — the app works on the un-registered short-message path; you can register later from Twilio's Trust Hub when you want better deliverability.

Cost ballpark: A typical rep sending 50 customer texts/month spends about $2/month total ($1.15 number rental + 50 × $0.008 per text).

Troubleshooting

Test SMS failed: 21608 — recipient isn't on your verified caller list. Add it at the link above, or upgrade your Twilio account.
Test SMS failed: 21211 — phone format is wrong. Must be +1XXXXXXXXXX.
Test SMS failed: 20003 — auth token is wrong. Re-copy from the Twilio Console.
Test SMS sent but no text on your phone — check that the recipient number is the one you have your phone on (most reps make this mistake on first try).

LH Masterlog Agent · Per-rep Twilio setup · v1.5