How to set up a Twilio SMS inbox in Front

Twilio is a service that provides phone numbers to send and receive SMS and calls, built on an API meant for global scale. Front's Twilio channel integration allows you to send and receive SMS messages in an inbox in Front using a regular phone number or a shortcode, and use all the collaborative features of Front just like with email.

Step 1

Click the gear icon on the top right of Front and select company, workspace, or personal settings in the left sidebar, depending on the space you’re working with.

Step 2

Click Inboxes in the left menu and create a new shared inbox or individual inbox.

Step 3

Click Channels in the left menu, then click the Connect a channel button.

Step 4

Under SMS and telephony, choose SMS and click Connect.

Step 5

Go to the Twilio website, and log in.

Step 6

You should now be looking at your Twilio console dashboard, which is where you will find your Account SID and Auth Token. Copy and paste those into your Front Twilio settings.

Step 7

Select a phone number from the dropdown.

Step 8 (optional)

If you don't see the number you need or if the number is a shortcode, check the box on the bottom that says Enter number manually.

You'll see a new field appear where you can enter the number you need. From your Twilio console, copy and paste the number you'd like to use into the Front inbox setup. If it's a regular phone number, the format should include the country code and the area code, like this: +1 (123) 456-7890.

Step 9

Click Continue. We will then automatically validate these credentials with Twilio. If you receive an error, please double check that you have entered everything correctly.

Step 10

Choose the inbox that conversations will route to and click Save.

Step 11

Once the channel is created, navigate to your Twilio settings to confirm that a Front webhook is added to the Twilio messaging configuration for this number. This webhook is required for Front to receive inbound messages from Twilio.

Yes, Front will import 100 of the most recent message of your Twilio history into the Archived tab of the inbox. If you've used another SMS platform, that portion of the history might be importable via API, but feel free to contact us and we'll take a look.

Not fully. All inbound messages should be received by Twilio and sent to Front. Any outbound messages sent directly from Twilio will only be imported into Front after a new inbound message is received in the conversation. Front will import up to 15 previous messages for any conversation.

Twilio SMS channels supports sending .jpeg, .gif, and .png images, as well as vCard virtual contact files.

Check that the webhook in your Twilio settings is filled in with the Front webhook. Since Twilio only allows one webhook per phone number, connecting other apps to this phone number may override Front's webhook, thus stopping Front from receiving your messages.

If you ever experience issues sending an SMS message in Front, check the Twilio console for the status of the message you sent. For reference, here's a dictionary of errors and warnings you may experience using Twilio.

Front allows you to send a single SMS message to a list of 200 contacts at a time. On sending an SMS to a group of recipients, each recipient will receive their own individual copy of the message, in a 1:1 conversation between your SMS channel, and their number. 

No. The feature to allow users to create a group SMS message where all recipients are participants in a concurrent group message together is not currently supported.

Only contacts that have an associated phone number will show up as suggested recipients when sending in a Twilio channel. In order for your contact to appear, you will need to first add their phone number by editing their contact information. 

A2P 10DLC (Application-to-person 10-digit long codes) are part of an industry-wide initiative to improve consumer trust around business messaging. Numbers registered as A2P 10DLC will generally see higher deliverability rates. See Twilio's documentation here to learn more.

Teams can add Twilio A2P 10DLC numbers to Front. You'll need to copy your registered campaign's sample messages into Front message templates to ensure compliance. You'll also need to ensure that your campaign's Messaging Service is configured to Defer to Sender's Webhook to ensure inbound messages arrive in Front.

This feature is available on all plans. Some legacy plans may not have access to Twilio SMS channels.