Getting a phone number
UpdatedBefore you can get a phone number and send SMS messages, you’ll need to register as a sender, which includes several steps—including making sure that your privacy policy and terms and conditions are updated to reflect your SMS-use case.
We’ll help you register as a sender, but it can take 1-2 weeks for carriers to review and approve or deny your request. You need to do the following things before we submit your request to Twilio and respective carriers—so you can register for phone numbers and start sending SMS as quickly as possible. Having these things in place before you contact us helps you avoid delays and get approved to send SMS faster.
You might work directly with Twilio
We’re currently working on a native solution for SMS, so you can do everything in Customer.io. But that solution is only available to select users right now.
While the information here is generally true for anybody who sends SMS messages, this section is primarily for users who aren’t already registered with Twilio to send SMS messages through Customer.io and have an SMS-use case that we can support natively. If you want to send SMS through Customer.io, and you meet our eligibility criteria, you can sign up today!
Are you eligible to manage SMS phone numbers in Customer.io?
While we’re working on our native SMS solution, we only support users meeting the following criteria today. If you meet our criteria, you can sign up to manage your SMS phone numbers and billing in Customer.io.
If you don’t meet this criteria, you can still send SMS through Customer.io! You’ll just set up an account directly through Twilio and manage your phone numbers there.
You’re eligible for our native SMS solution if:
- Your business is based in the US or Canada.
- You only send messages to people in the US or Canada.
- You don’t require advanced analytics like revenue attribution or sending queues.
- You don’t need to be HIPAA compliant. (Yet; we’re working on this!)
in the US or Canada?} B -.->|No| C[Work directly with Twilio
Manage phone numbers there] B -->|Yes| D{Do you send messages to
people outside the US or Canada?} D -.->|Yes| C D -->|No| E{Do you need analytics
like revenue attribution
or sending queues?} E -.->|Yes| C E -->|No| F{Do you need to be
HIPAA compliant?} F -.->|Yes| C F -->|No| G[You're eligible for
Customer.io native SMS!
Contact support@customer.io] style G fill:#e1f5fe,stroke:#01579b,stroke-width:2px style C fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#e65100,stroke-width:2px
How long will it take for me to be approved?
When you request a phone number and register as a sender, you need to be approved by both Twilio and cellular carriers. This can take a while; we typically see approval responses in 1-2 weeks—though it can take longer if Twilio and carriers request changes to your privacy policy and terms and conditions.
As regulatory requirements change and penalties for non-compliance increase, Twilio and carriers have become more strict in their approval process! Following the guidance in this section can help you avoid delays and get your number approved faster. More importantly: it’ll help you avoid penalties for non-compliance.
