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Complete Twilio Onboarding Milestones

Milestone 2: Select & Register Number Types

Purchase and register the number types that meet your SMS needs.

Regulatory Bundles

Before you can purchase most numbers, you must submit regulatory bundles. A regulatory bundle is a compliance package with documents to verify your business identity with local carriers and enforcement agencies.

Regulatory bundle requirements vary by country and region, and some countries have stricter regulations than others. Most countries require the following:
  • A local business address
  • Proof of a locally-registered business
  • A government-issued ID or driver’s license of authorized persons (such as directors of local business)

Short codes generally have the strictest requirements and are the most expensive, but they also have the highest throughput of any number type. Toll-free and mobile numbers typically have the fewest requirements. Many countries also require a pre-registration process for alphanumeric senders. See this Twilio article on international support for alphanumeric sender ID for more information.

Port Existing Numbers to Twilio

  • Make sure you have the following items to successfully submit a port request:
    • The authorized Twilio user or owner’s first and last name.
    • The corresponding service address. This must be a physical address. It cannot be a PO box.
    • A Letter of Authorization (LOA) signed by the authorized Twilio user and/or owner of the number.
      Note: The information on the LOA must match the authorized user’s name and the service address provided by your current carrier.
    • A Customer Service Record (CSR).
    • A scanned or electronic copy of the most recent phone bill, within the last 30 days, that includes the account, authorized user or owner’s name, and address information for all the numbers you want to port.
  • We also recommend familiarizing yourself with the most common reasons for port rejection so you can better avoid them.
You can transfer an existing phone number from one provider to another without changing the number. This is called porting. It is an optional step in setting up your Twilio account. Porting a US telephone number can take up to four weeks depending on the type of number you port and the country the number is located in. You must coordinate between a Twilio upstream provider and your service provider to transfer the number to Twilio.
Remember: For local US numbers, you must have an approved A2P 10DLC campaign and brand registration to enable messaging on your ported number. When you submit your port request, you can set up the A2P campaign in the Twilio Messaging Service and get the campaign to “Verified” status. But, you must wait until your port request is fully completed to add the phone number to the Messaging Service.

Allow one to two days until the SMS services route to Twilio, otherwise the A2P provisioning process might fail.

Note: There are different processes for US and international numbers.
  1. In Twilio, go to Phone Numbers > Port & Host > Port a number.
  2. Complete the form. Be sure to attach those documents mentioned so your request isn't rejected.
  3. Click Submit.
Once you submit your request, a few things will happen:
  1. Twilio will approve your number. If you correctly submitted your port request, Twilio may approve it in 24 hours, depending on the type of number you're porting. Approval time may vary.
  2. Your request is then submitted to your soon-to-be former (AKA losing) carrier as a port request. This can take up to 24 hours. Do not close your account with your carrier so your numbers stay active.
  3. Twilio contacts your losing carrier. This can take up to one week to complete.
  4. You’ll receive a response from the carrier. If your request is approved, you’ll receive a porting date of when your number ports to Twilio. If your request is denied, you’ll need to contact your losing carrier to know what you need to move forward.
  5. Twilio contacts you by email with your porting date. Once the date passes and you receive email confirmation that the port is completed, you can use your number to call people.
  6. For SMS messages, complete A2P registration. Once your A2P campaign is verified, it may take up to 48 hours to update SMS routing before you add the number into the Twilio Messaging Service. Once the number moves from “Verified” to “Registered”, you can send SMS messages. You can check your 10DLC registration status in Twilio.

Purchase & Configure Phone Numbers

Note: Do I need more than one Twilio number? For our Diocesan SPoCs, you only need one account, and each of your parishes can have their own SMS Outbound Number. The New Message Tool supports the use of multiple Twilio numbers, so add as many numbers as your church or diocese needs! A benefit of multiple numbers is that you can spread your text volume over multiple numbers, which improves the speed and deliverability of your texts.

You should use different phone numbers for these tools versus other third-party applications, like OnlineGiving.Org text-to-give. If you already have a third party using your Twilio account, you may need to purchase additional numbers to use with these tools. Contact your third-party vendor for specific requirements.

  1. Go to Phone Numbers > Manage > Buy a number.
    Note: If you don't have this section pinned in your Develop tab, click Account Dashboard > All Products > Messaging > Phone Numbers > Buy a new Twilio.
  2. Enter your criteria for a phone number.
    • Country: Select the country you want to send messages from in the drop-down list.
    • Capabilities: Select your service needs for this number.
      Note: All capabilities are selected by default. Be sure to deselect capabilities you don’t need for more accurate search results. For example, if you only need numbers that can send SMS messages and only local voice numbers display, deselect the Voice check box.
    • Search Criteria: Search by digits, area code, prefix, phrases, or characters you want in your phone number.
    • Advanced: Click this link to see options for the desired phone number type (local, mobile, toll-free), address requirements, emergency calling, and to allow beta number results.
  3. Click Search.
    Search results display with the phone number, location, type, capabilities, and price listed.
  4. To purchase a number, click the Buy button in the same row as the number you want to purchase.
  5. Review that the information for the number you selected meets your needs, then select the Emergency calling terms and conditions check box.
  6. Click Buy [phone number].
  7. Click Configure [phone number].
  8. Review the information you need to configure your new phone number, and click Next.
  9. Complete your business contact information, and click Continue to Business location.
  10. Complete your business location information, and click Continue to Messaging use case.
  11. Complete your messaging use case information, select the I agree to the Terms of Service check box, and click Send information for verification.
  12. Click Send.
After you successfully provision the phone number, Twilio will charge your project for the full monthly price of the phone number. For more information, see this Twilio article here.

Complete Short Code Application

Apply for a short code in Twilio through a short code link or in the short code area of Twilio.

You can view and process short code applications from the Twilio parent account, even when you submit them from a Twilio subaccount. Once the short code is provisioned, you can make it to a subaccount.

Be sure to answer your application questions carefully and review your answers for accuracy and completeness. Inaccurate or incomplete information slows down the provisioning process and may lead to carriers rejecting your application. Once you submit your application, it may take up to eight weeks to receive approval.

Short Code Link
  1. Log in to your Twilio account and follow this link:
  2. Click Apply for a Short Code.
  3. Complete your application. If you need to step away from your application, be sure to click the Save button to save your progress.
  4. Click Submit.
Short Code Area of Twilio
  1. Go to Messaging > Senders > Short codes.
  2. Click Apply for a short code.
  3. Complete your application. If you need to step away from your application, be sure to click the Save button to save your progress.
  4. Click Submit.

Last updated: December 30, 2024