Twilio Signal 2016 Taking Your SMS App Global

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TAKING YOUR SMS APP GLOBAL
TRENTON MCMANUS | TRENTON@TWILIO.COM ROBERT FENSTERMACHER | @RFENSTERMACHER
DON'T PANIC

GLOBAL SMS
Global SMS is awesome.
•Billions of people.
•Thousands of carriers.
•Hundreds of countries.
•One Twilio API
But...
• Not exactly that simple.
• There are issues.

WHAT WE HOPE YOU'LL LEARN
The most commonly encountered issues when sending SMS globally.
The cause of these issues.
How we can detect these issues.
What Twilio does to prevent or correct these issues.
What you can do in order to ensure your message gets through.

MESSAGE DELIVERY PATH
App Twilio Network Device User

APP TO TWILIO ISSUES
Issues:
• International permissions
• Queuing
• Invalid 'To' phone numbers
X

PHONE NUMBER VALIDATION
• Validates every REST request you
make and responds with a 21211
error if you attempt to send to a
non-mobile number.
• Validate with the user's help.
• Don't try to write your own validation.
A. Twilio Lookups API: Carrier Info. No
updates necessary.
B. Google Libphonenumber: "as you
type" validation and example
numbers.
What you can doWhat Twilio does

PHONE NUMBER VALIDATION: INSIDIOUS QUIRKS
Mexico
•Special prefix needed when dialing or texting a mobile number
•Required format: +5215512345678, +525512345678
•Users might enter: 0445512345678 or 15512345678.
Suggestions:
• Don't rely on homegrown validation

Argentina
•When calling a mobile phone number within Argentina, users add a "15" after
the area code. When calling from outside of Argentina, users add a "9" after
the country code. Neither of these should be included when sending an SMS
over Twilio.
•Users might enter: 0296615123456, +54296615123456, +5492966123456
•Required format: +542966123456
Suggestions:
• Display example phone numbers to users

http://www.anatel.gov.br/setorregulado/index.php/nono-digito
Brazil
•In the middle of a multi year
renumbering project.
•On May 29th, 2016 Mobiles in the
light blue area codes will get a 9 after
the area code.
Suggestions:
• If you do use Libphonenumber,
update it regularly.

NETWORK LEVEL ISSUES
Issues:
• Filtering
• Service disruptions
X

NETWORK LEVEL ISSUES: FILTERING
Why: Carriers are trying to protect users.
Detection:
•Rarely possible. Very few carriers will let anyone know when or how they are
filtering. They don't want unsavory types probing their filters.
Types of filters:
•Content - phishy, spammy, controversial, complaints
•Volume - blasts, traffic imbalances
•Sender - phone numbers, alpha sender ids

NETWORK LEVEL ISSUES: FILTERING
• Preregisters traffic with carriers.
• Has per-number rate limits.
• Works with networks to try to
reduce the impact of filtering on
legitimate traffic.
• Create a good user experience.
• Test your body content if possible.
• Avoid sending "blasts" of messages.
TRENTON MCMANUS | TRENTON@TWILIO.COM ROBERT
What you can doWhat Twilio does

NETWORK LEVEL ISSUES: PREREGISTRATION
What is "preregistration":
• Conveniently, does precisely as its name suggests.
• An SMS may be able to bypass filters if content is preregistered with carriers.
• Only for particular use cases, and process is very manual.
Supported countries:
•Short codes: United States, Canada, United Kingdom
•Japan, China, Philippines, Thailand, India, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Egypt
How do I start:
• Email trenton@twilio.com to learn more.

NETWORK LEVEL ISSUES: SERVICE DISRUPTIONS
Why:
•Machines break
•People make mistakes
•The market changes
Detection:
• Active Testing
• Monitoring delivery statuses
• Feedback API

NETWORK LEVEL ISSUES: DELIVERY STATUSES
What are "delivery statuses"?
• Twilio normalizes carrier DLRs, which may contain some helpful info.
• Sends this to your app a via web hook.
How is this useful?
• Anomaly detection on aggregated data can detect some service disruptions.
• Statuses other than "Delivered" may assist in troubleshooting.
However...
• #$*@%*^&$@%!

FEEDBACK API

FEEDBACK API
App Twilio Carrier Device User
Route
Network
Route
94%
85%
77%
Route
92%
UserAction
Feedback API

FEEDBACK API
* FUTURE LOCATION OF HYPERSPACE BYPASS
*

FEEDBACK API
Who should participate:
• Applications which have a trackable user action.
Why should you participate:
• Better deliverability. Allows us to customize your routing to meet your needs.
• Better support. Data from the Feedback API helps us resolve your issues faster.
How can I participate:
• In developer preview. Email trenton@twilio.com for early access.
• Generally available after helper library update.

# Send a message with the new parameter provider_feedback
set as true
message = client.messages.create(
to="+18085551234",
from_="+14155559876",
body="Veriﬁcation Code: 314-159",
provide_feedback="true"
)
Tell Twilio you expect a
customer to enter a code
FEEDBACK
API STEP #1

# Update the Message Instance with the outcome set as
conﬁrmed
message.feedback.update(outcome="conﬁrmed")
Tell Twilio when the
customer actually enters
the code
FEEDBACK
API STEP #2

NETWORK LEVEL ISSUES
• Active testing in major markets
• Monitors delivery statuses
• Monitors Feedback API
• Adjusts routing when service
disruptions are detected
• Participate in the Feedback API
What you can do What Twilio does

DEVICE ISSUES
Issues:
• Phone turned off
• Unable to receive SMS
• Still a lot of feature phones in the world
X

USER EXPERIENCE
Issues:
User doesn't read or act on the message
• Appropriate Sender ID
• Message content
• Time and frequency
X

SENDER ID
Mobile number: +18085551234
or Short code (12345)
or Alphanumeric Sender ID (“BobsBurgers”)
•One vs. two-way
•Local expectations
•Branding/familiarity
CONSIDERATIONS
TWILIO HAS
•Mobile numbers in 22
countries
•The ability to set
Alphanumeric Sender IDs in
151 countries
•Short codes in the US,
Canada and the UK

SENDER ID: COPILOT
Guten Tag!
+49 731 xxxx
Hello there!
408 384 1111
408 384 1111Hello again!
Use local phone numbers when
sending messages globally to
automatically create a local experience
for your users.
GEOMATCH
Send messages with the same
recognizable phone number to create a
consistent experience and maintain
conversation history.
STICKY SENDER

YOUR NAME | TWITTER
CONSIDERATIONS
• Use local language when possible.
MESSAGE CONTENT:
Tíngzhǐ suǒyǒu de shízhōng, qiē
duàn diànhuà, yīkuài nóng zhī
de gǔtou fèi jiào, àn yǎle
gāngqín, suízhe dīchén de gǔ
fángzhǐ gǒu

CONSIDERATIONS
• KISS (Keep It Short. Seriously.)
YOUR NAME | TWITTER
Join us this Thursday, April 15th
for our yearly Toyota SALE OF
THE CENTURY. THAT’S RIGHT,
EVERYTHING MUST GO from
our inventory. This special one
time anniversary sale won’t
come again. Ever.
Camry, Avalon, Highlander,
Tundra, Tacoma, and even the
world-renowned Prius. It’s all
yours for the taking at this
clearance event. If you think our
prices are crazy, you should see
our 0.0595% APR ﬁnancing. All
cars are either new or Certiﬁed
MESSAGE CONTENT:

CONSIDERATIONS
• Watch for message concatenation.
YOUR NAME | TWITTER
Good news regarding your
delivery. It will arrive tomorrow
between the hours of 10am PST
technician will be onsite to
install your appliance.
and 3pm PST. Because you
signed up for our Signature
White Glove Delivery Service, a
MESSAGE CONTENT:

CONSIDERATIONS
• Make message intent clear.
Did you hear the news? It is
open to us that the landmark is
the river above the Ozark farm.
The depts number is
415-909-1281
MESSAGE CONTENT:

CONSIDERATIONS
• Use short-hand and CAPS sparingly.
OMG. IDK HOW WE”RE GOING
TO MOVE ALL THESE HIGH-
END SPEAKERS. ICYMI, SALE
ENDS FRIDAY @
crazyeddies.com/now
MESSAGE CONTENT:

USING TWILIO
• Unicode
• Concatenation - in & outbound
MESSAGE CONTENT:
CONSIDERATIONS
• Use short-hand and CAPS sparingly.

MESSAGE CONTENT: NO SHENANIGANS
CONSIDERATIONS
• Avoid looking phishy.
• Set expectations for content.
• Make content relevant to opt-in.
• Offer clear opt-out instructions
Alert: your account password was
changed. BTW: Check out our latest 30yr
mortgage rates at cbank.com
Go ahead. click.me/6b5t9rr32
USING TWILIO
• Automatic opt-out response and
blacklist for long-codes

TIME OF DAY…AND FREQUENCY
• Complaints = carrier filtering
• R.e.s.p.e.c.t
• Know your time zones
• Review local restrictions
• Avoid weekends & holidays
Received 2:31 AM
Hi! Your dentist
appointment is at
4:30pm today.

RECAP
TRENTON MCMANUS | TRENTON@TWILIO.COM ROBERT
• Validate 'to'
phone numbers
with user help
• Preregister
content
• Implement the
Feedback API
• Remember the
feature phones
• Good content
• Short messages
• Which users
expect
• From a trusted
Sender ID

ROBERT @RFENSTERMACHER
*FOR ALL THE FISH
TRENTON MCMANUS TRENTON@TWILIO.COM
SO LONG AND
*

Twilio Signal 2016 Taking Your SMS App Global

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