Twilio

Overview

Twilio is a cloud communications platform that enables programmers to build SMS, voice call, and other messaging capabilities into applications. When you configure Twilio as a notification channel in Turbo360, alerts are delivered to your team via SMS or phone call, ensuring critical incidents are acknowledged quickly even when team members are away from their desks.

Business value

Connecting Turbo360 alerts to Twilio adds real-time voice and SMS notification to your incident response. Teams receive direct-to-phone notifications for high-priority alerts, reducing the time between detection and action.

Prerequisites

• An active Twilio account. See creating a Twilio account for instructions.
• An Account SID and Auth Token from your Twilio console. See acquiring Account SID and Auth Token.
• A Twilio From Number (purchased phone number). See buying a From Number.
• A verified To Number (the recipient's phone number). See adding a To Number.

Required permissions

You must have sufficient permissions in Twilio to access your Account SID, Auth Token, and phone numbers.

Dependencies

• Turbo360 must have outbound connectivity to the Twilio API.
• Phone numbers must be provisioned and verified in Twilio before they appear in the setup flow.

How it works

Twilio channel setup in Turbo360 uses a two-phase validation process. In the first phase, Turbo360 authenticates with your Twilio account using your Account SID and Auth Token, then retrieves the available From and To numbers associated with your account. In the second phase, you select the numbers and notification type, then send a test notification to confirm end-to-end delivery before saving.

Steps

Use the following steps to configure a Twilio notification channel. Navigate to Settings > Notification channels and select Twilio to get started.

1. Enter a Friendly name to identify this channel in the Turbo360 application.
2. Enter the Account SID and Auth Token from your Twilio console.
3. Click Validate. Turbo360 authenticates with Twilio and displays the available From Number and To Number lists.
4. Select the desired From number and To number from the displayed lists.
5. Select the Notification type (SMS or voice call).
6. Click Validate again. Turbo360 sends a test notification to the selected To number using the chosen notification type.
7. After successful validation, click Save to complete the setup.

Configuration

Permission behavior

With access: Turbo360 can authenticate with Twilio, retrieve available phone numbers, and send SMS or voice call notifications to the configured To number. Test notifications can be sent using the Validate action.

Without access: If the Account SID or Auth Token is invalid, or the Twilio account is inactive, the first validation will fail and no phone numbers will be displayed. Turbo360 will not send notifications until valid credentials are provided and saved.

Example scenario

Your on-call engineer needs immediate notification for critical Business Activity Monitoring alerts, even outside working hours. You configure a Twilio notification channel in Turbo360 with voice call as the notification type. When a BAM duration monitoring alert fires, Turbo360 triggers a Twilio call to the engineer's mobile number, ensuring the alert is not missed.

Limitations

• Twilio Free Trial accounts can only call or SMS verified phone numbers. Upgrade to a paid account to reach any phone number.
• Only one From number and one To number can be configured per notification channel. Create multiple channels in Turbo360 to notify different recipients.
• The notification type (SMS or voice call) is fixed per channel. Create separate channels for different delivery methods.

Troubleshooting

1. First Validate fails and no phone numbers are displayed
   Cause: The Account SID or Auth Token is incorrect, or the Twilio account is suspended.
   Fix: Verify the Account SID and Auth Token in your Twilio console under Account → General Settings. Confirm the account is active.

2. Phone numbers are not listed after successful first Validate
   Cause: No phone numbers are provisioned in the Twilio account, or no verified To numbers have been added.
   Fix: Purchase a From number in the Twilio console and add at least one verified To number before attempting setup.

3. Second Validate fails after selecting numbers and notification type
   Cause: The To number is not verified (for Twilio Free Trial accounts), or the From number is not enabled for the selected notification type.
   Fix: Verify the To number in Twilio's Verified Caller IDs list. For voice calls, confirm the From number supports voice in its Twilio capabilities.

4. Alerts fire in Turbo360 but no SMS or call is received
   Cause: The notification channel is not linked to an alert rule or escalation policy, or the channel was not saved.
   Fix: Confirm the channel is saved and verify the relevant alert rule or escalation policy references this Twilio channel.

5. Notifications were previously working but have stopped
   Cause: The Twilio Auth Token was regenerated, or the account's phone number was released.
   Fix: Check the Twilio console for any account or number changes. Update the channel configuration in Turbo360 with the current credentials.

FAQs

1. Can I configure multiple recipients in a single Twilio channel?
   No. Each Twilio channel in Turbo360 supports one To number. Create multiple Twilio notification channels to notify different recipients.

2. What notification types does Twilio support in Turbo360?
   Turbo360 supports SMS and voice call notifications through Twilio.

3. Can I use a Twilio Free Trial account with Turbo360?
   Yes, but Free Trial accounts are limited to sending notifications only to verified phone numbers. To notify unverified numbers, upgrade to a paid Twilio account.

Related articles

• Creating a Twilio account
• Acquiring Account SID and Auth Token
• Buying a From Number
• Adding a To Number