Twilio Launches SMS Short Code API

Reinvents Short Codes with Published Pricing, Simple Application Process, Easy APIs

MobileBeat 2011

SAN FRANCISCO--()--Twilio (http://www.twilio.com), the cloud communications company, today announced the launch of Twilio Short Code SMS. The service enables software developers to build applications that send and receive text messages using dedicated 5 and 6-digit numbers, and is the easiest way to get a short code and send SMS at volume.

Businesses use short codes to send large volumes of identical messages, or “blasts”, a use case that extends the utility of Twilio’s existing SMS service. Twilio short codes enable your app to send SMS at 30 messages per second. This high-throughput is perfect for apps that send SMS messages to a large audience or with time sensitivity, such as coupons, alerts, political messages and more.

Twilio Short Code SMS costs 1¢ per outbound text message, and 0.5¢ per inbound text message. Twilio customers can lease custom short codes for $1500/month, or random short codes for $1000/month on a quarterly basis, as opposed to the industry standard annual contract. Pricing includes licensing fees to the Common Short Code Administration, required of all short codes. As with all Twilio products, there are no setup fees, hidden costs or long-term contracts.

“Through our SMS short code beta, we’ve realized there’s an amazing amount of latent demand,” said Jeff Lawson, Twilio CEO. “We’re excited to broaden the market by doing short codes ‘the Twilio way’ with a simple process to get started, straight forward pricing, and the same easy SMS API used by over 40,000 Twilio developers today.”

The service has been in private beta for several months, and is already becoming one of the fastest growing short code providers. Through the private beta, Twilio has already processed over 100 new short codes applications for its customers. According to the US Short Codes Whois (http://usshortcodeswhois.com/), there are at least 1031 known short codes available in the US as of January 2011.

Traditionally, acquiring a short code has involved an enterprise sales process with aggregators and navigating an esoteric carrier approvals process. Twilio is reinventing the process with a simple, published pricing model, and an easy online workflow to submit their short codes for carrier approval, leveraging Twilio’s experience in short code applications with U.S. carriers. Customers can also use Twilio’s existing SMS API with US phone numbers to get started in minutes, rapidly prototyping their applications while their short code is awaiting carrier approval.

Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson will speak this afternoon at the MobileBeat conference being held at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco about the future of SMS in communications, in a talk titled “SMS is Dead, Long Live SMS”.

About Twilio

Twilio provides in-cloud APIs for two-way voice and text messaging communications. The service leverages companies’ existing web development skills, resources and infrastructure to power advanced communications applications. Twilio's simple programming interface opens the field of voice and SMS applications to millions of web developers worldwide. Visit www.Twilio.com for more information.

Contacts

Sparkpr for Twilio
Michael Selvidge, 415-321-1896
michael@sparkpr.com

Release Summary

Twilio today announced the launch of Twilio Short Code SMS. The service enables software developers to build applications that send and receive text messages using dedicated 5 and 6-digit numbers

Contacts

Sparkpr for Twilio
Michael Selvidge, 415-321-1896
michael@sparkpr.com