Text messages (Twilio)

Texting is optional. If you would rather stick to email, skip this page. If you want it, setup takes about fifteen minutes and you only do it once.

Dogly sends texts through your own Twilio account. Twilio is the service that actually delivers text messages. Because it is your account, the number is yours and you pay Twilio directly, at their rates, for what you send. Dogly adds no charge for texting.

What you will need

• An email address and a credit card for Twilio.
• A phone number from Twilio to send from. The next section explains which kind to pick for Canada.
• Your own mobile number, to try a test message.

Step 1: create your Twilio account

1. Go to twilio.com and sign up. They will ask you to verify your email and your mobile number.
2. When they ask what you are building, choose SMS and say you are sending notifications to your customers. The answers do not change what you can do.

Step 2: get your Account SID and Auth Token

1. Sign in to the Twilio Console. The Account Info box on the home page shows your Account SID. It starts with AC.
2. Next to it is the Auth Token. Press the eye icon to show it. Treat it like a password and do not share it.

Step 3: choose and buy a phone number

In Canada you can send from three kinds of number. Canadian mobile carriers filter business texts strictly, so a verified number delivers more reliably.

• Local Canadian number (for example 902 or 506): the quickest. No registration is needed and you can use it straight away. It is a good way to try things out. Because carriers filter this kind more, some texts may be delayed or blocked.
• Toll-free number (833, 844, 855, 866, 877 or 888): you complete a short verification form in the Twilio Console first, which can take a few days. Once it is verified, texts are delivered more reliably. This is what we suggest if you plan to send reminders regularly.
• Short code (a five or six digit number): the most reliable, but Twilio says it takes 12 to 16 weeks to set up and costs much more. It is not meant for a small kennel.

To buy one, open Phone Numbers in the Console, then Buy a number. Pick Canada, tick SMS so the number can send texts, and choose one. It looks like +19025550123. That is your From number.

A new Twilio account starts as a trial that can only text numbers you have verified. To text your customers, upgrade the account from the Console by adding a few dollars of credit.

If you also text customers with US phone numbers, US carriers require a business registration (called A2P 10DLC) no matter where you are. Twilio walks you through it in the Console. If all your customers are in Canada you can ignore this.

Step 4: put it into Dogly

1. Open Settings → Texting.
2. Tick Enable SMS notifications.
3. Paste your Twilio Account SID, Twilio Auth Token and Twilio From Number, and press Save Settings.
4. Choose what to text: Booking reminders, Vaccination expiry reminders and Dog birthday greetings. Each is its own tick, off until you turn it on, and you can edit the wording.
5. Under Send a test SMS to, enter your own number and press Send Test. If your phone buzzes, you are done.

Texts for booking reminders go out for boarding, daycare, grooming, training and pet-sitting bookings. Dogly does not text booking confirmations.

Optional: let customers text you back

1. In Settings → Features, turn on Two-Way Texting and press Save Features.
2. Back in the Texting section, Dogly now shows a web address ending in /api/v1/sms-webhook.php. In the Twilio Console, open your number and find A message comes in. Set it to a Webhook using that address, then save.
3. Customers can now text that number, and you read and answer in the text inbox at /admin/messages. The Messages tab holds messages sent from customer accounts, which is separate. You can also text a pay-online link when you take a booking over the phone.

If a test does not arrive

• Check that the Account SID starts with AC and the Auth Token was pasted with no spaces.
• The From number needs the plus sign and country code, for example +19025550123.
• On a trial account, you can only text numbers you verified in Twilio.
• Look in the Twilio Console under Monitor, Logs, Messaging. It states exactly why a message was not delivered.
• If texts to some phones never arrive on a local number, that is carrier filtering. Moving to a verified toll-free number usually fixes it.

Good to know

Only text people who have agreed to receive texts. Canadian anti-spam law (CASL) applies to text messages as well as email, so a customer who gives you their number when they book is fine for booking reminders, but get their consent before sending promotions. Twilio handles it automatically when a customer replies STOP, and that customer will no longer receive texts from your number. These rules are Twilio's and Canada's current guidance, and they change, so check Twilio's Canada guidelines page if you are unsure.