Set up ConnectSMS, from install to your first text.

1.1Step 1.1: Use an upgraded Twilio account, ideally a subaccount for this org

Where: New ConsoleSettings›Account settings›Subaccount management Legacy ConsoleAdmin›Account management›Subaccounts

1. Sign up or sign in at twilio.com. If the account is still a trial, upgrade it: in the new Console, click the Trial banner or Upgrade your account; in the legacy Console, click Upgrade at the top of the screen. New trial accounts can only send Twilio's pre-written sample messages to verified numbers, so ConnectSMS can't use them.
2. Get a Primary Compliance Profile approved in Trust Hub (new Console: Products & Services › Trust Hub › Profiles; legacy Console: Account › Trust Hub › Customer Profiles). Twilio says approval usually takes up to two days. Without it, texts to unverified numbers fail with error 21608 and the account is capped at 20,000 messages a day.
3. Recommended: create a subaccount just for this Salesforce org, for example "ConnectSMS production", and separate ones for sandboxes. Click Create new subaccount (new Console) or Create subaccount (legacy Console), give it a name and save. A subaccount keeps this org's numbers, logs and usage apart, and Twilio contains compliance problems to the subaccount where they happen.

1.2Step 1.2: Find the Account SID and Auth Token

Where: New ConsoleWorkbench›Overview›API credentials Legacy ConsoleDashboard›Account Info

ConnectSMS signs in to Twilio with two values. You paste them into ConnectSMS in step 3.1.

• Account SID: starts with AC followed by 32 letters and numbers. It identifies the account.
• Auth Token: a secret, like a password. It is hidden until you click show (legacy Console) or the eye icon (new Console, in the Workbench panel at the bottom of any page).

Both are also on the credentials page: Settings › Account settings › API keys & auth tokens in the new Console, or Admin › Account management › API keys & tokens in the legacy Console.

1.3Step 1.3: Get a phone number that can send SMS

Where: New ConsoleProducts & Services›Numbers and senders›Set up a new phone number Legacy ConsolePhone Numbers›Manage›Buy a number

You can use a number you already have in this account, or buy one. In the legacy Console, keep SMS ticked under Capabilities, and MMS too if you want to send pictures. Search, then click Buy. In the new Console, fill in Basic information, select a number, then Purchase.

Which kind of number decides what registration it needs:

• ConnectSMS sends from full phone numbers. Short codes and alphanumeric sender IDs are skipped when it syncs your numbers.
• Picture messages (MMS) go only to US, Canadian and Australian numbers, from MMS-capable numbers. You can check a number's capabilities in the Active numbers list (legacy Console) or the My Inventory tab (new Console).

1.4Step 1.4: Put the number in a Messaging Service

Where: New ConsoleProducts & Services›Messaging›Services Legacy ConsoleMessaging›Services

A Messaging Service is a group of numbers that share settings in Twilio, including where incoming texts go and the US campaign they are registered to. ConnectSMS sends only from numbers that belong to a Messaging Service, and each number can belong to exactly one.

You can do this step here in Twilio, or later from ConnectSMS (step 3.2). In Twilio:

1. Click Create Messaging Service (new Console: Create a Messaging Service).
2. Give it a friendly name, such as "Support messaging", choose the use case that fits, and create it.
3. In Sender Pool (new Console: Senders), click Add Senders, keep Phone Number as the sender type, and choose your number.
4. Leave the Integration settings as they are. ConnectSMS sets them for you in step 3.5.

1.5Step 1.5: Register for US texting: A2P 10DLC or toll-free verification

Where: New ConsoleProducts & Services›Trust Hub›Registrations Legacy ConsoleMessaging›Regulatory Compliance›Onboarding

US carriers block business texts from unregistered numbers. A local number that isn't in an approved A2P 10DLC campaign fails with Twilio error 30034, and an unverified toll-free number fails with 30032 (in the US and Canada). Only Twilio and the carriers can approve a registration.

A2P 10DLC, for US local numbers

1. Brand: in the new Console, open the A2P Brands tab and click Create A2P Brand. In the legacy Console, use the Register Brand tab. Choose the type:
   • Standard or Low-Volume Standard for businesses with a tax ID (EIN). Low-Volume Standard suits fewer than 6,000 message segments a day.
   • Sole Proprietor for individuals without an EIN. It allows one campaign and one phone number.
2. Campaign: open A2P Campaigns › Create A2P Campaign (legacy Console: Campaign Registration), choose your brand, and pick the Messaging Service from step 1.4. Describe what you send, how people agree to receive it, and give two to five sample messages. Your privacy policy must say that mobile numbers aren't shared, and include message frequency and "Message and data rates may apply".
3. Wait for approval. Brands are usually checked within minutes, but a manual review can take seven business days or more. For campaigns, Twilio currently quotes 10 to 15 days (other Twilio pages say several days to three weeks). After approval, the numbers themselves can take several days to register; texts fail with error 30035 meanwhile.
4. Check it: in the legacy Console, the Messaging Service's A2P & Compliance tab should show the campaign as Verified. In the new Console, check Trust Hub › Registrations.

Toll-free verification, for toll-free numbers

New Console: Numbers and senders › Phone Numbers › your number › Finish setting up your number. Legacy Console: Phone Numbers › Manage › Active numbers › your number › Regulatory Information › Verify this toll free number. You'll need the legal business name, EIN, a website with separate privacy policy and terms links, how people opt in, sample messages and your expected volume. Twilio says to allow about three to five business days.

Twilio charges one-time and monthly fees for registrations, and they change over time. Check Twilio's current A2P 10DLC fees before you submit. Who you text and how they agreed is a decision for your compliance owner; ConnectSMS enforces opt-outs but can't make that decision for you.

1.6Step 1.6: Protect the account (recommended)

Where: New ConsoleProducts & Services›Messaging›Settings Legacy ConsoleMessaging›Settings

• Geo Permissions: these control which countries the account can text. ConnectSMS itself doesn't limit countries, so this is the setting that does. New accounts allow only their home country. Review the list and allow only the countries you actually text. A blocked country shows in ConnectSMS as "Your Twilio account is not allowed to send to this country" (error 21408). Subaccounts inherit the parent's settings unless an Owner or Admin changes that.
• SMS Pumping Protection (under General): select Enabled. It blocks texts to numbers Twilio suspects of fraud, for a short time, with error 30450. Twilio doesn't charge for it for US and Canadian traffic.
• Usage triggers (optional, in Twilio billing): get an email when spending passes an amount you choose.
• Only Owners and Admins can see the Auth Token and change these settings. Keep that list short.

2.1Step 2.1: Install the package from AgentExchange

1. Open the ConnectSMS listing on AgentExchange (the Start your 14-day free trial button on this site) and choose to install it in your production org or a sandbox. The install includes a 14-day free trial of every feature, and no credit card is required.
2. When Salesforce asks who to install it for, choose Install for Admins Only. You give everyone else access with ConnectSMS permission sets in step 4.1, which is more precise than profiles.
3. If Salesforce asks you to approve third-party access, approve it. ConnectSMS calls Twilio at api.twilio.com and messaging.twilio.com, and the package already includes the Remote Site Settings for them, so you don't create any yourself.

2.2Step 2.2: Give yourself the ConnectSMS Admin permission set

Where:Salesforce Setup›Users›Permission Sets›ConnectSMS Admin›Manage Assignments

1. In Setup, type Permission Sets in Quick Find and open Permission Sets.
2. Click ConnectSMS Admin, then Manage Assignments › Add Assignment.
3. Select yourself and finish the assignment.

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ConnectSMS Admin opens ConnectSMS Setup and lets you view every business number. It doesn't let you text from records by itself: like everyone else, you'll need Send access to a number (step 4.2). Without the permission set, ConnectSMS Setup shows "You don't have access to ConnectSMS Setup".

2.3Step 2.3: Open ConnectSMS Setup and find the checklist

Where:Salesforce›App Launcher›ConnectSMS›ConnectSMS Setup

Open the App Launcher, search for ConnectSMS, open the app and click the ConnectSMS Setup tab. Use a desktop browser: on a phone, ConnectSMS Setup is read-only.

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The Overview page has a Setup progress card with eight steps. Each shows Completed, To do, Needs attention, Problem or Optional, with a button that takes you to the right section. Choose Check again after you change something outside ConnectSMS, such as a Salesforce Site.

3.1Step 3.1: Connect your Twilio account

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Twilio connection

1. Paste the Account SID and Auth Token from step 1.2.
2. Check Default country calling code. ConnectSMS adds it to phone numbers saved without a country code: +1 for the US and Canada, +44 for the UK, and so on.
3. Click Save and verify. ConnectSMS asks Twilio to confirm the details before it saves anything. You should see "Connection saved. Twilio accepted the Account SID and Auth Token." and the Twilio account name.

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If it doesn't save, nothing changes, and ConnectSMS tells you why:

• "Twilio did not accept the Account SID and Auth Token." Copy both again. If you use a subaccount, use the subaccount's own values, not the parent account's.
• "Twilio could not find an account with this Account SID." The Account SID is wrong or belongs to another account.
• 'Twilio reports that this account is …' The account is suspended or closed. Fix it in the Twilio Console; nothing can be sent until the account is active.

To replace the token later, for example after rotating it in Twilio, click Change next to the saved token, paste the new one and click Save and verify. See rotating the Auth Token.

3.2Step 3.2: Bring in your business numbers

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Business numbers›Sync from Twilio

Click Sync from Twilio. ConnectSMS imports the phone numbers in your Twilio account with their capabilities and Messaging Service. New numbers start Active. Sync never deletes a number: if Twilio stops returning one, it's marked Not found in Twilio.

Manage Messaging Services from ConnectSMS

The Messaging Services card on this page lets you do step 1.4 without leaving Salesforce:

• Create Messaging Service creates an empty service in Twilio. It isn't linked to any A2P campaign; do that in Twilio.
• Add to a service puts a number in a service. The number then uses the service's settings, including its webhook.
• Remove from service takes it out. For a registered US local number, that also takes it out of its A2P campaign, and carriers block it until it is registered again.

To buy numbers or delete a Messaging Service, use the Twilio Console, then click Sync from Twilio again.

Name each number

Open a number's menu and choose Edit number settings. The Friendly name, such as "Support line", is what people see in the From selector, so make it clear. The same dialog has the Active checkbox and Available to automation, which lets Flow, API and agent requests send from the number (step 4.5). Leave that off unless the number is meant for automated messages.

3.3Step 3.3: Create a Salesforce Site to receive replies

Where:Salesforce Setup›Quick Find: Sites›Sites›New

Replies, STOP requests and delivery updates come from Twilio as web requests. Twilio can't sign in to Salesforce, so it calls a public address on a Salesforce Site in your org. ConnectSMS checks Twilio's signature on every call and rejects anything that isn't from your Twilio account. A basic Salesforce Site is enough; an Experience Cloud site also works.

1. In Setup, type Sites in Quick Find and open Sites.
2. If Salesforce asks you to register a Salesforce Sites domain, do that first, then click New.
3. Enter a Site Label, such as "ConnectSMS Webhooks", keep Active selected and save.
4. If the site isn't active yet, click Activate.

3.4Step 3.4: Give the site's guest user the webhook permission

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Inbound webhook›1. Choose the Salesforce Site

1. In ConnectSMS Setup, open Inbound webhook and choose Check again so the new site appears.
2. Under 1. Choose the Salesforce Site, pick your site.
3. Click Assign guest permission and confirm with Assign permission. ConnectSMS gives the site's guest user the ConnectSMS Webhook Guest permission set and nothing else. It only lets Twilio reach the ConnectSMS webhook; it gives no access to your records.

You'll then see "The site's guest user has the ConnectSMS webhook permission." Some ConnectSMS messages call this permission set "ConnectSMS WebHook User"; it's the same one. To assign it by hand instead, go to Setup › Sites › your site › Public Access Settings › View Users, open the guest user and add ConnectSMS Webhook Guest under Permission Set Assignments.

3.5Step 3.5: Point your Messaging Services at ConnectSMS

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Inbound webhook›2. Point your Messaging Services

1. Under 2. Point your Messaging Services, tick every service that holds numbers you'll use with ConnectSMS.
2. Click Configure webhook on selected services.
3. Read the confirmation, then click Configure webhook.

For each service you selected, ConnectSMS changes these settings in Twilio:

• Incoming messages go to the ConnectSMS webhook on your site, by POST.
• Delivery status updates go to the same address.
• The service's settings apply to all its numbers, instead of each number's own webhook.

The address looks like https://yoursitedomain.my.salesforce-sites.com/services/apexrest/csms/twilio/webhook. To check it in Twilio, open the service's Integration settings and look at incoming messages and the delivery status callback:

New ConsoleProducts & Services›Messaging›Services›your service›Integration Legacy ConsoleMessaging›Services›your service›Integration

Right after this step the checklist may say the webhook "needs a look", with "ConnectSMS has not received any reply or delivery update from Twilio in the last 7 days". That's expected: it clears after your first test in Part 5.

3.6Step 3.6: Keep the signature check on Enforce

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Inbound webhook›3. Signature check

The signature check proves each request came from your Twilio account. Leave it on Enforce (recommended), which is the default. ConnectSMS won't let you turn on sending with any other setting.

• Monitor (troubleshooting only) accepts requests that fail the check and records them. Use it only briefly while you fix a problem.
• Off (development orgs only) lets anyone who knows the address post fake messages. Never use it with real customer data.

3.7Step 3.7: Choose the records people can text

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Recipients

Contacts, Leads, Accounts and Cases work out of the box. ConnectSMS tries their phone fields in order and uses the first valid number: Mobile Phone, then Phone for Contacts and Leads; the Contact's numbers for Cases; Phone for Accounts, with Person Mobile Phone first when Person Accounts are on.

To text from other objects, such as Work Orders or your own custom objects, click Add object, enter the object's API name, choose Find phone fields and put the fields in order. Fields can be on the record or on one record it looks up to. Texting from any object explains the options.

3.8Step 3.8: Set your messaging policies

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Policies

Each card on Messaging policies has a sensible default. Review them, then click Save changes.

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3.9Step 3.9: Turn on the background jobs

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Operations›Background jobs›Turn on background jobs

A scheduled job runs every 15 minutes. It sends scheduled messages and outreach, checks messages whose outcome is unknown, and deletes expired attachment links. Messages people send right away don't wait for it.

1. Open Operations and the Background jobs tab.
2. Click Turn on background jobs. The first run starts within 15 minutes.

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The jobs run as the admin who turns them on. Use an admin account that will stay active. If that person leaves, turn the jobs off and on again from another admin account. In Setup › Scheduled Jobs they appear as ConnectSMS Dispatcher :00, :15, :30 and :45. Manage them from ConnectSMS rather than deleting them there.

4.1Step 4.1: Assign ConnectSMS permission sets

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Access›Permission sets

Assign them in Salesforce Setup (Permission Sets › Manage Assignments), or from ConnectSMS Setup: open Access, use a person's row menu and choose Permission sets. Changes there apply right away and are audited.

4.2Step 4.2: Give people access to business numbers

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Access›Add access

1. Click Add access.
2. Under Give access to, choose A user or A public group, and pick them.
3. Choose the Business number.
4. Tick Can send, Can view or both. Send includes view. View only lets someone read the number's conversations without sending.
5. For a person, optionally tick Use as this person's default business number, then save.

• Public groups reach their direct members only. People in nested groups or roles don't get access. Members still need the ConnectSMS User permission set.
• ConnectSMS never picks a number for anyone. If someone has no Send access, they can read but not text.
• When you Revoke access, ConnectSMS first shows what changes, such as queued messages or outreach that would be blocked. Nothing is revoked until you confirm.

4.3Step 4.3: Add Text Messages to your record pages

Where:Salesforce›A record page›Setup gear›Edit Page

ConnectSMS doesn't change your record pages, so add its component where people work. Do this for Contacts, Leads, Accounts, Cases and each object you added in Recipients.

1. Open any record of that type, click the Setup gear and choose Edit Page.
2. In the component list, search for ConnectSMS Text Messages and drag it onto the page, for example the right-hand column or a new tab.
3. Optionally set Header label (default "Text messages"). Leave Message history height (pixels) blank so the component fits the page with the message box always visible.
4. Click Save. If Salesforce asks, click Activate and choose who gets the page: org default, or specific apps, record types and profiles.

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4.4Step 4.4: Show people the Inbox

Where:Salesforce›App Launcher›ConnectSMS

• The ConnectSMS app has the tabs Inbox, Outreaches, Templates, SMS Messages and ConnectSMS Setup. People see the ones their permission set allows. ConnectSMS User shows Inbox and Templates.
• The utility bar of the ConnectSMS app already has Messages, a compact inbox with an unread count.
• In your other apps, such as a Sales or Service console: open Setup › App Manager, edit the app, go to Utility Items, click Add Utility Item and choose ConnectSMS Inbox (Utility Bar). You can also put the ConnectSMS Inbox component on a Home page or an app page.

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4.5Step 4.5: Set up automation users (optional)

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Business numbers›Edit number settings›Available to automation

If you'll send from Flow, Apex, the REST API or Agentforce:

• Mark the numbers automation may use as Available to automation, and choose an Automation default sender under Policies.
• Give integration and agent users the ConnectSMS Automation permission set.
• Mind who runs the Flow. A record-triggered Flow runs as the person who changed the record, so that person needs Send access to the number, or ConnectSMS Automation plus a number available to automation. The Automated Process user can't hold permission sets.

Sending SMS from Salesforce Flow walks through a Flow, and the automation reference covers Apex and REST.

5.1Step 5.1: Check that setup is ready

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Overview›Setup progress

Click Check again on the Overview. The status card should say Ready to turn on sending. If it doesn't, the last checklist step lists what's still needed:

• a saved Twilio connection (3.1);
• at least one active number that is ready (3.2);
• the webhook set up (3.5);
• at least one person with Send access to a number (4.2);
• the background jobs turned on (3.9);
• the signature check on Enforce (3.6).

5.2Step 5.2: Turn on sending

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Overview›Turn on sending

Click Turn on sending. The confirmation shows how many numbers and people can send. Add a reason if you like, then confirm. The change is recorded in the audit log with your name.

Turn off sending is your emergency stop. It stops every ConnectSMS message at once: one-to-one, replies, outreach and automation. Queued and scheduled messages wait, and incoming messages still arrive. You'll be asked for a reason.

5.3Step 5.3: Send a test message to your phone

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Operations›Test message

1. Choose the From (business number).
2. Enter your mobile number in To (mobile phone number), with the country code, for example +1.
3. Keep or change the message, click Send test message and confirm. It's a real text, and Twilio charges for it.
4. Click Refresh status after a minute. You want Delivered, and the text on your phone.

The test message goes through the same checks as every other message. It only works once sending is on. A Delivered status also proves that delivery updates reach Salesforce. If it says Failed, the reason includes a Twilio error code: see Troubleshooting.

5.4Step 5.4: Reply from your phone

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Inbound webhook›Latest activity

Reply to the test text, for example "Got it". Within a few seconds:

• Inbound webhook › Latest activity shows a time for Last incoming message.
• The reply appears in the Inbox, in a conversation with your number.
• The checklist's "Replies and delivery updates" step turns Completed after you choose Check again.

If the reply doesn't arrive, see Replies don't reach Salesforce.

5.5Step 5.5: Text from a record

Put your mobile number on a test Contact and open it. In the Text Messages component, choose your number in the From selector, write a message and click Send. Reply from your phone: the message history on the record shows both. This confirms the record page, your number access and the whole round trip.

5.6Step 5.6: Test STOP and START

Where:ConnectSMS Setup›Opt-outs

1. Reply STOP to one of the test texts. Twilio sends its standard confirmation.
2. Open Opt-outs: your number is listed as Opted out, with the source Inbound keyword. If you try to text yourself now, ConnectSMS blocks it and says why.
3. Reply START. The opt-out is lifted and you can receive texts again. (Toll-free numbers accept START and UNSTOP.)

With the default policy, a STOP to one of your numbers blocks all of them from texting that phone. You can also add opt-outs by hand, for example when someone asks by phone, with Add opt-out.

5.7Step 5.7: Roll out to your team

1. Give your team their permission sets and number access (4.1 and 4.2).
2. Check that the Text Messages component is on the record pages they use (4.3).
3. Show them the Inbox and the From selector, and agree who answers which number. The shared inbox explains assigning and closing conversations.