

Twilio launches UK SMS at $0.04 in/out - highace
http://www.twilio.com/blog/2012/01/twilio-expands-uk-capabilities-with-sms-launch.html

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corin_
Awesome work Twilio, been looking forward to being able to play around with
SMS as much as I have calls without having to use a US number.

 _Important Note for non-UK Customers: if you would like to use a UK number
for SMS please note that this is a domestic messaging product for sending
messages to UK numbers only. Additionally, we are not able to guarantee
delivery of international senders sending messages from non-UK phone numbers
or from locaitons outside the UK._

This isn't something I've come across before - have I just ignored it from
other services, or is this an issue unique to Twilio? Not that it will be of
much importance I don't think.

~~~
dmor
Its not a huge issue, but we found some customers were getting confused and
since the majority of our customer base is still in the U.S. right now we're
trying to make things as clear as possible. In the ideal world, you'd be able
to seamlessly send text messages anywhere in the world, but that's now how it
works with Twilio... yet.

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highace
Works out to 2.6pence each. Which is exceptional for outgoing, but charging
for incoming as well is a new one, we don't really do that here.

~~~
JonWood
Its actually fairly standard practice for bulk SMS providers to charge for
receiving messages as well.

~~~
highace
The UK based sms service I use doesn't. But theres a monthly fee for the
number. I'm sure this was the case with others when I was shopping around as
well (again, UK based).

~~~
patrickmalatack
At Twilio are focused on creating a platform that enables developers to build
value-added applications for their customers. To this end, we have never
offered a product that allows developers to send out messages without a number
to receive replies. We believe two-way messaging offers our developers the
ability to create unique application experiences and has real value to our
developer community. As such, we choose to be agressive with cheap outbound
pricing and charge for incoming messages.

This is our first foray in to SMS outside of North America though so please
send me feedback on your thoughts at patrick [at] twilio

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dazbradbury
From the documentation, it seems that you need to set a "from" number when
sending an SMS. Does anyone know why this would be the case? Is it possible to
send no-reply style SMS messages with this service?

I'm thinking along the lines of phone number verification, and I wouldn't want
to be charged if people accidentally replied to the message.

~~~
patrickmalatack
All messages from twilio MUST originate from a real phone number that you have
purchased from twilio.

If you do not wish to receive replies you can clear the URL associated with
your number.

~~~
dazbradbury
Thanks for the clarification.

Just to confirm (as it's a real number), if a user sends an SMS to that
number, but no URL is associated with it, will I be charged? I would assume
not, but worth checking!

~~~
dmor
Nope, you won't be charged if you remove the URL associated with that number

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davej
Ireland has also been added but unfortunately Twilio doesn't support SMS in
Ireland yet.

edit: Also Austria, Denmark, France and Poland:
[http://www.twilio.com/blog/2012/01/twilio-launches-phone-
num...](http://www.twilio.com/blog/2012/01/twilio-launches-phone-numbers-in-
five-european-countries.html)

~~~
sc00ter
If it's SMS you're specifically looking for WebText.com† supports Ireland (and
is based there), as well as most other countries.

†API docs: <http://www.webtext.com/api-documentation/>

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jbarham
FWIW Nexmo charges $0.0376 per SMS in the UK
(<http://nexmo.com/pricing/index.html>) and supports over 200 countries. (I am
not affiliated w/ Nexmo.)

~~~
jeffreymcmanus
Their web site also thinks it's still 2011.

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car
If you are so inclined, you could take the DIY route and go straight to the
source: <http://voxbone.com>

~~~
speby
Don't forget bandwidth.com. That's one of the main providers Twilio uses in
the US for all their local numbers.

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sparrish
I'm not sure what the big deal is. Tropo has much better international
coverage and costs less.

