The SMS Connect option and Twilio integration was added as part of release 2.15. Below are some VERY IMPORTANT considerations when activating this feature for your White Label account.
Purpose:
The purpose of the SMS Connect option is to allow an Operator and their client choose to collect mobile numbers from guests that are connecting at a Hotspot. In addition, some countries require SMS verification by law.
Operator considerations:
As an Operator, it is important for you to consider the ramifications of allowing the SMS Connection option to your clients and their guests. We have chosen to integrate the SMS feature with Twilio (http://www.twilio.com). Twilio is one of the largest 3rd party SMS companies in the world and they have relationships with nearly all of the mobile carriers around the world. This allows them to support the largest number of potential users of the SMS function as well as the most reasonable pricing. There is a cost for Twilio and that cost is one of the factors you need to consider when activating the SMS function. Here is a link to their pricing page for SMS. https://www.twilio.com/sms/pricing
Pricing Summary from an Operator perspective:
You will need to choose whether you want to allow your Clients to use your Twilio account or to get their own Twilio account. We have built the functionality into the Smart WiFi Platform to allow both scenarios.
1. You will need to choose whether you want a Local Phone number or a “Short Code”. We built the platform feature to support both. A local phone number is just that, a local number to you that is assigned to you for sending and receiving SMS messages. These are easiest to setup and they are very inexpensive. There are LIMITS though on how many messages can be sent from that phone number per day AND how many messages can be sent simultaneously. Getting a short code has limits, but they are VERY high limits. The limits are governed by the mobile carriers to prevent over-utilization of their networks and to prevent abuse from SMS spammers. Here is a document that shows you what the limits are: https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/223183648-Sending-and-Receiving-Limitations-on-Calls-and-SMS-Messages
Limits Summary (From a phone call with Twilio sales team)
Local Phone Number: 1 SMS per second limit. Limit of “about” 200 messages PER DAY.
Toll-free Number: 3 SMS per second limit. Limit of “about” 200 messages PER DAY.
Short-Code: 30 SMS per second limit. NO PER DAY limits. (Downside: A short code costs $1000/mo. AND takes 8-12 weeks for the short code to be approved and assigned by the carriers).
Limits examples:
Example 1: Let’s say that you have a Hotspot that is getting about 50 total new guest connections per day. If you don’t “force” the guest to use SMS then out of the 50 connections, perhaps 10% of the guests may use SMS to connect (assuming the Client hasn’t de-activated other connection methods). In this scenario, 5 SMS’s would be sent for connection verification. Let’s say you had 50 Hotspots that follow the same scenario using a Twilio local or Toll free number. This would mean that you would have exceeded the daily maximum allowed SMS’s for your phone number. 1 Hotspot=5 SMS’s, 50 Hotspots=250 SMS’s.
You have a couple options in this scenario:
1. Require that your Clients get their own local or toll-free number. (Which would require you to set that up for them in your Twilio account (sub-accounts). We have provided the ability to add a phone number and separate API key in the Add/Edit client area.
2. Get a short-code from Twilio and populate that into the Smart WiFi Dashboard.
Example 2: Let’s say that you have a Hotspot that is getting about 50 total new guest connections per day. If you activate the “Force SMS” feature then ALL connections would be required to verify their mobile phone.
[alert style=”info”]Forcing is required in some countries where the law states that ALL public WiFi users are verified before they are allowed to connect. This law also requires the venue to log the SMS verification and re-verify in certain time intervals. We have built-in a verification expiration feature to allow you or the client to control the verification expiration to allow for flexibility depending on the law or your business requirements.[/alert]
In this scenario, 50 SMS’s would be sent for connection verification. Let’s say you had 10 Hotspots that follow the same scenario using a Twilio local or Toll free number. This would mean that you would have exceeded the daily maximum allowed SMS’s for your phone number. 1 Hotspot=50 SMS’s, 10 Hotspots=500 SMS’s.
You have a couple options in this scenario:
1. Require that your Clients get their own local or toll-free number. (Which would require you to set that up for them in your Twilio account (sub-accounts). We have provided the ability to add a phone number and separate API key in the Add/Edit client area.
2. Get a short-code from Twilio and populate that into the Smart WiFi Dashboard.
Example 3: Let’s say that you have a VERY BUSY Hotspot that is getting about 1000 total new guest connections per day. If you don’t “force” the guest to use SMS then out of the 1000 connections, perhaps 10% of the guests may use SMS to connect (assuming the Client hasn’t de-activated other connection methods). In this scenario, 100 SMS’s would be sent for connection verification. Let’s say that the 100 SMS’s were concentrated to a 1 hour busy period. You may exceed the maximum simultaneous SMS messages per second.
You have a couple options in this scenario:
1. Require that your Clients get their own short-code. (Which would require you to set that up for them in your Twilio account (sub-accounts). We have provided the ability to add a phone number and separate API key in the Add/Edit client area.
2. Get a short-code from Twilio and populate that into the Smart WiFi Dashboard.