TextBay sends through your own Twilio account, so the setup is really two small setups: a Twilio account with something to send from, and TextBay pointed at it. Ten minutes, once.
What do I need? #
It depends on who you are texting. Click the line that describes you:
I want to text people in the United States
You need a US sender that carriers accept. Pick one of these:
- A regular local number (10DLC): cheapest to own, but US carriers require a one-time A2P registration (a brand and a campaign) before real volume gets through. Plan for that step: A2P and 10DLC.
- A toll-free number: skips 10DLC and needs a single verification instead. Often the simplest compliant route for a small business: Toll-free numbers.
- A short code: highest volume, highest cost, weeks of lead time: Short codes.
Sender names like ACMECORP do not work for US or Canadian recipients.
I want to text people outside the US
Buy an SMS-capable number for a country Twilio supports, or check whether an alphanumeric sender name is allowed where your recipients are: Sender names. Some destinations need Twilio’s geo permissions switched on (Twilio console, Messaging Geographic Permissions); TextBay tells you when a send fails for that reason.
I want to send WhatsApp messages
You need a WhatsApp sender registered with Twilio (or Twilio’s sandbox for trying it out). WhatsApp has its own rulebook, most importantly the 24-hour reply window and approved templates: WhatsApp’s rules.
I already have a Twilio account and number
Then you only need your Account SID and Auth Token. Jump straight to step 3.
The setup, step by step #
Step 1: Create a Twilio account
Sign up at twilio.com. New accounts start as a trial with some free credit: good for testing, but a trial only delivers to phone numbers you have verified with Twilio, and it puts a trial note in front of every message. Upgrading (adding a payment method) removes both limits.
Step 2: Get a number
In the Twilio console, buy an SMS-capable number: Buy a number. A number costs about a dollar a month; the messages themselves are billed per segment at Twilio’s rates for the destination country.
Step 3: Copy your two credentials into TextBay
The console home page shows your Account SID (34 characters, starts with AC) and your Auth Token under Account Info. In TextBay, open the Twilio page, paste both, and press Connect. TextBay loads your numbers, balance and senders, and from then on reconnects by itself.
Your credentials stay on your PC, the Auth Token encrypted for your Windows account, and are only ever sent to Twilio itself. The formal version is the TextBay Privacy Policy.
Step 4: Pick who messages come from
Still on the Twilio page, choose a sender: one of your numbers from the list, a Messaging Service, or (entered manually) a short code or sender name. The page explains what each choice can and cannot do, and the channel card below shows what the account is ready for: SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and your US A2P registration state.
Step 5: Run the practice campaign
The first-run wizard ends with a practice run: it loads four example contacts, writes a sample message and switches on test mode, so pressing Send now simulates the whole campaign without sending anything or spending a cent. If you skipped the wizard, load the example data from the Send page and switch on test mode under Settings; it works the same.
Step 6: Send something real
Turn test mode off, add a real contact (yourself is a good first audience), write a message and press Send now. The run view shows each person’s status live, and History keeps the delivery truth: Send your first campaign.
Texting many US recipients from a regular local number without the A2P registration is the number one reason first campaigns show Failed or Undelivered. The Twilio page’s US A2P row tells you where you stand before you find out the hard way.