How to use Twilio automation

We're excited to introduce Retable's latest integration with Twilio, allowing you to easily send bulk SMS directly from your projects! This new feature simplifies automated communication, making it faster to reach your audience.

In this guide, we'll walk you through how to set up an SMS automation using Retable and Twilio step-by-step. From accessing your project to crafting personalized SMS content, we've got everything covered to help you get started.

Follow along to learn how you can streamline your messaging process!👇🏻

• Access your project: Start by opening the Retable project that contains the phone numbers of the people you want to send SMS to.
• Go to automations: In the top right corner of your project, navigate to the "Automations" section.
• Create a new automation: Click on "Add New" to create a new automation.
• Name your automation: Give your automation a name in the "Name" field.
• Set your trigger: Select your trigger type for when the automation should start.
• Choose your table: Select the table from which you want to send the SMS.
• Select "Send SMS with Twilio" as action: Choose "Send SMS with Twilio" as the action type for your automation.
• Create a Twilio connection: Click the "New connection" button to create your Twilio connection.
• Name your connection: Provide a name for your connection. Optionally, you can add a description.
• Enter Twilio account details:
  • In the 'Account SID' field, enter your Twilio Account SID.
  • In the 'Auth Token' field, enter your Twilio Auth Token.
  • You can use the same SID and Auth Token for multiple automations.
• Save your connection:
  • Click the ‘Save’ button to store your Twilio connection. You can create multiple connections if needed. Please note:
  • Connections are user-specific, meaning other users in the project can’t edit your connections.
  • You can see and use connections added by other users if they are selected for an automation, but you can’t see unselected connections from other users.
• Automatic phone number assignment: After clicking save, your Twilio-registered phone number will be automatically added to the **From** field of your automation. All SMS sent through this automation will be sent from your Twilio phone number.
• Specify recipients (To field):
  • If you have a "Phone Number" column in your table, you can use curly brackets `{}` to add the column name in the 'To' field. Example: `{Phone Number}`.
  • This will ensure SMS is sent to the phone numbers in that column whenever the trigger is activated.
  • Alternatively, you can manually enter a phone number in the 'To' field if you want to send SMS to the same number each time. To enter multiple numbers, separate them with commas.
• Write your SMS content: In the ‘Content’ field, type the SMS you want to send. If you wish to pull data from a column in your table, use curly brackets `{}` to reference the column name.
• For example, if you want each SMS to include the recipient’s name and your table has a "Name" column, you can write `{Name}` in the content field. The SMS will then include the person’s name in the message.

Now your automation is set up, and your SMS will be sent automatically based on your selected trigger!