Twilio WhatsApp SMS Notification
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WhatsApp SMS notifications can be sent with the Twilio Notification module. This profile does not require a cellular modem, but the Gateway must have Internet access and a Twilio account with SMS capabilities must be created (www.twilio.com). The Twilio account must then also be defined in Ignition.
The Alarm Notification module must be installed and enabled. If the Alarm Notification module is not installed or is disabled, a warning will appear in the logs and display the state as "Faulted Missing Dependency" on the Platform > System > Modules page.
See the system.twilio section of the appendix for details on the two scripting functions available for the Twilio WhatsApp SMS Notification Profile.
Message Types​
WhatsApp allows two types of messages, template and free-form. Upon initial communication, Twilio can only send these pre-approved template messages.
Template Messages: Template messages are configurable messages on Twilio that can be sent to users via Twilio WhatsApp. Templates are generic messages, but parameters allow templates to be a bit more versatile. Template Parameters are entered in the Notification Block settings in the Designer. Refer to the WhatsApp Message Template Overview for more information on template messages.
Free-Form Messages: Any message that is not a pre-approved template message is considered free-form. You can configure your free-form messages using the Message field on the alarm or on the alarm Notification block.
The only way to send free-form SMS messages in WhatsApp is for the user to respond to a template in order to open a 24-hour messaging session. Once a user replies to a template message, then the alarm notifications will send out the configured free-form messages. The 24-hour Session will remain open for 24 hours from the last message received from the user.
Create a Twilio WhatsApp SMS Notification Profile​
- Go to the Services section of the Gateway Webpage.
- Select Alarming > Notification from the menu on the left side.
- Click on Create Profile +.
- Select the WhatsApp SMS Notification profile type, and click Next.
- Provide a name for the profile, and select a Twilio Account from the dropdown.
- Set the other profile settings as desired. See table below for a description of all settings.
- Click Create Alarm Notification Profile.
Once your Notification profile is created, you can use it in an Alarm Pipeline. Note that your user contact information needs to be set to WhatsApp SMS to receive messages.
Twilio WhatsApp SMS Notification Profile Settings​
The following table describes the settings on the Alarm Notification Profiles page for a Twilio WhatsApp SMS Notification profile.
General​
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Name for this alarm notification profile. |
| Description | Description of the profile. |
| Enabled | Whether the profile is enabled or disabled. |
Twilio​
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Twilio Account | Select a Twilio account from the dropdown list. |
| Acknowledgement Allowed | Enables users to respond to notifications directly from the SMS message; also known as Two-Way notification. If enabled, the Public Hostname property in the Twilio Account must be configured. |
Auditing​
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Auditing Profile | Select an audit profile from the dropdown list. |
WhatsApp​
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Message Service | The messaging service number for your Twilio Account. This Messaging Service is automatically generated for your Twilio Account upon creation. |