TwiML TM SMS: Sms Verb

The <Sms> verb sends an SMS message to a phone number.

Verb Attributes

The <Sms> verb supports the following attributes that modify its behavior:

to

The 'to' attribute takes a valid phone number as an argument. Twilio will send the SMS to the number provided. If no 'to' attribute is provided, Twilio will send the SMS to the current sender.

from

The 'from' attribute takes a valid phone number as an argument. This number must be a phone number that you've purchased from Twilio. If no from attribute is provided, Twilio will pick a default: When sending an SMS in response to an incoming SMS, 'from' defaults to phone number that received the message. If you specify a 'from' value, it must be an SMS-capable local phone number assigned to your account. If the phone number isn't SMS-capable, then <Sms> will not send an SMS message.

action

The action attribute takes a URL as an argument. After processing the <Sms> verb, Twilio will make a GET or POST request to this URL with the form parameters "SmsStatus" and "SmsSid". By specifying an action your application can receive synchronous notification that the message was successfully enqueued. If no action is provided, Twilio will move on to the next verb in the document without notifying your application.

method

The method attribute takes the value GET or POST. This tells Twilio whether to request the action URL via HTTP GET or POST. This attribute is modeled after the HTML form method attribute. POST is the default value.

statusCallback

The statusCallback attribute takes a URL as an argument. When the message is actually sent, or if sending fails, Twilio will make POST request to this URL with the form parameters 'SmsStatus' and 'SmsSid'. Note, statusCallback always uses HTTP POST to request the given url.

Nouns

The "noun" of a Twilio verb is the body of the element, the thing the verb acts upon. In the case of <Sms>, the noun is the text of the message you want to send.

Nesting Rules

The <Sms> verb can be nested in the following elements:

• <Response>

The following verbs can be nested within <Sms>:

• none

See Also

Twilio SMS Messages REST Resource - Using REST to retrieve and send SMS messages

Examples

Example 1: Simple SMS use case

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Response>
    <Sms>Store Location: 123 Easy St.</SMS>
</Response>    

This is the simplest case for <Sms>. Twilio sends an SMS with the location of your wonderful retail establishment.

Example 2: SmsStatus reporting

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Response>
    <Sms action="/SmsHandler.php" method="POST">Store Location: 123 Easy St.</Sms>
</Response>

In this use case, we have provided an action url and method. Now when the message is queued for delivery, Twilio will submit to the action URL with the parameter 'SmsStatus'. If the messages is queued and waiting to be sent, SmsStatus=sending. If an invalid attribute was provided, then SmsStatus=invalid.

Your web application can look at the 'SmsStatus' parameter and decide what to do next.

If an action URL is provided for <Sms>, flow of your application will continue at that URL. All verbs remaining in the document will be unreachable and ignored.

Example 3: statusCallback reporting

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Response>
    <Sms statusCallback="/SMSHandler.php">Store Location: 123 Easy St.</SMS>
</Response>

In this use case, we have provided a statusCallback url. When the message is finished sending (not just enqueued), Twilio will asynchronously submit to the action URL with the parameter SmsStatus. If the messages was successfully sent, SmsStatus=sent.
If the message failed to send, SmsStatus=failed.