Send text messages to clients (connect Twilio)
Use your own Twilio account to text booking and invoice reminders to clients. A step-by-step setup, including the exact answers to pick in Twilio.
Compass can send transactional text messages to your clients, things like booking confirmations, appointment reminders, invoice reminders, and receipts. It sends through your own Twilio account, so you pay Twilio directly for what you send and the messages come from your studio, not from Compass.
You will find this under Settings, Connections, Text messages.
What you need first: a Twilio account
Twilio is the service that actually delivers the texts. If you do not have an account yet, create one at twilio.com/try-twilio. It is free to sign up; you only pay for messages you send.
The Twilio onboarding questions
When you first sign in, Twilio asks a few setup questions. Use these answers:
- Which Twilio product? Choose SMS.
- What do you want to do? Choose something like Send and receive SMS / notifications. You are sending notifications to your own clients.
- How do you want to build? Choose With a third-party integration (Compass is the third party). You do not need to write any code.
- Brand type: when Twilio asks whether you are a Direct brand or an ISV / reseller, always choose Direct brand. You are texting your own clients from your own account, which is exactly what Direct brand means.
Get your Account SID and Auth Token
From the Twilio Console home page (console.twilio.com), find the Account Info panel. You need two values:
- Account SID, a long string that starts with AC.
- Auth Token, hidden behind a Show / Copy button. This is a password, keep it private.
Paste both into the Connect Twilio card in Compass. Your Auth Token is stored encrypted and is never shown again; we check it with Twilio the moment you save, so you will know straight away if something is wrong.
Choose how your texts are sent from
There are two options, and they behave differently:
- Sender ID (your studio name). Texts arrive showing your studio name instead of a number. This is outbound only, clients cannot reply. Because of that, every message must include a line telling people how to opt out (more below). Sender IDs are great for one-way reminders and are supported in Australia and many countries.
- Dedicated number. You buy a phone number in Twilio and texts come from it. Clients can reply, and replying STOP opts them out automatically. Choose this if you want two-way texting.
You can switch between the two at any time in the Connect Twilio card.
Opt-out and the law (Australian Spam Act)
Australian law requires that the recipient can identify you and can opt out of further messages. Compass handles this for you:
- Sender ID: because replies are not received, you set an opt-out linethat Compass adds to every message, for example “Reply not monitored. To stop texts, email hello@yourstudio.com”. This field is required.
- Dedicated number:Twilio’s automatic STOP handling covers opt-outs. Anyone who texts STOP is added to a do-not-text list and Compass will not message them again.
At launch, Compass only sends transactional texts (tied to a real booking, invoice, or enquiry the client is already part of). It does not send marketing or bulk texts, which need separate express consent.
Turn it on
Once your account is connected and validated, use the Turn on texting switch. It is off by default, and Compass never sends a single text until you switch it on. You can turn it off again at any time.
Related: Text message settings.