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Overview

Plivo can be the carrier behind your brand’s texts. Once you connect a Plivo account and add one of its numbers as a sender, texts from the Send SMS step, test sends and the automatic STOP, HELP and START replies go out through Plivo. They pass the same checks as every other text first (suppression list, quiet hours, consent, state rules), set up in Settings -> SMS. Plivo has no automation steps of its own. It is a sender, like a Twilio number. You pay Plivo directly for every text, and ElasticFunnels adds nothing on top. Only US numbers can be texted for now.

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What you need in Plivo

  • A Plivo account with credit on it. A Plivo trial account can only text numbers you have verified in the Plivo console.
  • A number that can send SMS, or a Powerpack. You can use any of these:
  • Your Auth ID and Auth Token. Both are on the overview page of the Plivo console. The Auth ID is 20 characters and starts with MA (or SA for a subaccount).

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Connect Plivo

1

Open Plivo in Integrations

Go to Apps -> Integrations and open Plivo. Click Add connection.The Plivo connection form: Name, Auth ID and Auth Token, with where to find them in the Plivo console
2

Paste your credentials

Give the connection a Name (for example “Plivo main account”), then paste the Auth ID and the Auth Token from the Plivo console. Save.The Auth Token is stored encrypted. ElasticFunnels also uses it to check that replies and delivery reports really come from Plivo, so keep it current here if you ever change it in Plivo.
3

Add a sender

Open Settings -> SMS -> Senders and click Add sender. Choose your Plivo connection under SMS provider account, then pick a Number. The list shows the SMS-enabled numbers and the Powerpacks on that account; a Powerpack shows as a messaging service.Turn on Default sender if this is the number a step should use when it does not pick one. Save.
4

Click Configure webhooks

In the sender’s row, click Configure webhooks. ElasticFunnels sets up Plivo to send replies to it. See Replies and delivery reports for what this changes in your Plivo account.
5

Check the registration

Click Refresh in the Registration column. ElasticFunnels reads the 10DLC status (local numbers) or the toll-free verification status from Plivo and shows Registered, Pending, Rejected or Unknown. A Powerpack stays at Unknown, so check its numbers in Plivo.
6

Accept the consent statement

On the Compliance tab, accept the marketing consent statement. Marketing texts are skipped until someone on the brand does. See SMS compliance.
The sender form has a switch labelled Twilio already answers STOP/HELP for this number. For a Plivo number it means Plivo: turn it on only if your Plivo account already sends its own STOP and HELP replies for that number, so the person does not get two replies. ElasticFunnels then records the reply and the opt-out without sending its own.

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Replies and delivery reports

There is no URL to copy into Plivo. Configure webhooks does it for you:
  • Replies (STOP, HELP, START and anything else people text back). ElasticFunnels creates a Plivo application named elasticfunnels-brand-<your brand ID> whose message URL points at your brand’s ElasticFunnels address (it contains /api/webhook/sms/plivo/), and attaches it to the number or Powerpack. Clicking it again later reuses the same application.
  • Delivery reports. Every text ElasticFunnels sends carries its own report address, so nothing needs to be set in Plivo for them.
Plivo allows one application per number. If the number was attached to another application (for example one that answers voice calls), Configure webhooks replaces it. Use a number that is only for texting, or check its application in the Plivo console afterwards.
Plivo signs every request it sends with your Auth Token. ElasticFunnels refuses any request that is unsigned or signed with a different token, and the address also carries a secret token for your brand. A text’s status in Settings -> Logs -> SMS follows what Plivo reports: Sent, then Delivered, Undelivered or Failed. Plivo’s “rejected” shows as Failed, and “read” as Delivered.

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Send a test

  1. Open Settings -> SMS -> Test send.
  2. Enter a number you own, pick the Plivo sender, choose the type and write a short message.
  3. Send. The tab shows what the checks decided: sent, waiting or skipped, with the reason.
  4. Open Settings -> Logs -> SMS. The text should move from Sent to Delivered within a minute or so.
  5. Reply STOP from your phone. It shows under Replies, your number lands on the Suppression list, and you get the STOP reply. Text START to lift it again.
If step 4 stays on Sent and step 5 shows nothing, Plivo’s requests are not reaching ElasticFunnels: see the first item under Troubleshooting.

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Troubleshooting

Click Configure webhooks (or Set again) on the sender. If you changed the Auth Token in Plivo, paste the new one into the Plivo integration first: requests signed with a token ElasticFunnels does not have are refused. Also check in the Plivo console that the number still uses the elasticfunnels-brand-... application.
The number was released or moved to another Plivo account or subaccount. Remove the sender and add a number from the account the integration uses.
The Auth ID or Auth Token is wrong, or Plivo did not answer. Check both on the Plivo console overview page and save the integration again. The list shows the first 20 numbers and the first 20 Powerpacks on the account, and leaves out numbers without SMS.
The Auth ID is exactly 20 letters and digits, starting with MA or SA. Copy it from the console overview, not the Auth Token.
Click the text in Settings -> Logs -> SMS to see Plivo’s error code and its meaning.A number on the suppression list gets no more texts until the person texts START or you lift it.
Some reasons in the log are still worded for Twilio, for example “Twilio rejected the text”. For a Plivo sender they mean Plivo. The error code next to them is Plivo’s.