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Twilio's Acquisition of Zipwhip Confirms Sunset of SMS Services
Dustin Yu • November 17, 2021
If You Use Zipwhip, You Should Read This...
As a result of Twilio's recent acquisition of Zipwhip in July, it was not known how Zipwhip customers would be affected until recently. Many Zipwhip customers are still not aware of the change and deadlines, and Twilio does not seem to have much concern of what impact this transition is having on their customers.
Twilio announced on October 31st, 2021,
upon the conclusion of the sunset period, the Zipwhip SMS service will be shut down permanently
- all access, text conversations, and contacts will no longer be available. Zipwhip’s cancellation policy has not changed, which makes it difficult to opt out early to find a different provider.
Approximately 30,000 businesses currently using Zipwhip will be forced to change. According to reports, Twilio has indicated the official sunset date will be December 2022, which in today's world is a blink of an eye.
Migrating from one provider to another is never ideal, but it's a great opportunity to rethink your communications strategy and work with vendors who can offer more value than those who are currently in place.
Questions to Ask When Finding a Zipwhip Replacement
SMS is quickly becoming THE main channel of communications between a businesses and their customers, and when picking a SMS/text messaging replacement you want to ask these questions:
- Can all my past text conversations, photos, and customer contacts be transferred to the new system?
- Will all my existing phone numbers be easily transferrable?
- Which backend SMS provider does this provider utilize?
- Is this provider reputable? Will it be acquired just like Zipwhip was?
- What kind of support does the provider have? Will I be able to actually talk to someone vs just email?
- Does the new provider perform the same features my team had with Zipwhip?
- What other features does the new provider have that makes it different? What's the vision for the future?
Why Alive5 is the Perfect Replacement
- Can all my past text conversations, photos, and customer contacts be transferred to the new system?
Changing providers can result in the loss of historical customer data - such as conversations, photos, and SMS phone numbers. It's always a good idea to keep this invaluable information, which is often spanning a number of years of history, for the sake of record keeping since you never know when you'll need access to it. As an added bonus (at no extra charge), Alive5 now offers a unique migration tool that automatically transfers Zipwhip data to your Alive5 account, so when you log in, you don't have to start from scratch and can carry on with text conversations where you left off in Zipwhip. - Will all my existing phone numbers be easily transferrable?
Yes, all existing phone numbers used for SMS on Zipwhip should be transferrable - usually completed within minutes, which should be little or no downtime and no lost messages. - Which backend SMS provider does this vendor utilize?
Alive5 utilizes Bandwidth.com, an enterprise-grade communications provider which powers organizations like Google, Zoom, and Microsoft. - Is the provider reputable? Do they have a track record?
Since its start in 2007, Alive5 (Alive Technologies Inc) has been providing phenomenal value to SMBs and large brands in professional sports, travel and hospitality, and education. Some clients include the New York Yankees, Golden State Warriors, Royal Caribbean, and University of Texas at Austin. Our Houston team is a part of a few entrepreneurial ecosystems like TheCannon, Techstars, and Capital Factory in Austin. - What kind of support does the provider have? Will I be able to actually talk to someone vs just email?
Alive5 provides phone, email, live chat, SMS and Zoom support. You can book a one-on-one meeting with us at any time! - Does the new provider perform the same features my team had with Zipwhip?
Yes! Core features such as text enabling land lines, shared inboxes, sending personalized messages to multiple contacts, CRM integration, keywords, auto away messages, and more are available for you out of the box. - What other features does the new provider have that makes it different? What's the vision for the future?
With Alive5, we aim to make messaging easier than ever before. While Alive5 offers similar features as Zipwhip, SMS is only one of the available channels. As well as texting your customers, you can also chat with them on your website using live chat and send and receive messages through Facebook Messenger! To stay in touch wherever your customers are, you'll have access to new chat channels as we further develop future integrations.
Chatbot automation and AI are two key features of Alive5. When your staff is limited or not online, a chatbot can take over to capture and qualify new leads, offer support, or just take a message for your team to reply back later. Playbooks from Alive5 provide you ways to do much more than just chat, and could possibly replace other vendors who are charging you for other sales, marketing, and billing functions.
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Subscription + Usage Fees At Alive5, our goal is to offer a best-in-class communication platform filled with features, stellar support, and great value achieved through smart and flexible pricing. Affordable subscriptions and usage-based text credits allow you to easily adjust costs to match the seasonality of your business’ demand for texting. Users A subscription plan (Alive5 SMS STARTER, PRO, PRO PLUS, PREMIUM, ENTERPRISE) includes up to a certain number of users or lines. For example, the PRO plan includes up to 3 users and 3 lines. A user consists of a unique login (email and password) in which a team member can chat with unlimited contacts (mobile cell numbers) which is limited by text credits consumed (explained below). Additionally, users are limited by concurrent logins. For example, if your plan includes 3 users (using the PRO plan example above), you can create unlimited users (email and passwords) in your account, but limited to 3 users logged in at the same time. Lines A line refers to an office phone line you can enable for SMS texting. We do not interfere with the voice functionality, only the SMS messaging portion of a phone line. So you can keep your existing voice phone service (Comcast Business, Vonage, Ring Central, etc), and use Alive5 in parallel. Alive5 does not offer voice. Think about users and lines like "musical chairs" - you have 3 chairs for users and 3 chairs for lines for your entire team to use. If you need more users and lines you can easily purchase add-ons or upgrade your plan. Text Credits For usage, your Alive5 account is equipped with text credits that are allocated every billing cycle. These credits can be used for sending and receiving SMS messages. Each plan includes a set amount of monthly text credits (150 for STARTER, 500 for PRO, 1,500 for PRO PLUS, 3,000 for PREMIUM, and 10,000 for ENTERPRISE). One text credit consists of up to 160 characters, or 70 characters if the message includes an emoji. Messages longer than 160 characters will require multiple text credits. Using Emojis 😃: Using an emoji decreases the number of characters that can fit in a credit from 160 to 70. Each emoji takes up 2 characters. Using Unicode characters á: Using a unicode character, similar to emojis, decreases the number of characters that can fit in a credit from 160 to 70. In contrast to emojis, a unicode takes up 1 character. MMS: Images 🖼 and multimedia files: When sending smaller files (less than 500KB) from Alive5 to a mobile cell phone, it costs 4 credits, while larger files (greater than 500KB) will be converted to a link and cost 1 credit. When mobile cell phone users send an inbound text with an image or video, it will cost 4 credits.
Why is a compliant Privacy Policy required?
By collaborating with our SMS vendors and partners, we've created these guidelines to assist you in completing the 10DLC compliance process in the most efficient way possible. To avoid delays, be prepared to take on the necessary tasks such as contacting your web developer or legal team. Related: 10DLC and What it Means for Business SMS/Texting 1. Matching EIN and Legal Business Name An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, and is used to identify a business entity. This allows The Campaign Registry to verify the identity of your organization (Brand), which is a requirement for any Campaign to be registered on 10DLC. It is crucial that the "EIN" matches the "Legal Business Name" (above) of the Brand you are registering for it to be correctly verified. TIP: Refer to IRS forms (W2, SS-4) for correct EIN and Legal Business Name. 2. Valid Web/Online Presence Your organization must have a valid web presence in order to use A2P SMS services. If you do not have a business website, a social media profile (Facebook Page or LinkedIn profile) may be used instead. The social media profile should indicate an operational business (active followers and engagement). Some examples of failed approvals: Website is not functional or is not secure (no HTTPS). Website contains malware. Website does not represent the registered business. Social media profile does not represent the registered business. Website Alternative: Social Media Profile If your Brand only has an established online presence, such as a Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn page, instead of a website, you can still get approved. Here are some tips for each Facebook and Instagram pages – these should be professional accounts (not personal) where the Brand is clearly identified. It’s best if the email address and phone number shown on the page also match what you used in the 10DLC registration details. LinkedIn page – This also needs to be a company listing, not a personal profile (that will be rejected). The email address and phone number should match the 10DLC registration details, and the ‘About’ section should have Privacy Policy and Opt-in language disclaimers. Don’t use LinkedIn for Sole Proprietors. We strongly advise you to use an established website, Facebook, or Instagram page over a LinkedIn company page. In summary (if you use social profiles for web presence): Use company listing type of profile pages, not personal. Must have Privacy Policy and Opt-In Language disclaimers. These can be in About sections or pinned posts. See example: https://www.facebook.com/wearealive5/about_privacy_and_legal_info 3. Opt In Language If you utilize a contact form where you are capturing any phone numbers, opt in language must visible to the user when completing the form. Example verbiage which may be used: "By providing a telephone number and submitting the form you are consenting to be contacted by SMS text message from {your Business Name (DBA) here}. Message frequency may vary. Message & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt-out of further messaging. Reply HELP for more information. See our Privacy Policy {your Privacy Policy URL here}" Be sure to replace the contents {your Business Name (DBA) here} and {your Privacy Policy URL here} with your actual business details.
12/1/2024 Updates On February 1st, 2025, mobile carriers will be blocking all unregistered A2P (application to peer) 10DLC (10-digit long code) SMS phone numbers from sending texts. The previous deadline of 12/1/2024 was deferred until this new date. Sole proprietors are now required to have a valid IRS EIN number to apply for 10DLC Brand and Campaigns. 11/8/2023 Update Toll free numbers (TFNs) require full vetting and verification before texting capability can be enabled. Previously, texting capability was available right after port without full verification (with limits). Vetting process is done by Twilio/Zipwhip which takes on average 4 weeks (reduced from previous 6-8 weeks). 10/6/2023 Updates Update 1: A compliant privacy policy is now required for any type of business, except SOLE PROPRIETORS. Update 2: For "Provisional Compliance", throughput is no longer limited to 2k per day. Throughput limits are now 25 messages per minute (a message consisting of 160 characters or less). For example, if you want to send a Broadcast to 5000 contacts, it should take about 3.3 hours. Update 3: 10DLC approval ETA has now increased from 2 weeks to 4-6 weeks for each review and approval. With Alive5, we have a solution which allows you to start texting within 24-72 hours (assuming your website, opt-in language, and privacy policy is compliant). 8/1/2023 Updates On September 1st, 2023, mobile carriers will be blocking all unregistered A2P (application to peer) 10DLC (10-digit long code) SMS phone numbers from sending texts.
Goals and Objectives Now that you have live chat configured for your Alive5 account, it's time to optimize and measure everything in efforts to create the best Visitor experience based on your current team resources. We'll cover: How to measure the performance of your live chat agents through various reports (Performance, Conversations, Agent Activity) Configure live chat settings for your organization's call center set up (Max Chat, Ring Mode, Chat Timeout). Measure performance KPIs (key performance indicators) of your team to see where you can improve. Predict future trends for staffing team members for optimum effectiveness.
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