Messaging (SMS & WhatsApp)

Twilio provides the SMS and WhatsApp implementation of the core connect.message ledger. When a user's message provider is twilio, connect.message.send() dispatches to the Twilio API; otherwise it falls through to another installed messaging provider.

Messaging screens live under Connect ▸ Twilio ▸ Messages.

Sending SMS

Use the SMS composer (sms.composer, shipped by this module since ADR-031). It lists the available outgoing numbers and sends through connect.message.send() (the Twilio implementation). Incoming SMS arrive on the /twilio/webhook/message route and are turned into connect.message records by receive(); delivery-status callbacks arrive on /twilio/webhook/message_status.

WhatsApp senders

Manage under Connect ▸ Twilio ▸ Messages ▸ WhatsApp Senders (connect.whatsapp_sender, admin-only). Click Sync to import senders from your Twilio account.

A WhatsApp sender — number, status, business profile and the default-sender flag.

Field	Description
Number	WhatsApp phone number.
Status	Online / offline (with offline reasons).
Default	Default sender for users without a personal sender.
Profile	Business profile: name, about, vertical, address, description.
Quality Rating	Twilio quality rating.
Messaging Limit	Daily message limit tier.
Voice Application	TwiML app used for WhatsApp voice calls.
Callback URLs	Computed inbound + status callback URLs.

Assign a sender to a user via the WhatsApp Sender field on the user form (see Users, SIP & Web Phone).

WhatsApp content templates

Manage under Connect ▸ Twilio ▸ Messages ▸ WhatsApp Templates (connect.message_content_template, admin-only). WhatsApp requires templates to be approved before they can be used for outbound (business-initiated) messaging. Use Sync to import them from Twilio.

Field	Description
Name	Template name.
Category	Utility, Authentication, or Marketing.
Language	Template language.
Content Type	Text, media, list-picker, card, carousel, etc.
Variables	Placeholder variables (`{{1}}`, `{{2}}`, …).
Approval Status	Unsubmitted, pending, approved, rejected, paused, disabled.

Sending WhatsApp messages

The WhatsApp composer (connect.whatsapp_composer) sends a message through whatsapp_sender.send_whatsapp(). Pick a sender, a partner / phone number, optionally a template, and a body. Sent and received messages are posted to the partner's chatter and stored in the connect.message ledger.

WhatsApp voice calls

A WhatsApp sender with a Voice Application also carries WhatsApp calling. Users place one with the WhatsApp Call action next to any phone number (see Making and Receiving Calls).

How the call is placed:

Connect rings the user's own web phone over ordinary voice. This leg presents a normal voice caller ID, never the whatsapp: identity — with a whatsapp: From Twilio accepts the request, reports From=None and ends the call in the same second, so the WhatsApp leg never runs.
The TwiML that leg executes carries the WhatsApp identity on <Dial callerId="whatsapp:…"><WhatsApp>, which places the leg to the destination.

Both legs land in the ledger and the call is recorded with call type WhatsApp.

Business-initiated calling is restricted by country

WhatsApp does not allow business-initiated calls to every destination. Where it is not permitted Twilio rejects the WhatsApp leg with error 37007 ("WhatsApp Voice: Business-initiated calling is not available in the country"), visible on the call record's Error tab. Inbound WhatsApp calls from those countries still work.

Message configuration (inbound routing)

Manage under Connect ▸ Twilio ▸ Messages ▸ Message Configuration (connect.twilio.message_configuration, admin-only). It routes incoming messages on a given Twilio number to a destination (e.g. create/lookup a res.partner), with optional default_values for the created record — a Python dict literal (e.g. {'name': 'Inbound SMS'}), not JSON.

CRM routing

Routing incoming messages to CRM leads is handled by the auto-installed bridge module connect_crm_twilio (installed when both connect_crm and connect_twilio are present).