Here you will find any necessary information to setup a SMS gateway.

Please Note the following considerations:

1. Kartra integrates with three different SMS gateways: Twilio, Plivo and Vonage. One of these services will be required to send SMS messages from Kartra directly. Here you can find direct links to our documentation to integrate each service:

• Twilio
• Plivo
• Vonage

2. Utilizing these gateways will involve a combination of using the specific service’s SMS settings and our own Kartra system.  In Kartra you will set up the API integration itself, but chances are that you might also need to configure some other parameters inside the gateway’s console.

3. Once the API data is entered in Kartra, you will be able to send yourself a test SMS to confirm that both applications are communicating with each other. Please ensure you complete at least one test to ensure your setup is working as intended before you start to use it within Kartra.

4. Some SMS services will charge based on the number of messages you send or have other types of limitations on their end (Such as a specific number of sends per month). Please ensure you are within your SMS account’s limits when you send messages from Kartra. As the Kartra software will not be able to determine if you hit these limits and will merely not send the messages or show an error.

5. When sending an SMS message there is a maximum limit of 127 characters that is universal to the entire SMS system as a whole. Our system does require seven or more characters to communicate the appropriate data via the API. So when you send messages from Kartra there may be a hidden limit on characters (Usually around 120), but this will vary based on your SMS service. As most messages sent in an SMS service that go over this character limit will just send a second message to accommodate for the size of the message.

*Please Note: This does mean that you can send X messages via Kartra and it will show many more messages within your SMS based on how many characters were in your message. 241 characters as an example would require three messages within most SMS providers and result in 3x as many messages being sent via your SMS as shown in Kartra analytics (120 characters per message and the last message to contain the last 1 letter carry over) .

Integrate with Twilio to send SMS broadcasts from Kartra.

You Will Need:

• A Twilio account
• The Twilio Account SID and Auth Token
• A Twilio phone number

Set Up Twilio

1. Go to Twilio and log in or create a new account.
   • Trial accounts allow message sending to verified numbers in specific countries only.
2. In the account Console, click Get a phone number or go to Phone Numbers > Manage to create one.
   • Important: Verify the phone number if required. Unverified phone numbers cannot be used to send notifications.

In the account Console, get the information you need to integrate with Kartra:

• Account SID
• Auth Token
• Twilio phone number appears in the Account Info (next image) when the number is created

If you are unable to find the Account SID or Auth Token in your Twilio account, please contact Twilio support.

Integrate Twilio with Kartra

Connect Twilio with your Kartra account to enable SMS broadcasting.

1. In Kartra, go to Integrations
2. Search for Twilio or use the drop-down filter field to see SMS integrations
   
3. Click the three dots on the Twilio tile and select + Create integration (shown in the preceding image)
   • A green check mark appears if there is already an integration configured. Edit the existing integration if desired instead of creating a new one.
4. Configure the new SMS gateway:
   
   • Name the gateway (this is for your reference only)
   • Account SID
   • Auth Token
   • Twilio Phone Number (do not include dashes in the phone number)
     • Important: The send-from phone number must be issued and activated in the Twilio account. The phone number is an important component of the SMS service–any number will not work here.
5. Send a test SMS to verify that the credentials are correct. Enter your valid mobile phone number and click Test.
6. If the test is successful, click Create to save the integration

Troubleshoot Twilio Sending

Countries outside of the United States

If you are in a country outside of the United States, you may need to enable global permissions and the country or number range to which you want to send SMS messages. Twilio has global permissions to protect your account from abuse.

• In your Twilio account, look for SMS Geo Permissions

Recipients don’t receive messages

• Refer to Twilio help documentation: Debugging Common Issues with SMS

If the Twilio message log says your messages were sent, the delivery failure may be due to the phone provider. Providers may block certain types of messages or numbers to protect their customers from spam.

If you just created your Twilio account, you may need to confirm your account. If you need help, contact the Twilio support team.

Plivo integration will require a account Auth. ID and Auth. Token from Plivo to integrate into Kartra.

Please Note: This means most issues dealing with these codes will need to be solved via Plivo and Plivo support.

The first step in setting up your Plivo integration will be to access the “+ New integration” option within the Plivo setup:

Upon creating a new Plivo integration you will be prompted with a screen to input your Plivo data:

You will need to login to Plivo on a separate tab and collect the necessary information within Plivo.

After logging into Plivo, the necessary information will be displayed on your front dashboard or various other locations within Plivo.

Your account Auth. ID and your token will then be displayed for you to use.

Please Note: Plivo may change their website from what appears in this document; but the information should still be obtainable through their system.

Meanwhile on the original tab with Kartra, you will need to copy the Account Auth. ID and Auth. Token into the modal window.  At this point the create option will enabled. By selecting create you can now finish your Plivo SMS gateway integration. If the create button is not lit up in green, then you have not completed filling in the necessary information.

Please Note: The “Send from” number is often generated by your SMS provider and sometimes cannot be an arbitrary number. Please check your SMS provider for details on what your “Send from” number should be.

If you are unable to find the necessary information (such as Authorization ID or token) on Plivo, please contact Plivo support.

If your Plivo Auth. ID and/or Token does not work via Kartra (but is accurate according to Plivo support), please contact Kartra support: Support@kartra.com

What happened to Nexmo?

It appears the Nexmo SMS software was acquired by Vonage in 2016 and have finished their transition to the new brand in early 2023. To that end we are making sure our API continues to work with the newly branded software and to update our integration to match. No actions are required by our users at this time to migrate to the new brand.

*Please Note: This will mean that sometimes our content may mention Nexmo instead of Vonage, but both should be considered the same software going forward.

Vonage Integration:

Vonage integration will require a API “Key” and API “Secret” code from Vonage to integrate into Kartra.

*Please Note: This means most issues will need to be solved via Vonage and Vonage support, if either of your codes are not working as intended.

To integrate your Vonage SMS gateway you will want to go to the “Integrations” section of Kartra. This can be found in the menu bar on the left hand side of the Kartra interface (usually near the bottom).

Upon selecting the Vonage option you will be presented with a link to this documentation and the ability to create a new Vonage integration with Kartra (+ New integration). You are allowed to have multiple integrations within your Kartra account.

You will need to login to Vonage on a separate tab and collect the necessary information within Vonage itself to complete your setup.

After logging into Vonage, the necessary information will be displayed on your front dashboard.

Your account API Key and API Secret will then be displayed for you to use on their interface.

*Please Note: Vonage may change their website from what appears in this document; but the information required should always be the same and should still be obtainable through their system.

With this information you can then go back to your browser tab that contains Kartra and fill in the required information:

You will need to copy the Account API Key and API Secret into the modal window.  In addition you will want to name your SMS gateway as it will display in Kartra and provide a “Send from” phone number. At this point the create option will be enabled. By selecting create you can now finish your Vonage SMS gateway integration. If the button is not enabled and green, then you have not filled in the necessary information to complete your setup.

*Please Note: The “Send from” phone number may not be just some arbitrary number. Often SMS services provide you such a number to work with their system and you will need to inquire with your SMS provider’s support to ensure what phone number you should place here. In other words, this may not be purely aesthetic but is instead part of your setup process.

*Please Note: At this point you should be able to test your SMS feature via the test option at the bottom of the window. Please ensure this feature sends you a message before you “create” your SMS integration. If no message is sent then your setup may have a typo or incorrect information and needs to be updated.

If you are unable to find the necessary information on Vonage please contact Vonage support to acquire what ever information you require.

If your Vonage information does not work via Kartra (and it is confirmed accurate by their support), then please contact Kartra support: Support@kartra.com