Twilio SMS & MMS Heightened Awareness Period for 2024 elections and Cyber Week

With Black Friday/Cyber Monday and the 2024, U.S. elections rapidly approaching, Twilio will be entering a heightened awareness period (HAP) for our communications platform. At Twilio, we prepare all year for this time where billions of messages, emails, and voice calls will take place to ensure the resiliency and reliability of our platform. It is our utmost priority to ensure our customers have access to our wide array of APIs and software that drives critical communications during this peak engagement season. With that in mind, here is what this HAP means for our customers and our platform:

What is the Heightened Awareness Period?

The HAP is a time when Twilio closely monitors and adjusts message throughput (how fast you can send messages) to U.S. recipients, especially for toll-free numbers, short codes, and 10DLC numbers. This additional precaution of monitoring and adjusting is in place to maintain the security and uptime of our platform and allows you to continue to engage with your customers with confidence, even during the busiest time of the year.

When will the heightened awareness period take place?

Between November 1, 2024 and January 5, 2025, we will enter our HAP to keep our platform running smoothly during these busy months. The peak times that customers should be specifically aware of are November 1 - 8, 2024 (week of US elections) and November 25 - December 3, 2024 (Cyber Week). 

What does this mean for customers who do not plan on sending millions of messages during these peak times?

The HAP is in place for all customers, not just the customers sending at high volumes. Throughout the year we actively work with our high volume customers, who send tens-of-millions of communications during these peak times, to ensure their engagement solutions are methodically planned and have the correct messaging throughput to ensure overall platform health. If you are not one of these customers who partake in Cyber Week campaigns or are not sending at this volume, then there are no action items and no changes necessary for your continued messaging customer engagement. This yearly preparation has enabled Twilio to have 100% uptime and zero Twilio caused incidents for all customers during the HAP for years.

Stay Ahead of the Game

Peak times like these can make or break a consumer engagement campaign. At Twilio, we’re here to make sure your messages get through, no matter the volume. If you have questions about the HAP or how to better prepare for these peak engagement times, you can start by referencing our Help Center Article here. If you require additional assistance, you can reach out to your Twilio account team or contact the Twilio support team here.