eLynx Secures Realtime SMS Alerts For the Oil and Gas Industry with Twilio SMS

eLynx Secures Realtime SMS Alerts For the Oil and Gas Industry with Twilio SMS

eLynx uses state-of-the-art technology to provide real-time data collection and production monitoring to the oil and gas industry. It monitors roughly 22,000 systems, relying on the immediacy of text messaging to inform producers of well conditions and potential problems with equipment.

Traditionally, eLynx sent messages via email-to-text gateways provided by the cell phone companies. However, as business grew and customers began configuring more text alarms, eLynx experienced blacklisting by certain carriers when they sent too many messages. With customers blocked and not receiving crucial alerts, eLynx had no choice but to seek a more robust communications platform.

Given the critical nature of eLynx’s text alarms, IT Director Ryan McDonald was determined to find a reliable SMS provider that could be integrated quickly with eLynx’s .Net application. He researched several solutions, but it was the simplicity, power and immediate availability of Twilio’s API that drew his attention.

“While other providers were proposing week-long implementation meetings and test periods, we integrated Twilio and were sending text messages within the same day,” he said. “It was really self-service.”

In addition to ease of use, McDonald said he felt confident, based on Twilio’s track record, that the infrastructure would reliably support eLynx’s growing SMS volume. With SCADALynx monitoring flow computers, pipelines, tanks and compressors on oil and gas wells for problems such as overflowing or shutting down, having an SMS service with guaranteed uptime and international capability was crucial.

Another consideration for eLynx in choosing a provider was cost, and Twilio offered pricing that was half of what its competitors had quoted. Considering the amount of messages being sent—approximately 1.6 million in six months—such a cost reduction translated into significant savings.

Twilio’s API also supported easy customization of voice and SMS messages, allowing eLynx to offer its customers a variety of choices tailored to their specific installations. Customers can configure the types of alarms they want to receive and choose email, text or voice calls as a method of delivery. They can also enter data values to determine when a text alarm is sent, such as when a well’s flow rate falls below a specified quantity. And they can opt to escalate an SMS notification using an alarm tier if an important alert is not acknowledged.

“Our service allows oil and gas producers to act on information rather than simply
collecting it,” McDonald said. “That means less downtime and increased
production.”

Want more information? You can ask Ryan McDonald questions about how eLynx Technologies benefits from integrating communications into business processes at Twilio’s upcoming webinar on November 8.