Twilio Now Supports SMS Text Messages and Voice calls to 988

Twilio Now Supports SMS Text Messages and Voice calls to 988

Twilio is proud to announce that all SMS text messages and voice calls within in the U.S. sent to 988 from Twilio’s platform will be routed to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255).

The FCC previously designated 988 in the U.S. as the three-digit code that will route calls and text messages to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255). In 2020 alone, the U.S. had one death by suicide about every 11 minutes—and for people aged 10-34 years, suicide is a leading cause of death. Additionally, from April 2020 to 2021, over 100,000 individuals died from drug overdoses. Twilio’s implementation of the three-digit 988 code will enable those who are in distress to quickly access suicide prevention help. Twilio’s platform supports several customers who offer crisis communications to those who are in distress, such as Trans Lifeline, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and the Trevor Project.

Now that texts and calls via Twilio’s platform will be routed to the 988 network, individuals who are in distress that reach out to our customers and ask for or request support from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline will have their calls and/or texts sent directly to the Lifeline via 988. Twilio and its customers are committed to supporting individuals in need of mental health assistance.

SMS text messages

An SMS text message to 988 will be redirected to 1-800-273-8255 if a U.S. phone number is selected in the From field and sent To 988. The message will not be redirected if a non-U.S. phone number or a messaging service SID is selected in the From field.

Voice calls

Twilio’s voice products, including Elastic SIP Trunking, SIP domains, TwiML’s <Dial> verb, /Calls API, Client SDKs, and Add a Participant to the Conference, now support 988 calls from a U.S. phone number.

Here is an example call to 988:

Twilio will internally redirect 988 calls to 1-800-273-8255. Call Logs will display 988 in the To column.

More information on calls to 988

If you have any questions regarding information provided in this notice, please contact us at help [at] twilio.com. You can also visit the FCC website at https://www.fcc.gov/suicide-prevention-hotline.