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Twilio

Twilio

Overview

What is Twilio?

Twilio offers a CPaaS and CCaaS solution, with the combination of its programmable Voice, Video, and Messaging APIs, as well as the Twilio Flex cloud contact center. Additional capabilities include Twilio's Elastic SIP Trunking, as well as API for WhatsApp.

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Recent Reviews

Beware TWILIO!

1 out of 10
October 19, 2023
Incentivized
We have been using Twilio's texting feature for our clients for over 1 year. Due to new regulations, we had to provide additional …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Programmable Video

$0.0015

Cloud
per min per participant

WhatsApp Business API

$0.0042

Cloud
Per WhatsApp Template message sent

WhatsApp Business API

$0.005

Cloud
Per WhatsApp session message

Entry-level set up fee?

  • Setup fee optional
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.twilio.com/pricing

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Details

What is Twilio?

Twilio is a Customer Engagement Platform that offers a suite of channel APIs, serverless tools, and fully-programmable solutions that can be rapidly deployed.

The vendor states the Twilio Customer Engagement Platform is used by over 10 million developers and 220,000 businesses worldwide to build customer engagement applications that grow engagement with their customers.

Common use cases include text marketing, Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVRs), alerts and notifications, and contact centers.

With Twilio’s Customer Engagement Platform, users can:

  • Power data-driven communications across all digital channels such as messaging, email, voice, video, and WhatsApp.

  • Develop one cohesive experience across all teams so that customers can experience a seamless conversation from the business.

  • Access tools to build, deploy, iterate, and scale customer engagement applications.

  • Build secure, and compliant customer engagement applications for customers in over 180 countries.

Twilio Features

  • Supported: Twilio Flex (Call/Contact Center)
  • Supported: Twilio SendGrid Marketing Campaigns
  • Supported: Twilio SendGrid Email API
  • Supported: Programmable Messaging
  • Supported: Programmable Voice
  • Supported: Programmable Video
  • Supported: WhatsApp Business API
  • Supported: Twilio Conversations
  • Supported: Programmable Wireless (IoT)
  • Supported: Super SIM
  • Supported: Phone Numbers
  • Supported: Short Codes
  • Supported: Twilio Authy
  • Supported: Developer Tools

Twilio Screenshots

Screenshot of To access any of the products in Console, head over to the “Explore Products” section and start building.Screenshot of Whether you prefer to build with a drag-and-drop visual editor or with code, Twilio SendGrid Marketing Campaigns helps you engage your customers through email.Screenshot of Flex is a programmable Contact Center that puts you in control.

Twilio Videos

What is Twilio?
It’s time to build: Contactless Deliveries
Twilio Flex
Twilio Super SIM

Twilio Integrations

Twilio Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo
Supported CountriesWe support 180 countries world-wide.
Supported LanguagesEnglish
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(204)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 68)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Twilio to send personalized marketing messages or promotions directly to customers' phones via SMS or WhatsApp. This help in increasing engagement and keeping the customers informed about new features and offers that they may want to take advantage of.

In addition, it helps us drive sales while at the same time keeping a pulse on what sort of products/services our customers might want to see next.
  • Marketing and Promotions
  • Chatbots for Customer Service
  • Transactional Emails
  • Pricing Transparency and Simplicity
  • Documentation and Developer Support:
  • Customer Support for All Tiers
Twilio is more suited if you have a running business making serious money.

If you are a startup, then it might not be needed. It might be considered too expensive of an option.

If you want to keep the pulse with your customers and stay top of mind with an easy place for SMS and transactional emails, Twilio is a good recommendation.
Jacob Buck | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We have used the Twilio SMS platform for years and recently started using Twilio Studio to make outbound voice calls. The scope is to send a lot of messages and calls connecting doctors with their patients.
  • The API and the web tools make it really easy to get started.
  • Twilio Studio is really intuitive to work with.
  • The Twilio Console has a lot of features useful for our needs.
  • Twilio Studio still lacks transparency between the Flow engine and the underlying TwiML engine in several ways.
  • The documentation about how rate limitations work with SMS is not always clear.
  • The support team often has a hard time understanding our use cases and tends to answer with general guidelines rather than answer my specific questions.
When having to send a lot of text messages to customers, it is really convenient that we can purchase phone numbers for each customer and provide two-way communication between our customers and their customers. Adding outbound voice as an alternative is still in the early stages for us (slowly transitioning from a proprietary solution), so we are still getting experience with that.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We develop a Software as a Service management system for various sports schools (surfing, kitesurfing, windsurfing, snowboarding, skiing etc). We use Twilio for automated SMS notifications that are being sent to both owners of the schools, employees as well as the customers of the sports schools. Sports schools have a lot of changes in their daily schedules and automated SMS notifications help them a lot in their business.
  • Firstly Twilio has very good technical documentation, everything is clear and undestandable
  • Secondly the web panel is very intuitive
  • APIs and SDKs are also easy to use and integrate
  • There are multiple data centers (US and Ireland) but not all services are available in them. Due to GDPR regulations i would prefer to use services in Ireland but not all of them are available there
Twilio excels in customer service applications, enabling automated SMS updates or voice calls for order confirmations and support. It's ideal for implementing two-factor authentication, enhancing security for online services. However, it's less suitable for businesses needing in-depth, custom telephony infrastructure, as it primarily offers standard, API-driven solutions, or for regions with limited internet connectivity, where cloud-based services may be unreliable.
January 04, 2024

Twilio Reliable.

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We currently use Twilio Sendgrid, programmable voice, and SMS in our current Fintech solution. The programmable voice was part of our IVR setup, which proved more stable than our previous service provider. Also, Twilio Sendgrid & SMS is a reliable service for our alert engine module, ensuring our clients are notified promptly based on their configuration.
  • Products
  • Customer Support.
  • Documentation
  • Customize reporting
Email & SMS alerts.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
[Twilio is] used to manage communication with our clients in the ways that our clients work outside of emails. It allows us to communicate with our clients by voice calls and text messages. We used to use programmable wireless to provide on demand connectivity as we travel with our equipment but have shifted to other vendors as they spun off that business.
  • Documentation
  • Developer Guides
  • Support
  • Account Transfers
  • Finding Owned Resources
Twilio provides a set of highly robust building blocks for communication and connectivity. It works extremely well with our business which fluctuates in demand and we can scale up and scale down very easily at any time.
October 19, 2023

Beware TWILIO!

Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We have been using Twilio's texting feature for our clients for over 1 year. Due to new regulations, we had to provide additional information about our use. As a result, the feature on our software was "halted." We completed the documentation and have reached out to Twilio dozens of times over the past month, and cannot get the feature back up and running with any success.

In my experience, Twilio keeps putting our "campaign" off for days at a time. In my experience, we contacted with no response multiple times and at this point, we will likely leave Twilio for another provider unless something changes this weekend.

I would not recommend Twillio at all for setting up for a client. In my opinion, it has been a "MONTH" long nightmare to get this feature back up and running.
  • Allows to send one way messages
  • Can be attached to third party software
  • In my opinion, online support is extremely subpar for clients.
  • In my experience, no way to talk with anyone without a $1,500 investment monthly in their service.
  • In my experience, be prepared to wait at least 2-4 days to receive even one response from their support.
If you are a software development firm, do not use this service unless you plan to purchase their $1,500 / month support contract. I feel it's not worth the investment in time and money to deal with this organization.
Oskar Dunklee | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
Twilio has helped our company with activating our clients' abilities to send SMS messages through our software. It has allowed us to grow much quicker than anticipated as it alleviated a painpoint that affected both our clients and us. Twilio has also helped us resolve unique client requests that would've otherwise not been solved.
  • Analytics and Insights
  • Excellent Support and Community
  • Exceptional Reliability
  • Notifications of failed service
  • Map of regions without service
Twilio has revolutionized the way businesses and developers approach communication solutions. As a leading cloud communications platform, Twilio offers a wide range of services and tools that empower companies to build, scale, and customize communication applications tailored to their unique needs. Having explored Twilio extensively, I can confidently say that it lives up to its reputation as a game-changer in the industry.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We implement Twilio SMS API directly in our solution that allows to send notifications about account and billing changes to all our users with efficiently, easy to use and quickly.
  • Easy to use
  • Good API documentation
  • Quickly
  • IoT area that sell to KORE
  • eSIM
  • Pricing
Since sale of IoT division to KORE, my organisation was need to divide Twilio integrations in our applications because lack of support, help and assistance from part of KORE. We continue using SMS and calling API but we decide to explore other options for sustitute IoT division.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We are a software integrator, helping Twilio customers onboard onto Twilio products. Our customers use twilio in the following manner:
  1. Onboard customer into their CRM
  2. Customer support
  3. Outbound marketing messages
  4. Use Twilio IoT to track to their fleet
  • Outbound / inbound messaging
  • Twilio flex
  • SMS
  • Twilio customer support for developers
  • Documentation
  • Build more ready to user features on React UI
I have seen that Twilio has a very high tolerant and throughput system. This provides a lot of reliability to our customers who have migrated from other telecommunication companies.

Twilio should also actively build widgets where non programmers can plug and play it in their system and they should have more out of the box solutions for WhatsApp.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I've used Twilio products and services for the past few years on a wide range of website projects. Their Sendgrid email API / service is an invaluable tool for my own business and it's used by a wide range of my clients. The API is easy to implement with WordPress and can guarantee email delivery (especially critical for e-commerce based sites). The Twilio support team is also amazing on the rare occasion when an issue pops up. The team is very responsive and always happy to help solve any problems. I've also used Twilio's Authy app to manage two-factor authentication on various website. The app is far more convenient vs text messages and makes it very simple to manage the Two Factor process across multiple site / accounts.
  • Simple sign-up process
  • Very competitive pricing
  • Great Technical Support
  • Can make it a bit easier for a team to use an account
Twilio's SendGrid API is the perfect companion for WordPress sites that need to send emails to users/customers
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Passengers onboard aircraft with our hardware installed are able to send SMS messages to people on the ground. We use Twilio to facilitate private conversations between the aircraft passengers and their contacts. Twilio allows us to provide this functionality such that the people on the ground do not need to install any additional apps; they simply use their normal text messaging app to read and reply to messages from the user flying on the aircraft.
  • Sending SMS messages
  • Receiving SMS messages
  • Uptime
  • Easier regulatory registration (not necessarily Twilio's fault that this is hard)
I have used Twilio successfully for sending individualized SMS messages and mass notification messages to a large list of phone numbers. We do not make any use of the additional marketing-type capability that I have noticed exists on Twilio's services, so I am unable to comment on how successful they are, but there appears to be a large variety of available features.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our clients communicate last minute shipping information with their drivers.
  • Integration was very easy as everything was well documented by Twilio.
  • Administration is easy and thought out and even I can do it.
  • The possibilities that Twilio created are very innovative and I’ve liked working with them.
  • I would love to see the possibility to have an all in one option. Now I have to surprise my clients for usage costs at the end.
  • I’m not sure but not everyone has WhatsApp and there are many more chat programs available that could do with integrations.
The functionalities that Twilio provides are well documented and easy to implement. It’s fairly new and can take a few days to get everything in working order. I had to go through a vetting process in Meta before my templates were accepted. But I believe this has changed. Don’t think you can get this done in one night, however 3 to 5 days is easy and straightforward. Things like the automatic text to voice made it incredibly easy to add eight languages. I hope it can become an all in one pricing model here in Europe!
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I usually don't leave reviews but I am so upset of how Twilio treated me and my business that I feel an obligation to do so. In my experience, Twilio has very bad customer service. If your app, website or product depends on its service like API or SMS, I would look somewhere else like Plivo or other service providers. Twilio suspended my account for weeks on an error through their system and through numerous emails, they took their time to unsuspend it while my business was being damaged every day by it. I would never recommended Twilio to any businesses or consumers.
In my experience, Twilio has very bad customer service. If your app, website or product depends on its service like API or SMS, I would look somewhere else like Plivo or other service providers. Twilio suspended my account for weeks on an error through their system and through numerous emails, they took their time to unsuspend it while my business was being damaged every day by it. I would never recommended Twilio to any businesses or consumers.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
During the pandemic, we needed to engage the many new hikers and other outdoor recreation folks coming to our parks. However, we had limited staff, budget, and capacity (it was 2020 after all). We found Twillio and with its grants program, got up and running in a couple of weeks with a text auto-responder to provide customer service and fundraising follow-up to a wider audience. Since then we have expanded our auto-responder to encompass many "questions" our visitors have in the field, allowing us to provide prompt maps, resources, and other problem-solving tools (paper free too!)
  • Customizable, infinitely so
  • Grants program allows nonprofits to try it out
  • Reliable, wherever an sms or mms goes, so does twillio
  • Communication about regulatory changes
  • Customer support, even when it's user error, team is supportive and encouraging
  • complex - user interface is good but you need significant programming logic and testing
  • alerts from errors - while we get alerts, we could use more descriptive/helpful alerts
I recommend Twilio to many small non-profits, especially those with unmanned outposts in the world. While it takes some effort to get started, it nearly runs itself from there and is by far the most affordable option I have seen to-date. Like if you want to try text solutions, might as well start with the pay-per-message options rather than the multi-thousand dollar solutions, see how your audience responds.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We needed a way to efficiently communicate with our clients. Most of them don't consider buying internet or don't have a smartphone.
  • Allows you to buy virtual phone numbers.
  • Allows you to set SMS interfaces within your software.
  • Provides an interface that allows you to monitor your virtual line and balance.
  • It would be good to have a user interface for one-time projects.
  • Sometimes is difficult to find documentation.
  • A more userfriendly interface.
Twilio is very simple to use but you will need someone with development skills to set it up since it needs to get programmed into your software code. You will need to find other services in case you have a one-time project.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Twilio to send text messages to customers and partners about their bill, progress on their injury cases, etc. We use that across the company but Twilio's use is heavier in some departments than others. In this day and age, customers want to be kept informed of status of their case/complaint. Customers want to know when a bill is generated, when a bill is paid and more. Twilio's SMS API allows us to keep customers informed and that increases their trust in us.
  • Easy.
  • Reliable.
  • Mature.
  • Requires advanced skills.
  • IT needs to be involved.
Twilio's SMS is very well suited to interact with customers via text messaging. While we have seen younger generation being happier with texting, we are also seeing texting picking up across all demographics. Twilio will generate/increase trust in situations when customers require rapid response or want to be informed of their account/status changes. Twilio's SMS is not the best for sending links to files, getting electronic signatures via links or sending large images etc. Expect IT to be involved and ensure that IT is given adequate information about your current AND future plans to gain the most out of Twilio SMS.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Twilio Authy is best and the simplest tool for 2FA (two factor authentication) use in our organisation. It is very use to setup and configurable. In our organisation we have to use VPN and other SSO login and we using two factor authentication using authy Only. It has functionality of backup and restore of keys so that if we install in other devices it will be easy to migrate. It is helping us by preventing unauthorised logins and security breaches.
  • Two Factor Authentication
  • Backup and Restore of Secure Keys.
  • One Time Authentication
  • UI needs to be improved looks old fashioned.
  • No functionality to customise account name and Icon
In our organisation we have to connect the diffrent server like production and staging so for access those we need to connect VPN and authy is helping us by providing 2FA and preventing unwanted logins. It is free to use so that we can use this easily and its setup is also kind of very easy. As this Authy App is available for many platform so we can use in multiple devices like android, iOS and computers.
Yolanda Quintero | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Given the amount of tools for voice recognition or report management, we recognize that Twilio is one of the best services oriented towards support operations and communication management that we will be able to find throughout our business life. We are satisfied and pleased to be using Twilio to cover our communication.
  • Twilio's API is so easy to program that we can create a complete network of calls routed and connected to each other in the most complex way possible, where all kinds of operations are applied, from screening to call transcription processes.
  • Its communication system takes omnichannel mechanics from other services and optimizes them, making communication very extensible.
  • There are several shortcomings within the Twilio platform, mostly in the area of real-time monitoring management, since Twilio does not have advanced tracking tools to keep smoothly auditing operations that need to be performed.
  • It does not have a programmable alert system, which forces us to depend on another service to manage the alerts in case of relevant calls at a certain time.
We recommend working with Twilio to keep statistical control of everything that keeps happening within our web marketing processes. Twilio is very useful in the application of attribute-based routing thanks to its high level of data filtering and artificial intelligence tools, which can also be customized.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
In a world dominated by emails, we found that SMS notifications have a much higher chance of being read and actioned. We use Twilio to SMS our clients when they have new agreements to attend to, we use it to notify them of important deadlines as well as to provide a satisfaction survey where they simply have to reply with a numeric value. Due to the engagement rate being higher than that of email we were able to improve our processes based on feedback received and we were able to improve customer experience by keeping them up to date.
  • SMS
  • Custom Numbers
  • Integration to 3rd Parties
  • Perhaps a lite version of their web interface for new users
When you want to build your own workflows that require communication via SMS. Twilio literally integrates with everything and you don't need to purchase bespoke solutions
December 09, 2021

Massive and Reliable!

Diego Ampuero | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use the Twilio integration to use Twilio in Microsoft's Dynamics 365. This integration lets our customers use SMS as another marketing feature our clients can use within Dynamics CRM. With Twilio, they can send individual or bulk SMS messages to their Leads and Contacts in Dynamics CRM. It is a simple and great feature!
  • Simplicity
  • Fast
  • Massive
  • Perhaps the error logging could improve -- it is sometimes a bit vague
I think it is well suited for massive bulks sends. I honestly cannot think of a better option, even for individual sends. The features it brings are simple and easy to use. I have nothing to complain about Twilio other than perhaps their portal and language can be a bit confusing
Mary Tihoni | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Twilio to create custom chat messages on Facebook. And it has been A great help! I am not always able to answer chat messages immediately when they come in, so having Twilio helps gather important information from a customer and sometimes can help the customer with simple questions like locations, hours of operation. Setting up the chatbot is super easy, and customer support is very helpful.
  • Gathers information from the client’s interactions
  • Can help answer pre-programmable queations
  • Provides peace of mind that you aren't missing chat messages
  • I haven't had any issues with Twilio
If you have a business page on Facebook, having Twilio’s chat not feature is a must! No more missed chat messages or clients getting upset because of a delay in replies. Twilio has helped on several occasions answer simple questions, so I didn't even have to answer the chat message manually. It also enables you to recognize when spammy messages are trying to get through.
November 30, 2021

Communication via API

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
It is a very good app to send SMS and mail via APIs. We use it to share information within our company and with clients too. We are also working on different modules of this app to be used in our organization it helps us to ease out our work. We would like to recommend this software to everyone.
  • It helps in sending SMS via APIs.
  • Helps developers to programmatically send and receive SMS.
  • Twilio use intelligent feature to send Emails.
  • Well, everything is good still we can improve the layout of the app so every user can easily use it.
There are so many times when you just want to share the information with other clients securely and do not want to share the secure data, here Twilio works best as it connects with APIs to complete your communication, in a very secure manner. This is the best software to establish a secure connection.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Allows us to communicate with customers on a reliable communication channel (short message service). This allows us to target/send notifications (promotional, order status, service, etc.) to customers using smartphones or non-smartphones. SMS is legacy but still effective as it attracts attention, texts get read unline million push notifications all in all cheaper and effective method to stay in touch with customers.
  • Works great and helps businesses communicate effectively and programmatically
  • Light weight interface
  • Well documented
  • Magic SMS login
  • A cloud service provider should always have ways of improving pricing given this competitive industry
  • Consistency across the sales team
  • Customer service with instant messaging to suite customers from different time zones
Since the product was well documented it was very easy for us to integrate with the module we chose to use. Twilio SMS is well suited for organizations who believe in SMS marketing as setting up SMS marketing for e-commerce brands can be made incredibly easy with Twilio, templated message-flows, and more. Or some organizations may simply want a reliable SMS broker. How cool is it to send receipts via SMS for customers who cannot be bothered with apps/emails - simple yet effective.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We implemented Twilio within a small service-based company that needed to point people in the right direction when they got in touch with the company. Whatever channel those people get in touch with us, such as Whatsapp or email, we can quickly streamline the conversation and then keep an accurate record of all interactions in the future.
  • Plenty of options of channels to offer as part of the tool
  • Integrations
  • Automating actions, such as emails and SMS confirmations of orders or support tickets
  • Experienced some technical issues in the past
  • Not the easiest to set up (initially) - this was the first time I used the tool
  • IT executives would find it easier to set up rather than marketers - it would be good if the tool was aimed more at marketing. This said product support is good
Programmable SMS messaging was particularly a very good (and enjoyable) process to create - the tool in this respect was really nice to use. With SMS messages, in particular, the logs or deliveries, etc., and very interesting and presented in an easy-to-use way. Whilst technically the tool is a little complex, the UI is well designed and inviting to use.
Sarah Lohsl | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
In our sales department, as well as Account Management we utilize the Twilio text reminder service in conjunction with our CRM to send prospective and current customers text messages. This has eliminated a lot of ghost calls and missed communication with our potential customers, and current. Most clinicians are busy throughout their day in session so being able to text back and forth is much easier. We've closed a lot more sales from having better communication! Twilio works like a charm!
  • Integrates well with other platforms
  • Easy to setup
  • Support is good
  • The application for mobile phones
  • Adding a feature where you can lookup numbers to see if they're a landline or cell
  • More mobile friendly use
Using the texting capabilities that Twilio has provided within the CRM system my company uses it has allowed me to gain more sales and better communication with my prospective customers. As we all know - time is money, so being able to save time and communicate clearly is a huge help with my job.

I work with busy clinicians all day and they're usually in session but need to communicate quickly to get questions and concerns answered. I am able to quickly respond to them via text and send them important information that they have at their fingertips. I can also send out auto-texts to new clients so they're being taken care of right away.
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