To connect Salesforce and Twilio, you have three options. The most common Twilio integration with Salesforce is Twilio for Salesforce, an app from the Salesforce AppExchange that lets reps text leads and contacts from their record. Call centers use Twilio Flex, which puts calls and texts inside Salesforce. Or you can build a Zapier zap. Where it stops: the app handles texts only, it checks for new replies every 15 minutes, and none of the three text back a missed call or make sure someone answers each reply. That follow up is the job AI agents do.
Why a Twilio integration with Salesforce matters
Your reps work their leads in Salesforce. Your texts and calls go out through Twilio. With no link between them, the reply comes back somewhere else, and Salesforce never shows the talk happened. The next rep to call that lead starts from zero.
So a good connection does two things. Each text and call is saved on the Salesforce record. And nothing waits: a missed call gets a text back, and each reply reaches the person who owns the lead.
Three ways to connect Salesforce and Twilio
Two come from Twilio. One is a zap you build yourself.
Twilio for Salesforce
- How it works
- Twilio's own app. You install it from the AppExchange and link your Twilio account. Reps can then text contacts one on one from their record page, text the leads and contacts in a campaign, and read replies in an SMS Inbox.
- Good for
- Sales teams who text leads and want each message saved in Salesforce.
- Where it breaks
- Texts only, on contacts, leads, person accounts and cases. Replies come in on a timer that can stop. Twilio lists the app as a Public Beta and supports only the latest version.
Twilio Flex in Salesforce
- How it works
- Twilio Flex is Twilio's contact center. Its Salesforce setup puts Flex inside Salesforce, with click-to-dial, the caller's record popping up, and calls and chats logged as activity.
- Good for
- Call centers that handle calls, texts, WhatsApp and web chat in one place.
- Where it breaks
- You need a Flex account first. Twilio says the Salesforce feature it uses, Open CTI, retires on February 28, 2028, and the setup stops working after that date. Reps open the record before they dial, or the call may log in the wrong place.
A Zapier zap
- How it works
- Zapier has ready-made zaps, like a Twilio text to each new Salesforce contact. Salesforce is a Premium app on Zapier.
- Good for
- One simple rule, like a welcome text to each new contact.
- Where it breaks
- Zapier checks Twilio for new texts every 15 minutes on its Free plan. Replies, opt-outs and missed calls are each another zap to build and watch.
Arkeo agents
- How it works
- Agents read your texts, calls and missed calls in Twilio, text back a missed caller from your number, log each talk as a task on the right lead in Salesforce, and tell the lead's owner when a reply needs them.
- Good for
- Teams where leads call and text faster than reps can answer.
- Where it breaks
- Anything your rules keep for a person, like a price question or an upset customer, goes to the lead's owner in one message.
How to set up Twilio for Salesforce
Twilio's install guide shows the screens. These are the parts, in order.
- 1
Check you can use itYou need a Twilio account, Salesforce Enterprise or Unlimited edition, and My Domain set up.
- 2Install the app and link Twilio
Install Twilio for Salesforce for all users. Open Twilio Configuration, paste your Account SID and Auth Token from the Twilio Console, and click Validate Credentials.
- 3Make a messaging service with a number
In the Twilio Console, create a Messaging Service, buy a phone number and add it as a sender. Then select the service on the Twilio Configuration page.
- 4Add texting to your pages and give people access
Add the Two-Way Messages part to your lead and contact pages, then give each user the Twilio User permission set and a license.
- 5
Test a reply, then watch the sync
Text a test contact and reply from your phone. Check the reply shows on the record, and check again in a week.
Where the Twilio Salesforce integration stops
The app gets texts into Salesforce. Getting each one answered is still on your team.
Replies come in on a timer. Twilio's FAQ says the app checks for new messages across your whole company every 15 minutes. It checks every 15 seconds only while someone has the contact open.
The timer can stop. A scheduled job in Salesforce brings the messages in. In the Twilio for Salesforce group on Salesforce's Trailblazer Community, several admins from 2023 to 2025 describe replies that stopped coming into Salesforce, or came in late, until someone rescheduled the job or fixed a setting in Twilio.
Texts only. The FAQ says the app's parts handle text messages, not calls, and not WhatsApp. A missed call gets no text back unless you build that yourself.
Replies can sit unseen. By default, the SMS Inbox shows each rep only messages on records they own. If that rep is out, nobody else sees the reply unless an admin changes the setting.
Calls depend on the open screen. With Flex, Twilio says a call may log on the wrong record if the right one isn't open when the rep dials.
So most weeks, someone checks the inbox, texts back the missed calls, chases the replies nobody owns and fixes the sync when it stops.
The agents that do it
Each agent does one job from start to finish: some in your Salesforce, some in your Twilio, passing the work between them.
No lead sits with no one on it.
- Reads each new leadas it comes
- Sends it to the right rep by your rulesright away
- Flags leads no one has calledsame day
Salesforce stays right without anyone typing.
- Logs emails and callsas they happen
- Closes the task when the reply landsright away
- Moves the deal to the right stageper deal
Renewals get worked before they are late.
- Checks contracts coming up for renewalevery week
- Builds the renewal deal with the account historyper account
- Tells the account ownerright away
Questions
Is my customers' information safe?
Yes. Agents work in your own Salesforce and Twilio and see only what their job needs. Customer details never go into public AI. Agents connect to AI through business-grade connections audited under SOC 2.
Can I send texts from Salesforce with Twilio?
Yes. With Twilio for Salesforce, reps text contacts from their record page or text a whole campaign. Replies show in Salesforce when the app's next check runs.
Does Twilio for Salesforce work with Professional Edition?
No. Twilio's FAQ says the app supports Enterprise and Unlimited editions, and that Essentials and Professional editions are not supported.
Should we use Twilio for Salesforce or Twilio Flex?
Twilio for Salesforce is for texting from Salesforce records. Flex is a full contact center for teams that take calls and chats all day. Most sales teams start with the first.
What does it cost?
You get the price on the call, along with the hours it saves your team.