question Re: SMS Integration with Twilio in Community Central forum

SMS Integration with Twilio

SotaT — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 06:36:10 GMT

I want to test SMS authentication for MFA. I understand that on the ServiceNow side, it's completed simply by installing the plugin and connecting with an ID and token. However, when I try to log in, I get the error: “Failed to generate 6-digit verification code. Please contact your administrator to log in.” One thing I'm wondering is whether I need to purchase a phone number for sending SMS on the Twilio side. Is this purchase necessary?

Re: SMS Integration with Twilio

Bhuvan — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 06:48:04 GMT

@SotaT

Who is your IdP Provider for MFA as Twilio is typically used for SMS and Voice Call Notifications as part of Major Incident Management Process and On-Call notifications but not for MFA.

If you are looking to use SMS as MFA without IdP, then yes you need Twilio number as part of subscription and enable notify plugins and configure Twilio Direct Configuration. Please refer below documentation for more details

https://www.servicenow.com/community/platform-privacy-security-blog/multi-factor-authentication-with-sms-otp/ba-p/2480760

If this helped to answer your query, please mark it helpful & accept the solution.

Thanks,

Bhuvan

Re: SMS Integration with Twilio

SotaT — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 07:12:05 GMT

@Bhuvan

In the Configure SMS OTP provider section, that setup is also complete. However, it doesn't work properly.

Re: SMS Integration with Twilio

Bhuvan — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 07:18:58 GMT

@SotaT

Did you follow below section to setup Twilio Account SID and Twilio Mobile number that will be used for SMS notifications as part of Notify plugin ?

If yes, please check the article once again step by step and make sure you have setup the MFA correctly. Refer 'Login Flow' and 'Important Topics' section in the article that explains in detail pre-requisites to setup MFA and configuration needed.

https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bundle/zurich-platform-security/page/integrate/authentication/task/configure-sms-as-mfa-factor.html

https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bundle/zurich-platform-security/page/integrate/authentication/task/configure-mfa-provider.html

https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bundle/zurich-servicenow-platform/page/product/notify2/task/t_ConfigureNotifyWithTwilio.html

If this helped to answer your query, please mark it helpful & accept the solution.

Thanks,

Bhuvan

Re: SMS Integration with Twilio

SotaT — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 07:29:05 GMT

@Bhuvan

https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ja-JP/bundle/yokohama-servicenow-platform/page/product/notify2/task/t_ConfigureNotifyWithTwilio.html

In the setup described above, it says “If the account is not associated with an instance and the connection is successful, a read-only list of E.164 and short code phone numbers associated with this Twilio account appears. This list displays the phone number, supported capabilities such as voice or SMS, the country for each Twilio number, and the Notify number group to which the number belongs.”, but the phone number isn't displayed like in the first screenshot I sent. Does that mean I need to make a purchase?

Re: SMS Integration with Twilio

Ambuj Tripathi — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 07:32:33 GMT

Hi @SotaT

As per my knowledge, once you connect to the twillio integration, you would get the phone number which will be used to send the SMS to the user's mobile number and it would be populated in in teh "Phone Numbers" section in the above first image you shared.

Can you please try to disconnect and reconnect to the twillio account again? if this doesn't work, then you can try to force connect by enabling the force connect UI action.

Re: SMS Integration with Twilio

SotaT — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 07:38:09 GMT

@Ambuj Tripathi

Reconnecting doesn't work either.
I don't have a phone number registered with Twilio in the first place. Do I need to purchase one?

Re: SMS Integration with Twilio

Bhuvan — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 08:27:49 GMT

@SotaT

My understanding is, if you are using Twilio for SMS and Voice Notifications as part of MIM and On-Call notifications, you can use Outbound REST API to Twilio API to invoke SMS notifications without having an active Twilio number. See below for my test setup that I use for SMS and Voice call notifications using trial account with my PDI using Flow Designer REST API actions. If you are invoking SMS notifications directly from ServiceNow without API calls, you need Twilio number to send notifications.

As per my understanding, MFA flow is different from outbound REST API and you would need Twilio number as a pre-requisite and would need to configure in Twilio Direct configuration. Please confirm this with ServiceNow Account Representative or Twilio team as I have not configured Twilio for MFA.

If this helped to answer your query, please mark it helpful & accept the solution.

Thanks,

Bhuvan

Re: SMS Integration with Twilio

SotaT — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 09:05:00 GMT

@Bhuvan

Could you please tell me about the settings you configured on the Twilio side?

Re: SMS Integration with Twilio

Bhuvan — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 10:20:26 GMT

@SotaT

Community post gets flagged sometimes for sharing external link. Please check the screenshot I attached earlier 'Create a Notification System in ServiceNow using Twilio SMS and Voice' and access the Twilio documentation for step by step instructions to establish the integration.

I have checked sample integration established using Outbound REST API and attributes Twilio Phone Number 'From' and sender mobile numbers 'To' in the payload are mandatory, hence you would need Twilio number to setup the integration.

You can get in touch with Twilio or request from the Twilio website to setup trial account to test the features as it comes bundled with balance of ~15 dollars and you can use it for testing.

If this helped to answer your query, please mark it helpful & accept the solution.

Thanks,

Bhuvan

Re: SMS Integration with Twilio

SotaT — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 02:13:45 GMT

@Bhuvan @Ambuj Tripathi

The issue I inquired about has been resolved, but I am not receiving the 6-digit verification code. The SMS itself is arriving, but the message content does not include the 6-digit verification code.
Below is the actual SMS that was sent:
“Sent from your Twilio trial account - MultiFactor.OTPMessage”

Re: SMS Integration with Twilio

Bhuvan — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 04:20:34 GMT

@SotaT

Please use below knowledge article to resolve the issue

https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB2208690

If this helped to answer your query, please mark it helpful & accept the solution.

Thanks,

Bhuvan

Re: SMS Integration with Twilio

Bhuvan — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 13:09:11 GMT

@SotaT

Did you get a chance to review this as I believe the provided information should answer your question.

As per community guidelines, you can accept more than one answer as accepted solution. If my response helped to answer your query, please mark it helpful & accept the solution.

Thanks,

Bhuvan