Email to SMS Gateways Are Going Away. How to Keep Your Alerts Working with Twilio Programmable Messaging

As of July 31, 2024, Twilio SendGrid has ceased supporting email-to-SMS gateway traffic due to carrier requirements and industry standards, pushing businesses to transition from legacy systems that rely on public gateways which are prone to spam and reliability issues. The article provides a solution for maintaining alert systems by setting up an SMTP server that receives emails, verifies permissions, and then uses Twilio's Programmable Messaging API to send SMS, allowing existing systems to function with minimal changes while improving reliability and security. This transition is necessary as carriers, like AT&T, discontinue or filter email-to-SMS services, encouraging users to adopt more secure and efficient methods like Twilio's API. The guide emphasizes the importance of internal network security, SMTP authentication, and careful monitoring to prevent unauthorized access and spam, alongside offering practical steps for testing and deploying this new infrastructure. The article suggests that while the SMTP-to-Twilio gateway is a temporary fix for legacy systems, businesses should consider fully migrating to Twilio Programmable Messaging for a more scalable and flexible long-term messaging solution.