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# SMS conversations

## Overview

This guide shows you how to enable SMS conversations with your ElevenLabs agent. After you connect a Twilio phone number, users can send text messages to that number and receive replies from your agent.

## Prerequisites

* A [Twilio account](https://twilio.com/) with a purchased phone number that supports SMS.
* An ElevenLabs agent to handle inbound messages.

Verified caller IDs support outbound calls only. Use a purchased Twilio phone number for inbound
SMS. See [Twilio native
integration](/docs/eleven-agents/phone-numbers/twilio-integration/native-integration#phone-number-types--capabilities).

## Enable SMS

Phone numbers you imported before SMS support are not automatically enabled for SMS. To enable
SMS, re-import your Twilio number.

Follow the [Twilio native integration](/docs/eleven-agents/phone-numbers/twilio-integration/native-integration) guide to import your number and add your Twilio Account SID and Auth Token.

On the [**Phone Numbers**](https://elevenlabs.io/app/agents/phone-numbers) page, open your imported number and assign the agent that should handle inbound SMS.

![Outbound call button](https://files.buildwithfern.com/https://elevenlabs.docs.buildwithfern.com/docs/953a870b0ab0c0aa30872b3692260f0879f390d4b4b83c7f82e816385504034f/assets/images/conversational-ai/outbound-button.png)

Send a text message to your Twilio number from a mobile device. Your agent should reply over SMS.

![SMS conversation between a user and an ElevenLabs
agent](https://files.buildwithfern.com/https://elevenlabs.docs.buildwithfern.com/docs/759839ae9ab62d9a958f9875580e345194c7a4974783904606f254a9f88722cb/assets/images/conversational-ai/agent-sms-native.png)

Review conversations in the [Calls History dashboard](https://elevenlabs.io/app/agents/history).

## Related guides

* [Twilio native integration](/docs/eleven-agents/phone-numbers/twilio-integration/native-integration) — Import a Twilio number and configure voice calls.
* [SMS OTP verification](/docs/eleven-agents/phone-numbers/twilio-integration/sms-otp-verification) — Send and verify one-time passcodes over SMS during a voice call with Twilio Verify.