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HappyFunNorm t1_j8du1f0 wrote

I.... Ok, so I read the article, and their Wikipedia page, and I'm not only not entirely sure what they do (some kind of telco middleware or something?) but what I can tell I have no idea how they were even employing 1500 people total to do it. What were they all doing?

(edit) - also, their stock price went up after the layoff... so....

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_0x29a t1_j8dvprr wrote

Twilio is quite big. And does require a ton of engineering. They operate APIs that allow you to intercede with telco systems.

This enables software to be written to obtain phone numbers make calls etc. you can the. Use that to build products and services. They work almost entirely in software. Meaning lots of engineers.

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WittyPerception3683 t1_j8e9iu7 wrote

Is that like SD Wan? Sorry, I'm new to network engineering

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azsnaz t1_j8egbg3 wrote

I know credit unions that use them for phone banking

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in-game_sext t1_j8gl84f wrote

So what you're saying is that they're the bastards who make spoofing for phone scammers a breeze?

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CyberBill t1_j8e0zv7 wrote

I am a dev who uses twilio. I wrote a system for a food delivery service.

It lets us send our users SMS messages and receive their responses.

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nummers_guy t1_j8e2p5t wrote

It allows you to programmatically send SMS text messages as well as set up numbers for automated responses... do things like surveys and campaigns.

They were the top player in the field but have a number of more capable competitors as well as SMS engagement not being as useful these days.

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BoldestKobold t1_j8f9m50 wrote

Any unsolicited texts get blocked here. I'm totally cool with a restaurant that I placed an order with texting me an update, but everyone sending unsolicited texts should fall into a camp fire. Not enough to kill, just ruin their camping trip.

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H_E_Pennypacker t1_j8jv2hf wrote

The restaurant may very well be using something like twilio to send you that message

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boones_farmer t1_j8em3s9 wrote

Twilio is a massive company. They were the first to offer an easy to use interface for sending SMS through code, and are still probably the biggest player in that space.

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smogeblot t1_j8elu23 wrote

I know their marketing material is a bit high minded and confusing, I was in the same boat about 10 years ago before using it. It's basically "an api for text messages and phone calls"

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darth_aardvark t1_j8ev2aa wrote

Twilio is used by a ton of places to integrate with SMS. Almost any company that sends automated text messages uses them.

Also not sure what they need 10,000 people for though.

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kaihatsusha t1_j8evsfq wrote

>Also not sure what they need 10,000 people for though.

Neither are they, apparently.

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c3corvette t1_j8ff7wi wrote

If a large company sends customers text messages, there is a good chance it goes through twillio.

They also own sendgrid which similarly is a email platform for blasting messages. Many companies have O365 or GSuite for corporate emails, but system emails may go through a platform like sendgrid for numerous reasons.

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H_E_Pennypacker t1_j8jurrm wrote

Twilio is huge in the telco world, surprised they didn’t employ more people tbh

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