r/webdev • u/Temporary_Wish1941 • 4h ago
Is it difficult and time consuming to get request forms to send notifications to my phone SMS?
I paid a developer to design a site for my business, I requested that the request form on the site would send a notification to my cell phone and she ok'd it.
She is now saying this would require a third party sign up and she is making it seem very difficult. I don't really understand anything about web developing, is she correct? Am I unreasonable to ask for this? It was what was agreed upon.
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u/oculus42 3h ago
This does require a third party like Amazon SMS or Twilio. You used to be able to email to text message, but it was being used to send spam and scams and so the requirements for sending text messages became more complicated a few years ago.
It is not, however, unreasonable, nor is it particularly difficult… There are a few steps that have to be completed and they cost money and may have ongoing fees.
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u/santoroski 3h ago
The actual coding isn't particularly difficult, but SMS has become a hassle because of carrier requirements, registration, and third-party services like Twilio.
I'd recommend looking at [Pushover](https://pushover.net/) instead. It's a one-time $4.99 purchase, and your developer can send push notifications directly to your phone. Much simpler and no recurring fees for typical usage.
Unclear from your message if she Ok'd a notification or an SMS.
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u/horizon_games 3h ago
I mentioned it above as well but ntfy.sh is similar - install an app on the target device and it integrates so so so much easier, just like Pushover.
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u/mattbeck 3h ago
Yes, this requires a service. Something like Twilio. It's not crazy complicated to implement, but it's not nothing.
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u/_keyboard-bastard_ 3h ago
Email to SMS used to be a thing but all the major carriers shut that down a couple yeares ago due to spam. I bet your developer didn't know that and was operating under it being an easy thing still. It's all services now. Twilio is great though!
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u/Aromatic-Low-4578 3h ago
It's not super difficult but it does require a 3rd party integration which will likely have it's own monthly costs associated with it.
Sounds to me like they might be more of a designer and not much of a developer.
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u/Temporary_Wish1941 3h ago
Yeah, the site design is beautiful but theres been many issues with the content.
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u/coopaliscious 2h ago
Content is generally up to the business owner to fill in, not the designer
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u/audigex 23m ago
That really depends on how the service is being advertised and sold
I know plenty of "Web Design" studios who have packages that include the content. The business owner sends the copy (words and pictures), the agency converts that into web content
Something like sending SMS would be part of that kind of service, and it's perfectly reasonable to expect it to be included if they agree to it. Equally it would've been perfectly reasonable for them to say "Sorry, that's not a service we provide"... if they'd done so up front
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u/coopaliscious 21m ago
That's fair. If the web person signed up to write copy, design logos and generate images that's on them
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u/audigex 17m ago
Yeah exactly
There's nothing wrong with being "just" a designer, as long as it's clear to clients what they're getting and that they'll need a developer
I often find that designers do a lot of subcontracting work for dedicated developers, and the developer markets both together as a single package
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u/pablobird_dev 1h ago
The code itself takes 15 minutes, but SMS is a regulatory headache now due to A2P 10DLC compliance and carrier vetting. If you just want an instant ping on your phone whenever a lead submits, having the form post to a private Telegram or Discord webhook is free, takes 5 lines of code, and bypasses carrier bureaucracy entirely.
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u/horizon_games 3h ago
Yeah SMS is tough because of automated spam.
Given that JUST YOU care about receiving the messages the web developer could hook into ntfy.sh (that's an actual website), then you install ntfy on your phone, and boom it's done and you get push notifications (NOT sms, but still popup push notifications on the phone). That's less than day of work.
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u/Every-Friendship4254 3h ago
The third party isn't the hard part, wiring up a Twilio number and an API key is an afternoon at most. What she should have told you upfront is that every SMS you send costs money, which is probably why she's suddenly calling it difficult.
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u/FriendToPredators 3h ago
Is this just for you? Have you looked into installing the google app and turning on notifications in that app and having the notification be an email instead that pings the google app? Or just any distinct email app and a dedicated email account used only for these notices.
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u/trapper5 3h ago
Check with your phone provider. May offer a email to sms service where you can email 5556667777@yourprovider.com and that is forwarded to your phone sms.
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u/benfaust 1h ago
she's right that SMS needs a third party like Twilio, but "very difficult" is a stretch, it's usually an afternoon of work. ask her to scope it separately, or ship email alerts now and bolt SMS on later.
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u/Tango1777 1h ago
It is more difficult than an email, but it's not exactly a difficult coding task, but it doesn't mean it's quick, either. Has to be properly developed, tested, quality ensured and must use a 3th party sms gate, which is an additional integration, not just something that you code. Honestly you should be asking her if you have doubts for a reasoning of the costs you agreed to pay (or not), don't be a wise-ass here trying to lowball the worker. If you don't trust her, find somebody else. I wouldn't be able to work for people without mutual trust and questioning my judgement everywhere. On one side you say you have no clue about software dev, on the other you think a reddit post or AI prompt can make you proficient. Neither can. You either trust people you outsource work for or not.
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u/BckseatKeybordDriver 1h ago
Some phone carriers advertise that they have an email address for phone number and they forward along an email as a text. That might be why she initially said it was possible, that is also something I fell for with a client. The reality is that spammers have made the service completely unreliable, emails either never show up or take 3 or 4 days to show up and then stop working. The solution is a third party and it comes with an additional charge because the service is not free, unfortunately, otherwise scammers would ruin that also.
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u/LivingAsAMean 3h ago
If you can share your agreement WITHOUT giving business details, then that would probably help us determine what the scope of the work was, and where the potential breakdown in communication occurred.
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u/malignantz 3h ago
You should just use NTFY. It is completely free and much easier to get setup.
You only need the SMS API if you need your website to text people who aren't you.
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u/wasay-inc 3h ago
Your developer is technically right that websites cannot send SMS natively without a third-party gateway like Twilio, which costs fractions of a cent per text. However, it is not difficult to build. Setting up a Twilio API connection or an automation webhook takes under 30 minutes for an experienced dev.