California-based Luxer One offers lockers for residential properties that let apartment dwellers securely receive package deliveries at any time without the help of property management staff. When the company rolled out the service, they used email for package delivery notifications — but they found that people didn’t always open their email, and when they did, they didn’t always recognize Luxer One’s messages as timely package delivery notifications. They soon realized that SMS text messaging, which reaches 97% of people in the US and has 98% open rates, was a better way to tell people “you’ve got stuff.”

Luxer One first chose a large SMS API provider to implement their SMS program. Over time, they noticed a few problems. They experienced random blips when some of their messages weren’t getting through, and about once a month the company experienced a complete channel failure caused by blocked phone numbers.

When delivery notifications failed to go through, a lot of packages, including time-sensitive items like groceries and gifts, sat uncollected in lockers.

The right SMS for a unique job

Belew went in search of a new provider and quickly found Plivo. Plivo has a direct relationship with carriers, so it was better able to diagnose SMS deliverability problems and find solutions.

Plivo was also less expensive — just half the cost of Luxer One’s previous solution.

Adapting Luxer One’s application code to use Plivo alongside their existing solution took about 12 hours. Actually integrating Plivo into Luxer One’s application was faster still; it took only a few hours of work.

Plivo introduced an application-to-person SMS solution that supports high throughput without risk of getting flagged for exceeding carrier rate limits. Plivo helped Luxer One navigate the rules and best practices of the carriers. The two companies acted as partners, crafting and testing Luxer One’s content to make sure its messages consistently got to their destinations.

Happy customers, confident IT team

In the 18 months since the company implemented Plivo’s solutions, Luxer One has experienced increased customer satisfaction as a result of dramatic improvements in message delivery. Plivo’s API is now an essential part of Luxer One’s DNA, automatically handling millions of messages to thousands of package recipients.

What has been best about working with Plivo? “The reliability of the message delivery has been great,” Belew says. “That’s probably the number one thing, and then second is Plivo’s responsiveness.”

Luxer One needed a smooth, automated message delivery process, and Plivo delivered. Luxer One simplifies the process of receiving a package, and Plivo, makes sure customers know when and where they can pick up their parcels. The packages and the messages that accompany them end up where they’re supposed to, right on time.

“If anyone needs an SMS solution, I would definitely recommend Plivo,” Belew says.