At the tail end of 2023, Twilio made the decision to end their support for programmable video on December 5th, 2024.

Migrating from Twilio Programmable Video to Amazon Chime SDK

At the tail end of 2023, Twilio made the decision to end their support for programmable videos to instead refocus development on SMS, email, and voice messaging as their core tenants. Programmable videos can still be used until the end of 2024, though new features will not be coming and this feature will not be supported. Unfortunately, video still remains a very functional and effective form of media in customer communications. In the meantime, AWS does provide services which can successfully cover this same functionality.There are many great Communications Platforms as a Service (CPaaS) options available to replace Twilio’s Programmable Voice We feel that Amazon Chime SDK is a great option for the following four reasons:

Reason #1

Built with AWS

AWS Chime SDK is built on top of the AWS infrastructure. AWS offers hundreds of services that can either be used to power individual functions or build out entire web and mobile applications. The AWS platform is flexible enough to let users migrate data and content from other platforms in or out. It is stable, ubiquitous, well-supported, and surprisingly affordable with more than enough features to keep customers satisfied.

Global Presence

Amazon has established regions in every continent where its network can be accessed. Whatever customers want to use, those servers can fulfill those roles as requested, and there are more than enough redundancies in place to ensure outages are short, data loss is kept to a minimum, and end-users get the best latency possible.

Stable Market

AWS is currently in high demand and will likely not lose that position at the current rate Amazon continues to innovate and see gradual improvements. Short of the public very poorly receiving new features or legacy technology being phased out, these features will persist.

Compliance and Security

Because AWS is such a big platform, all of its features are designed to be compliant by default. All services can handle large volumes of data that need to be protected against external threats. AWS Chime SDK will as easily meet regulations, whether it’s FedRAMP, HIPAA, PCI, or SOC.

Reason #2

A Solid Contact Center with Great Integrations

Many of AWS’s services can internally support each other and enhance functionality beyond what a single service like Twilio Programmable Voice or Zoom can do alone. At the most recent AWS re:Invent, AWS Chime SDK and Amazon Connect were announced to be more deeply interconnected with each other. Beyond using voice and video in the contact center, this promises potential integrations through a number of backend products including Amazon Lex, Alexa SmartProperties, and Amazon Q.

Reason #3

Unmatched Flexibility

Beyond just Amazon Connect, there is an entire library of services for AWS Chime SDK users to integrate. Amazon employs dedicated staff to help developers who are unfamiliar with the AWS landscape. Chime SDK can integrate AI-powered services and functionality beyond what Chime SDK itself can provide. Using WebRTC’s standards, users aren’t required to use specific interfaces or architectural designs.
Most importantly, this is your chance to upgrade business operations from the ground up. As mentioned earlier, Twilio’s Programmable Video application is shutting down at the end of 2024 anyway, so this is an opportunity to adopt more than just a new video program. This is a move to a new ecosystem and there could be several services your company could also use besides Chime SDK.

Reason #4

Pricing

AWS Chime SDK is actually 57% cheaper than Twilio at $0.0017.

As an advanced AWS partner, we bring unparalleled expertise to architect, deploy, and optimize cloud solutions tailored to your unique needs. 

Your 2024 Twilio Video Migration Plan to AWS Chime SDK

At the time of writing, there is a full year to make the switch to AWS Chime SDK. As we know, time can fly quickly if preemptive steps are not taken accordingly.  More importantly, building live video and communication applications requires a ton of testing to get your solutions to scale.

If you’re starting your migration in January of 2024, our recommended timeline is:

1. Assess

Start by identifying dependencies.  List the features and functionalities that your application relies on in Twilio Programmable Video.  Examine your existing codebase to understand how video calls are implemented.  All points at which the application integrates with Twilio Programmable Video, including API calls, configurations, and any third-party services used must be thoroughly documented too.  These details will become important for ensuring the best migration possible.

2. Build

Existing application infrastructure needs to be significantly overhauled in anticipation of the big move.  In your application code, anything related to Twilio that involves the use of the programmable videos needs to be stripped out completely.  By default, Amazon Chime SDK should have code equivalents to insert into their place.  Whether its endpoints and API calls, initializations, or configurations, all of these must be scrubbed and replaced with their Amazon Chime SDK equivalents.

3. Test

Migration is not an easy process and leaving issues unresolved could lead to later issues down the road.  It’s not enough to just test video call functionality.  Check thoroughly the UI, performance, or incorrect behavior and inform developers accordingly what needs to be fixed before launch.

4. Migrate

Considering what can go wrong during deployment, it is best practice to roll out to a set of test users first as a part of the previous testing.  More importantly, end-users should be informed of the changes before updates start and what changes they can expect on the front end.  If performance remains good and there aren’t any issues that arise, then full-scale deployment may be considered.  There should be monitoring tools that can help developers track everything that happens deployment and how users react.  Continue optimizing and addressing issues as they come up until deployment is complete.

Conclusion

Migrating from Twilio Programmable Video to the Amazon Chime SDK requires careful planning, testing, and coordination.  This is not a process that can be planned and executed overnight.  Fortunately, this is still plenty of time to not only plan migrating to Chime SDK, but to also consider what else could be upgraded during the overhaul.

Links to Twilio Programmable Video

• Video Chat SDK – Amazon Chime SDK (AWS)
• How Zoom’s Video SDK stacks up on web (Zoom.com)
• Top WebRTC open source media servers on github for 2024 (BlogGeek.me)
• Migrate from Twilio to Daily - (Daily.co)
• Go live and go big with the Amazon Chime SDK - (WebRTC.ventures)