diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e4d0dd1e..882798bd 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -40,3 +40,5 @@ libpeerconnection.log
 
 # Ignore application configuration
 /config/application.yml
+
+/fixtures/vcr_cassettes
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.rspec b/.rspec
index 83e16f80..2f0d7151 100644
--- a/.rspec
+++ b/.rspec
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 --color
 --require spec_helper
+--order random
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index cb0e4264..c90b62a2 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -56,11 +56,12 @@ group :test do
   gem 'simplecov'
 
   gem 'rspec-rails'
-  gem 'rspec-its'
   gem 'rspec-given'
   gem 'capybara'
   gem 'factory_girl_rails'
   gem 'database_cleaner'
+  gem 'vcr'
+  gem 'webmock'
   gem 'zonebie'
   gem 'timecop'
 end
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 22bd26f4..113900a9 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ GEM
       simplecov (~> 0.10.0)
       term-ansicolor (~> 1.3)
       thor (~> 0.19.1)
+    crack (0.4.2)
+      safe_yaml (~> 1.0.0)
     database_cleaner (1.5.1)
     debug_inspector (0.0.2)
     descendants_tracker (0.0.4)
@@ -139,6 +141,7 @@ GEM
       haml (>= 4.0.6, < 5.0)
       html2haml (>= 1.0.1)
       railties (>= 4.0.1)
+    hashdiff (0.2.3)
     hitimes (1.2.3)
     html2haml (2.0.0)
       erubis (~> 2.7.0)
@@ -252,9 +255,6 @@ GEM
     rspec-given (3.7.1)
       given_core (= 3.7.1)
       rspec (>= 2.14.0)
-    rspec-its (1.2.0)
-      rspec-core (>= 3.0.0)
-      rspec-expectations (>= 3.0.0)
     rspec-mocks (3.3.2)
       diff-lcs (>= 1.2.0, < 2.0)
       rspec-support (~> 3.3.0)
@@ -269,6 +269,7 @@ GEM
     rspec-support (3.3.0)
     ruby_parser (3.7.1)
       sexp_processor (~> 4.1)
+    safe_yaml (1.0.4)
     sass (3.4.19)
     sass-rails (5.0.4)
       railties (>= 4.0.0, < 5.0)
@@ -337,6 +338,7 @@ GEM
       unf_ext
     unf_ext (0.0.7.1)
     uniform_notifier (1.9.0)
+    vcr (3.0.0)
     virtus (1.0.5)
       axiom-types (~> 0.1)
       coercible (~> 1.0)
@@ -344,6 +346,10 @@ GEM
       equalizer (~> 0.0, >= 0.0.9)
     warden (1.2.3)
       rack (>= 1.0)
+    webmock (1.22.3)
+      addressable (>= 2.3.6)
+      crack (>= 0.3.2)
+      hashdiff
     xpath (2.0.0)
       nokogiri (~> 1.3)
     zonebie (0.5.1)
@@ -381,7 +387,6 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   rails_12factor
   rollbar
   rspec-given
-  rspec-its
   rspec-rails
   sass-rails
   sidekiq
@@ -394,7 +399,9 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   timecop
   twilio-ruby
   uglifier
+  vcr
   virtus
+  webmock
   zonebie
 
 BUNDLED WITH
diff --git a/app/services/sms/receiver.rb b/app/services/sms/receiver.rb
index 8a5da05a..da6ef5c0 100644
--- a/app/services/sms/receiver.rb
+++ b/app/services/sms/receiver.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ def handle from:, body:
       twilio_account: twilio,
       user:           user,
       number:         from,
-      text:           body,
+      text:           body.strip,
       direction:      :incoming
 
     response = begin
diff --git a/spec.new/controllers/twilio_controller_spec.rb b/spec.new/controllers/twilio_controller_spec.rb
index d81dccdc..b67cd5de 100644
--- a/spec.new/controllers/twilio_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec.new/controllers/twilio_controller_spec.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   Given(:twilio) { TwilioAccount.first }
   Given(:phone)  { FactoryGirl.create :phone }
 
-  context "with a valid sid" do
+  context "with a valid sid", :vcr do
     When(:result) { post :receive, AccountSid: twilio.sid, From: phone.number, To: twilio.number, Body: "help" }
 
     Then { result.status == 200                                     }
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     And  { SMS.outgoing.last.number == Phone.condense(phone.number) }
   end
 
-  context "with a new phone number" do
+  context "with a new phone number", :vcr do
     Given(:number) { "+1 (555) 555-0123" }
     When(:result) { post :receive, AccountSid: twilio.sid, From: number, To: twilio.number, Body: "help" }
 
diff --git a/spec.new/features/sms_request_spec.rb b/spec.new/features/sms_request_spec.rb
index e21f75da..c32fe4c5 100644
--- a/spec.new/features/sms_request_spec.rb
+++ b/spec.new/features/sms_request_spec.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 require "rails_helper"
 
 describe "Ordering via sms" do
-  it "runs end-to-end" do
+  it "runs end-to-end", :vcr do
     phone     = FactoryGirl.create :phone
     volunteer = phone.user
     country   = volunteer.country
diff --git a/spec.new/rails_helper.rb b/spec.new/rails_helper.rb
index ee10a7c9..9f53d00b 100644
--- a/spec.new/rails_helper.rb
+++ b/spec.new/rails_helper.rb
@@ -27,6 +27,11 @@
 # If you are not using ActiveRecord, you can remove this line.
 ActiveRecord::Migration.maintain_test_schema!
 
+VCR.configure do |config|
+  config.cassette_library_dir = "fixtures/vcr_cassettes"
+  config.hook_into :webmock
+end
+
 RSpec.configure do |config|
   # Remove this line if you're not using ActiveRecord or ActiveRecord fixtures
   # config.fixture_path = "#{::Rails.root}/spec/fixtures"
@@ -59,4 +64,12 @@
     # * for some reason, `only` seems to work here, but `except` is being ignored
     # DatabaseCleaner.clean_with :truncation, except: %w( countries supplies country_supplies twilio_account )
   end
+
+  # TODO: many of these tests don't really need to hit Twilio and should probably opt out
+  config.around :each, :vcr do |x|
+    name = x.full_description.gsub /\W+/, '-'
+    VCR.use_cassette name, re_record_interval: 1.week do
+      x.run
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec.new/services/sms_receiver_spec.rb b/spec.new/services/sms_receiver_spec.rb
index c4dbfc97..82432558 100644
--- a/spec.new/services/sms_receiver_spec.rb
+++ b/spec.new/services/sms_receiver_spec.rb
@@ -5,14 +5,14 @@
   Given(:phone)    { FactoryGirl.create :phone }
   Given(:receiver) { SMS::Receiver.new sid: twilio.sid, to: twilio.number }
 
-  context "with a message" do
+  context "with a message", :vcr do
     When(:result) { receiver.handle from: phone.number, body: "got it" }
 
     Then { result == SMS.outgoing.last                         }
     And  { result.text =~ /can't find any outstanding orders/i }
   end
 
-  context "with an empty message" do
+  context "with an empty message", :vcr do
     When(:result) { receiver.handle from: phone.number, body: "" }
 
     Then { result == SMS.outgoing.last }