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Channel

Voice

Phone calls your software can place, answer, route and record.

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Programmable voice connects your software to the phone network and to calls over the internet. Businesses use it for contact centres, click-to-call, call tracking, voice codes for people who cannot receive a text, automated reminders and spoken menus. For the caller it is simply a phone call, which is still the channel many people prefer when something is urgent, complicated or emotional.

Start with the 101Voice 101: the whole pictureHistory, how it works, where it is used, what it costs, the rules, its limits, and when to choose it, with every claim sourced.Read the 101

Need help implementing this? Ask members who have done it.

What matters when choosing

  • Local, national and toll-free numbers in the countries you serve, with clear rules for obtaining them.
  • Call quality you can measure, with routes and media servers close to your callers.
  • Recording, transcription and storage that respect consent and local data rules.
  • Support for caller identity standards that help your calls avoid being flagged as spam.
  • Standard SIP connections if you already have a phone system or contact centre.

Questions to ask providers

  1. Which number types can we get in each of our countries, what documents are needed, and how long does it take?
  2. Where are your media servers, and how do you measure call quality per call?
  3. Can we bring our existing numbers to you, and take them with us if we leave?

Common mistakes

  • Buying numbers without checking local registration rules, so they are suspended after launch.
  • Recording calls without telling callers or without a clear retention policy.
  • Building long spoken menus instead of letting callers say or type what they need.

What it is good at

  • Urgent, complex or sensitive conversations.
  • Reaching people who do not read text easily.
  • A fallback for codes when text messages fail.

What to watch for

  • Number rules that differ in every country.
  • Unknown numbers that people decline to answer.
  • Quality that depends on routes and distance.

How it is priced

Charged per minute, at rates that differ for inbound and outbound calls and by destination and number type, plus a monthly fee for each phone number; recording, transcription and storage are often extra.

Sources International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ↗IETF / RFC Editor ↗IETF / RFC Editor ↗

Typical channels: Voice SMS WhatsApp Video

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