Amazon Connect Telephony

Telephony architecture

In all AWS Regions supported by Amazon Connect, you can host toll-free and direct call numbers (DID). In a single instance, users can use both kinds of phone numbers. The Amazon Connect pricing website has a detailed list of supported countries and rates, including the difference in prices between DID and toll-free numbers.

Amazon Connect offers a multitude of reliable and powerful features that make it stand out as a top-notch contact center solution. One of its most appealing aspects is its ability to handle all aspects of your phone infrastructure, including carrier connections, redundancy, and routing. This means that you can confidently rely on Amazon Connect to seamlessly manage your telecommunication services, regardless of the size or industry of your business.

With Amazon Connect’s cloud-based Telephony services, you can effortlessly make and receive calls, whether your contact center is hosted in the cloud or on-premises. The scalability of these services is unrivaled, allowing businesses of diverse sizes to benefit from its seamless performance. Moreover, Amazon Connect provides a built-in softphone that offers high-definition sound quality and the ability to sort calls based on priority and availability.

AWS has various telephony providers in addition to the Amazon Connect service, which is deployed across multiple Availability Zones. As a result, multiple connections exist between these carriers and the data centers in those Availability Zones. Additionally, the links between providers ensure that if a single or even various carriers fail, different routes are available to keep the system running smoothly.

In addition to its own telephony services, Amazon Connect integrates with various telephony providers within the AWS ecosystem. This collaboration further enhances the reliability and power of Amazon Connect, as it can tap into the collective strength of multiple providers and data centers. This ensures that your contact center operations remain smooth and uninterrupted, even in the face of unforeseen challenges.

Toll-free numbers

Toll-free numbers are telephone numbers with distinct area codes. Customers can dial these numbers from all phones with no charge to the person placing the call.

These types of numbers allow people to reach out to businesses. In addition, they provide access to companies and individuals outside their area without being charged a hefty long-distance fee.

AWS connect offers a Toll-free facility adhering to the laws governed by the local governing body. Toll-free numbers are more expensive than regular Direct dial. AWS connect goes a step further in ensuring 24×7 availability even in complete carrier failure by implementing carrier redundancy.

Flexibility

Telephony is a highly versatile and scalable feature of Amazon Connect that offers a select range of telecommunication services. With Amazon Connect’s cloud-based Telephony services, businesses of diverse sizes and industries can enjoy unparalleled scalability and flexibility. Whether your contact center resides in the cloud or on-premises, Amazon Connect’s Telephony services are designed to seamlessly handle the demands of your organization.

With Telephony, you can effortlessly make and receive calls, ensuring smooth communication with your customers. What sets Amazon Connect apart is its exceptional scalability. As your business evolves and experiences fluctuations in customer demand, Amazon Connect’s Telephony services can easily adapt to meet your needs. Whether you need to scale up during busy periods or scale down during slower periods, Amazon Connect provides the necessary infrastructure to ensure a seamless and uninterrupted customer experience.

DID numbers

Direct Inward Dialing (DID) is a telecommunication service that allows a phone number to connect directly to a specific phone without going to a queue or menu. Thus, it cuts the requirement of needing an extension to reach a particular person or business. These types of phone numbers are called DIDs and are operated by a single carrier.

Amazon AWS Connect allows DID services to its customers; however, they aren’t free. DID numbers are much more helpful and cheaper in local scenarios, as they will attract a more affordable inbound call rate.

DID numbers are single carriers; hence they cannot use the carrier redundancy facility offered by AWS connect. However, it makes them a cheaper alternative than toll-free numbers.

Claiming numbers

Amazon AWS connect allows you to claim a number in a number of supported countries. Furthermore, users can claim both Toll-free and DID numbers from various inventories maintained by AWS. Check out the list of countries and the pricing for each here.

Users can claim a set amount of phone numbers depending on the service quota selected for each instance. If you reach the desired quota and need an additional number, they have to give up one already claimed number. To claim the extra numbers, you must submit a request for a service quota increase.

Porting numbers in AWS

Porting numbers generally means changing the carriers without changing the number. AWS connect also offers the portability of numbers from one carrier to another.

Porting works in general under the order and regulations of local authorities. By international standards, a customer can contact a new carrier that, in this case, is the recipient, and it sends a number portability request to the current carrier (which is the donor).

In the UK and India, a user must contact the donor to obtain a code, and then that code is given to the recipient carrier. To port a number in AWS connect, a documentation process needs to be followed. You should also note that there will be Downtime and disruption of service during the porting process.

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