Why can't I make outbound calls from Amazon Connect?

Short description

You might not be able to connect to destination numbers for the following reasons:

• You didn't turn on Outbound calling for the Telephony option.
• Outbound calling might not be allowlisted for the country or prefix that you dialed.
• The CCP: Outbound permission is missing for the agent's security profile.
• You didn't configure the outbound caller ID number for the outbound queue.
• The destination phone number isn't valid.
• The destination phone number isn't reachable.
• Based on Amazon Connect telephone requirements, the call flow feature isn't supported in your AWS Region.
• You use a toll-free number for your outbound caller ID.
• You reached the concurrent active call quota.
• You get Contact Flow errors from the outbound whisper flow.
• You use a premium rate number as your outbound caller ID.

Resolution

You didn't turn on Outbound calling for Telephony

To turn on Outbound calling, complete the following steps:

1. Open the Amazon Connect console.
2. On the Amazon Connect virtual contact center instances page, under Instance alias, choose the name of the instance.
3. Under Channels and Communications, choose Telephony.
4. Under Outbound calls, select the Make outbound calls with Amazon Connect option.

Outbound calling might not be allowlisted

Confirm that the country code or prefix that's failing is for a country that you can call by default. If the country code or prefix isn't for a country that you can call by default, then submit a service quota increase request.

Note: The countries that are listed in the default Contact Control Panel (CCP) are the countries that are allowed for your Amazon Connect instance.

"CCP: Outbound" permission is missing from the agent's security profile

To add the CCP: Outbound permission to an agent's security profile, complete the following steps:

1. Log in to the Amazon Connect admin website at https://yourinstancename.my.connect.aws/.
   Note: You must use an Admin account. In the URL, replace yourinstancename with your instance's name.
2. In the navigation pane, choose Users, and then choose User management.
3. Note the user's security profile name.
4. In the navigation pane, choose Users, and then choose Security profile.
5. Update the permissions for the user's security profile to include the CCP:Outbound permissions.

The outbound caller ID number isn't configured

To verify that the outbound caller ID number is configured in the Outbound queue, complete the following steps:

1. Log in to the Amazon Connect admin website at https://yourinstancename.my.connect.aws/.
   Note: You must use an Admin account. In the URL, replace yourinstancename with your instance's name.
2. In the navigation pane, choose Users, and then choose User management.
3. Note the user's routing profile name.
4. In the navigation pane, choose Users, and then choose Routing profile.
5. Select the routing profile, and then note the default outbound queue.
6. In the navigation pane, choose Routing, and then choose Queues.
7. Select the queue.
8. In the Settings section, under Outbound caller configuration, select a valid number from the Outbound caller ID number dropdown.
9. Choose Save.

The destination phone number isn't valid

To determine whether the phone number is valid, complete the following steps:

1. Open the AWS Management Console.

2. Launch AWS CloudShell, and then select a shell.

3. To validate a phone number, run the following command in the CloudShell Terminal:

   aws pinpoint phone-number-validate --number-validate-request PhoneNumber=destination\_phone\_number

   Note: In the preceding command, replace destination_phone_number with your destination phone number.
   If the phone number isn't valid, then you see an output that's similar to the following:

   {"NumberValidateResponse": {
   "CleansedPhoneNumberE164": "+442079460881",
   "CleansedPhoneNumberNational": "2079460881",
   "Country": "United Kingdom",
   "CountryCodeIso2": "GB",
   "CountryCodeNumeric": "44",
   "OriginalPhoneNumber": "+442079460881",
   "PhoneType": "INVALID",
   "PhoneTypeCode": 3
   }
   }

   Note: There's an additional charge to use the phone number validation service. For more information, see Amazon Pinpoint pricing.

The destination phone number isn't reachable

To check if a destination phone number is reachable, use a different method than Amazon Connect to call the destination phone number. If you still can't reach the destination number, then the issue is with the destination number or carrier. Contact the end user to resolve the issue with the carrier.

The call flow feature isn't supported in your Region

The call flow feature might not be supported in your Region. For example, Thailand numbers don't allow you to place national outbound calls when the Amazon Connect instance Region isn't in Asia Pacific(Singapore).

Note: Outbound calls that aren't supported because of regulations can still be successful.

You use a toll-free number for your Outbound Caller ID

Toll-free numbers for outbound communications have limitations. If you experience outbound call failures when you use a toll-free number as your outbound Caller ID, then use a DID number instead.

You reached the concurrent active call quota

Review the CallsBreachingActiveCallsQuota to see if you reached the concurrent active call quota. For more information, see the Confirm that the instance isn't over its concurrent call quota section of How do I troubleshoot call failures from an Amazon Connect instance?

Note: You can use the Service Quota console to review your quota. To increase your instance's concurrent calls quota, use the Amazon Connect service quotas increase form. The default quota is 10. However, Amazon Connect might lower the quota to prevent fraud or malicious use.

Your outbound whisper flow has contact errors

To troubleshoot contact errors in your outbound whisper flow, complete the following steps:

1. Log in to the Amazon Connect admin website at https://yourinstancename.my.connect.aws/.
   Note: You must use an Admin account. In the URL, replace yourinstancename with your instance's name.
2. In the navigation pane, choose Routing, and then choose Queues.
3. Select your queue, and then review the outbound caller flow configurations for the contact flow.
   Note: If the option isn't already turned on, then turn on flow logs.
4. For the contacts that have failed calls, review the contact flow logs for more details.

You use a premium rate number for your outbound caller ID

If your outbound caller ID is a premium rate number, then your call might be blocked. These numbers are primarily used to receive calls and not to make outbound calls. For more information, see the AWS Service Terms.

Additional troubleshooting

If you continue to have issues, then create an AWS Support case.

Include the following information:

• Source phone number
• Destination phone number
• Contact IDs
• Timestamps with time zone
• Results of different Amazon Connect numbers that you tested
• The behavior of the issue

Note: It's a best practice to include contactIDs that are within 48 hours of experiencing the issue.