AWS Builder Center is the official home for builders on AWS. Share and read what others are working on, follow people who inspire you, explore training and workshops, and find tools to support what you're building.
External voice transfer to phone number over PSTN - is this documentation correct?
The Help page (https://docs.aws.amazon.com/connect/latest/adminguide/external-voice-transfer.html) states that there are $0 Billing Costs if: "Voice usage costs do not apply after the call is transferred if: The call is not being recorded. The Transfer to phone number block is NOT configured to Resume flow after disconnect."
How can this be correct? Isn't the call still anchored to AWS Connect? regardless of what is specified in the Transfer to phone number block.
Example - If a customer based in the US calls a local DID running AWS Connect, they will be paying local call charges to their mobile provider. Now imagine the call was transferred to a remote overseas location with relatively high call charges via PSTN (and wasn't being recorded, and also Transfer to phone number block is NOT configured to Resume flow after disconnect) - Now if the call was really leaving the AWS Connect cloud, who is going to pay the charges for the PSTN from the US to this remote location? Surely not the customer who called in because they've only called a local number
Can someone pls clarify - is that documentation really correct?
- Newest
- Most votes
- Most comments
There appears to be some confusion in your understanding of the documentation. The information you're referencing is about external voice transfer, but there's an important distinction to make between two different transfer methods:
-
"Transfer to phone number" - This uses the public telephone network (PSTN) and voice usage costs continue to apply.
-
"External voice transfer" (using connectors) - This does not use PSTN and has different billing implications.
When using the "Transfer to phone number" block, the call remains anchored to Amazon Connect for the duration of the call, and per-minute usage continues to accrue until the call is disconnected. AWS Connect is responsible for the PSTN charges to the remote location in your example, and these costs are passed on to you as the Amazon Connect customer.
The pricing for external voice transfers is different from regular transfers. According to the pricing example, external voice transfers incur:
- An external voice transfer charge ($0.005 per minute)
- An external voice transfer connector charge ($100 per day)
- Plus the standard Amazon Connect service usage charge
In your scenario with an overseas transfer, AWS would handle the PSTN routing and charge you accordingly based on the applicable rates. The end customer would only pay for their local call to the DID number, while you (as the Amazon Connect customer) would be responsible for all charges related to the transfer.
The documentation is correct, but it's specifically referring to external voice transfer connectors (which use SIP protocol), not standard PSTN transfers using the "Transfer to phone number" block.
Sources
Set up Amazon Connect external voice transfer to an on-premise voice system - Amazon Connect
Amazon Connect Pricing
Set up your network to use the Amazon Connect Contact Control Panel (CCP) - Amazon Connect
You are correct that PSTN is still with Amazon Connect as the customer is still talking on the PSTN line. Please take a look at this link https://docs.aws.amazon.com/connect/latest/adminguide/usage-voice-transfer-config.html
this lays out TECHNICALLY speaking PSTN is still anchored, but depends on if "Resume flow after disconnect" and other options are selected or not, inbound telephony may continue. Basically if you chose all the options so inbound telephony does not get charge, Connect will not be providing anymore services or the call to come back to Connect.
answered a year ago
Relevant content
- AWS OFFICIALUpdated 2 years ago
I understand this response. However, in the case of 'Transfer to external voice systems' via SIP, how can the call leave the AWS Connect cloud? Because the customer has called a PSTN number from their device, now AWS Connect has transferred it to an external party via SIP (which may not have a DID at all) - but what will the customer's device remain connected to? Isn't that still the AWS Connect cloud? and hence why won't the AWS Connect continue to incur Voice usage costs?