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Number types

Azure Communication Services enables you to use phone numbers to make voice calls and send SMS messages with the public-switched telephone network (PSTN). This article describes the phone number types, region availability, and use cases for planning your telephony and SMS solution using Azure Communication Services.

Available options

Important

SMS and PSTN capabilities depend on the phone number you use and the country/region that you're operating within as determined by your Azure billing address. For more information, visit the Subscription eligibility documentation.

Azure Communication Services offers three types of Numbers: Toll-Free, Local, Alphanumeric Sender IDs and Short Codes.

  • To send or receive an SMS, choose a Toll-Free Number, local number or a Short Code
  • To make or receive phone calls, choose a Toll-Free Number or a Local Number

This table summarizes the number types and supported capabilities:

Type Example Send SMS Receive SMS Make Calls Receive Calls Typical Use Case Restrictions
Toll-Free +1 (8AB) XYZ PQRS Yes Yes Yes Yes Receive calls on IVR bots, SMS Notifications SMS in US and CA only
Local (Geographic) +1 (ABC) XYZ PQRS No No Yes Yes Geography Specific Number Calling Only
Short-Codes ABC-XYZ Yes Yes No No High-velocity SMS SMS only
Alphanumeric Sender ID CONTOSO Yes Yes No No High-velocity SMS SMS only

Next steps

For more information about getting or managing phone numbers, see: