Number types

Azure Communication Services allows you to use phone numbers to make voice calls and send SMS messages with the public-switched telephone network (PSTN). In this document, we review the phone number types, region availability, and use cases for planning your telephony and SMS solution using 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, and Short Codes.

• To send or receive an SMS, choose a Toll-Free 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

Next steps

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

• Get a Toll-Free or Local Phone Number
• Get a Short-Code
• Quickstart: Look up operator information for a phone number