Outbound voice billing and route types

Outbound calls are billed per minute at the rate for the destination and route type. The billed duration starts when the call is answered and is rounded up to the billing intervals in your account’s pricelist.

Charge summary

Outbound trunks have no activation fees, monthly fees, or minimum commitments. Emergency calls are free of charge. Rates are listed in USD, and charges are deducted from your prepaid account balance.

Charge	Type	When it is charged	Price depends on
Call charge	Usage	For each answered call, from answer until the call ends	Destination, route type, and the billing intervals of the rate
Call setup fee	Usage	Per call, only if listed in the rate sheet that applies to your account	The rate sheet that applies to your account
VAT	Tax	With the call charge, where applicable	The VAT status of your account. See VAT.

How outbound calls are charged

When a call reaches DIDWW, the route is selected from the destination, the presented Caller ID, and the available coverage. The route type sets the rate. If the call is answered, the billed duration is rounded up to the billing intervals of that rate, and the charge is deducted from the balance.

        flowchart LR

   A["Outbound call<br/>reaches DIDWW"] --> D["Route type selected:<br/>Local, Origin based,<br/>or International"]

   D --> E["Rate per minute<br/>for the destination"]

   E --> B{"Call<br/>answered?"}

   B -.->|"No"| C["Not charged"]

   B -->|"Yes"| F["Duration rounded up<br/>to billing intervals"]

   F --> G["Rate × billed<br/>duration charged"]

   classDef root fill:#e0f2fe,color:#1f2d3d,stroke:#38bdf8,stroke-width:2px;
   classDef charge fill:#fef3c7,color:#1f2d3d,stroke:#facc15,stroke-width:2px;
   classDef decision fill:#fee2e2,color:#1f2d3d,stroke:#fb923c,stroke-width:2px;

   class A,C,D,E root;
   class F,G charge;
   class B decision;
    

Route selection is automatic. For the full selection rules, see How route selection works.

Route types

Each outbound call is classified by route type. The route type is shown as the Call Type in outbound call logs, statistics, and reports.

Route type	When it applies	Pricing
Local	The destination and an eligible DIDWW DID presented as Caller ID belong to the same country, and an in-country route is available. See Local routes.	Local termination rate of the destination country. Local rates are usually lower than international rates.
Origin based	The destination is a country with origin-based pricing. See Origin-based pricing.	The rate depends on the country of the presented Caller ID. Calls from EEA Caller IDs are usually billed at a lower rate than calls from other countries.
International	Local and origin-based conditions do not apply, or local coverage is unavailable.	International termination rate of the destination.
Emergency	Calls to emergency numbers from source numbers of an active Emergency Calling Service.	Emergency calls are free of charge. The Emergency Calling Service has its own setup and monthly fees per number.

Note

Using local or origin-based routes to avoid surcharges on international calls between EU countries and the rest of the world is not permitted. For such traffic, DIDWW charges the difference between the origin-based and international rates.

Billing intervals

Each rate has two billing intervals, written as initial/next in seconds:

• Initial interval: The minimum billed duration of an answered call.

• Next interval: The increment billed after the initial interval ends.

Billing intervals can differ by destination and rate. The intervals for each destination are listed in your pricelist.

Actual call duration is the time from answer until the call ends, excluding ringing time. Billed duration is the time used to calculate the charge after applying the initial minimum and subsequent billing increments.

Actual call duration is measured in milliseconds. Any fraction of an interval is rounded up to a full interval, so even a few milliseconds beyond a complete interval count as one more interval.

The charge for a call is the rate per minute multiplied by the billed duration in minutes:

Charge = Rate per minute × Billed duration (seconds) ÷ 60

If the rate sheet that applies to your account lists a call setup fee, it is added to this charge.

Calculation examples

These examples use a sample rate of USD 0.012 per minute. Durations are shown in seconds: 30.400 means 30 seconds and 400 milliseconds, while 60.001 means 60 seconds and 1 millisecond. Use the rates and billing intervals in your account’s pricelist for actual calculations.

Billing intervals	Actual call duration	Billed duration	Charge
1/1	30.400 seconds	31 seconds	USD 0.012 × 31 ÷ 60 = USD 0.0062
60/60	30.400 seconds	60 seconds, the initial interval	USD 0.012 × 60 ÷ 60 = USD 0.012
60/60	60.000 seconds	60 seconds	USD 0.012 × 60 ÷ 60 = USD 0.012
60/60	60.001 seconds	120 seconds	USD 0.012 × 120 ÷ 60 = USD 0.024

With 60/60 billing, exactly 60 seconds is billed as one minute. The last example exceeds that interval by 1 millisecond, starting a second billable 60-second interval. The billed duration is therefore 120 seconds (2 minutes).

When outbound calls are charged

Standard outbound calls are charged only after they are answered. Ringing time is excluded, and calls that end before answer have no call charge. Emergency calls are free of charge.

Call outcome or type	Charged?	How billing applies
Call is answered	Yes	Charged from answer, the 200 OK SIP response, until the call ends. The applicable rate and billing intervals determine the amount.
Call disconnects after answer	Yes	Charged from answer until disconnection. The same billing intervals apply as for other answered calls.
Call ends before answer	No	Includes unanswered, busy, rejected, and failed call attempts. The call log shows a charge of 0.
Forwarded call	Yes, if answered	The answered outbound call is charged at the local rate of the forwarding destination. Diversion-based forwarding uses local routes only. The inbound call to your DID number is billed separately under that DID’s charges. See Call forwarding.
Emergency call	No	Free of charge. Shown as Emergency in call logs and under Emergency Cost in reports.

Find outbound call rates and pricelists

Outbound call rates and billing intervals are listed by destination in the outbound trunk pricelist. To download the rates that apply to your account:

1. In the User Panel, go to Phone Numbers > Buy Numbers.

2. Click Download Pricelist.

3. Under Other pricelists, select Outbound Trunk & phone.systems™ Termination Rates.

Only services enabled on your account have a pricelist.

For public rates, open the SIP Trunking Pricing page. Select a country to view starting per-minute rates, or click Download Pricelist and complete the form to request the public pricelist.

For more details, see Download pricelists.

The rate in your account-specific pricelist at the time of the call is the rate that applies. Rates, billing intervals, and route availability vary by destination and can change. DIDWW can change outbound rates with 7 days’ prior notice.

Note

If you want to keep outbound call spending within a budget, set a 24 hour limit (USD) for each outbound trunk. The limit applies to charges accumulated on that trunk during a rolling 24-hour period.

When the limit is reached, the trunk is disabled, new calls are blocked, and active calls are disconnected shortly afterward. The final charge can slightly exceed the limit. See Limits and notifications for details.

Review outbound call charges and usage

Start with Outbound call logs to check the rate, billed duration, and charge of an individual call. Use statistics and reports to review total costs across calls. For CSV downloads or automated delivery of call records, use exports or CDR streaming.

Source	What it shows
Outbound call logs	Each call with its Call Type, Call / Billing Duration (sec), Rate (USD), and Charged (USD), together with the CLI, Destination Number, Destination Country, and Outbound voice trunk needed to reconcile it.
Outbound voice statistics	Total Cost of outbound calls, filtered by call type, destination country, or trunk.
Outbound voice reports	International Cost, Origin-based Cost, Local Cost, Emergency Cost, and Total Charge, grouped by destination country, trunk, or P-Charge-Info.
Outbound call log exports	A CSV file of outbound calls with their billing duration, rate, and charge.
Outbound voice CDR streaming	Real-time call records with call_type, rate, initial_billing_interval, next_billing_interval, billing_duration, price, and customer_vat.
Billing history reports	Monthly totals, with outbound calls under Origination and Termination.

Related resources

• Outbound dialing — Understand how routes are selected and which countries have local routes.

• Origin-based pricing — Review the destinations where the Caller ID country affects the rate.

• Download pricelists — Download public or account-specific SIP trunking pricelists.

• Services, Coverage, and Pricing — Compare DIDWW services and pricing models.

• Outbound call logs — Review the charges of individual calls.

• VAT — Check how VAT applies to your account.