Configure AI Voicemail Transcription with Amazon

Cloud Voice can turn the audio in voicemail messages into readable text using the Amazon Transcribe service. This page shows you how to link the phone system to Amazon Transcribe and choose which extensions the feature applies to.

Tip

Already set up AI Call Transcription against Amazon Transcribe? Turn on Voicemail Transcription and click Copy Settings from Call Transcription to carry that configuration over, then change only what differs.

Requirements

Your phone system must meet the following before you begin.

Item	Requirement
Firmware	84.23.0.83 or later.
Subscription	An Enterprise Plan or Ultimate Plan subscription, so the AI Transcription feature is available.

Before you begin

Network access

The phone system must be able to reach the two Amazon endpoints that Transcribe depends on:

• transcribe.<region>.amazonaws.com
• s3.<region>.amazonaws.com

Note

• Pick an Amazon region that supports batch transcription and substitute it for <region>, for example, transcribe.me-south-1.amazonaws.com. Choosing the region closest to where your phone system is deployed keeps latency low and transcription stable.

• To confirm an endpoint is reachable on TCP port 443, run the following over SSH on the phone system, replacing {{domain}} with the endpoint:

  nc -vz {{domain}} 443

Service accounts

Have the following Amazon credentials ready:

• An Amazon account with enough transcription-minute quota and permission to manage Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) buckets. Note its account ID.
• An IAM (Identity and Access Management) user that is allowed to manage its own access keys, along with the user’s sign-in username and password.

Step 1. Create an access key for Amazon Transcribe

The phone system authenticates its Transcribe API requests with an access key, so generate one in the Amazon Management Console first.

1. Sign in to the Amazon Management Console with your Amazon account ID, IAM username, and password.

2. In the top-right corner, click your account name and choose Security credentials.

   

3. On the My security credentials page, scroll to the Access keys section and click Create access key.

4. Create the access key.

   

   a. In the Use case list, select Other, then click Next.

   b. Optional: In the Description tag value field, enter a note that helps you recognize the key later.

   c. Click Create access key. The key is generated.

   d. In the Access key section, click the copy icon beside both Access key and Secret access key, and save the two values for the next step.

Step 2. Configure voicemail transcription on the phone system

With the access key in hand, enter the details on the phone system to establish the connection to Amazon Transcribe.

1. Sign in to the phone system web portal and open AI > AI Toolbox.

2. Turn on the Voicemail Transcription switch.

3. Set up the transcription service.

   

   a. In the Service Type drop-down list, select Custom Service.

   b. In the Transcription Service Provider drop-down list, select AWS.

   c. In the Access ID field, paste the access key you copied from the Amazon Management Console.

   d. In the Access Key field, paste the secret access key you copied from the Amazon Management Console.

   e. In the Region drop-down list, select the region you want.

4. Set the transcription language.

   • Language: In the drop-down list, choose the language to detect and transcribe in voicemail messages.

   • Languages to Auto-Detect: If you set Language to Auto Detection, select the languages you want the system to detect. Voicemail audio in any of those languages is then detected and transcribed automatically.

     Note

     • You can choose up to 5 languages for auto-detection at once.
     • Only one region is allowed per language, for example, you cannot select both English (UK) and English (US).

5. Under Extension Scope for This Feature, decide who can use voicemail transcription:

   • All Extensions: Every extension can use the feature.
   • Specific Extensions: Only the extensions, extension groups, or departments you select can use it.

6. Click Save.

Result

Transcription Connection Status shows Enable, confirming that AI voicemail transcription via Amazon Transcribe is live. Both group and extension voicemail messages are now detected and transcribed into text in your chosen language.

Note

You can set the transcription language for an individual extension from Extension and Trunk > Extension > AI > Voicemail Transcription > Language. That per-extension language applies to the extension’s personal voicemails and to group voicemails delivered in Broadcast to Members mode. See Configure AI Voicemail Transcription for an Extension for details.