Destination phone not allowed

Support Help
1

Hi,

Hope you’re good.
I have a problem.

Problem Summary:

Source Number: American number purchased on Retell
Destination: France (E.164 format, e.g., +33…)
Error: “The destination number is not allowed to be called”

Context:

Calls to France worked yesterday with the same number and destination.
So I purchased a new Canadian number on Retell → same error.
I configured “All allowed countries” and also selected only France → still blocked.
The call doesn’t even initiate (no logs available because the call is blocked before it’s sent).

Question:
Why are calls to France suddenly blocked when the allowed countries configuration is correct and it worked yesterday?

Thanks a lot.

Best Regards

2

Based on the documentation, there are several potential causes for your France calling issue.

Geographic Restrictions Configuration

You can restrict outbound countries through the Retell dashboard or API.(1) To configure via the dashboard:

  1. Navigate to Phone Numbers in your Retell dashboard
  2. Click on the phone number you want to configure
  3. Under Allowed Outbound Countries, add the countries this number should be allowed to call(1)

Changes are saved automatically.(1)

To configure via API, use ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes (e.g., “FR” for France):(1)

curl -X PATCH "https://api.retellai.com/update-phone-number/+14155551234" \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
 -d '{
 "allowed_outbound_country_list": ["US", "CA", "FR"]
 }'

(1)

Important Limitation for Retell-Purchased Numbers

The documentation indicates that if you’re using Retell-purchased numbers, they can only call US numbers.(2) This is a critical limitation that may explain why your calls to France are blocked, even though they worked yesterday.

Sanctioned Countries Check

The following countries are always blocked regardless of configuration: Cuba (CU), Iran (IR), North Korea (KP), Syria (SY), Russia (RU), Belarus (BY), and Venezuela (VE).(1) France is not on this list, so this shouldn’t be the issue.

Disconnection Reasons to Check

Common outbound call disconnection reasons include:(3)

  • invalid_destination - Destination phone number is invalid
  • dial_failed - Dialing failed with no or unknown SIP error code
  • telephony_provider_permission_denied - SIP trunk credentials not authenticated
  • telephony_provider_unavailable - Telephony provider is unavailable(3)

Recommended Actions

  1. Verify you’re using the correct country code “FR” (not “France”) in your allowed outbound countries configuration
  2. Check if you’re using Retell-purchased numbers, which may only support US destinations
  3. Consider using custom telephony (Twilio/Telnyx) if you need international calling capabilities
  4. Contact support at support@retellai.com with your specific phone number and org ID for account-level investigation

The sudden change from yesterday suggests either a configuration change or a service-level restriction that may require support team investigation.

3

i need more help please, human can be answer me ?

4

Hello @Lummia ,
You can call France number with Retell Twilio numbers

But if your number is Retell Telnyx number France is not allowed

You can check the list here :International Calling and Fees - Retell AI

5

Hello,

Its with Twilio number not Telnyx.

Thanks.

6

Thank you for clarifying you’re using Twilio numbers. For Twilio numbers connected to Retell AI via elastic SIP trunking, here are the key areas to check:

Twilio Geographic Permissions

For international calling to France, you need to enable geographic permissions in your Twilio account.(1) Search for “geo” to find the “Voice Geographic Permissions” setting in Twilio.(1)

Elastic SIP Trunk Configuration

When using Twilio numbers with Retell AI, you need to properly configure your elastic SIP trunk:(1)

  1. Termination (for outbound calls): Verify your termination SIP URI is correctly configured(1)
  2. Authentication: Ensure your IP whitelisting or credential-based authentication is properly set up(1)
  3. Origination (for inbound calls): Set Retell AI’s SIP server address as sip:sip.retellai.com(1)

Common Outbound Issues

If your outbound call isn’t connecting:(1)

  • Check your termination setting in your SIP trunking provider(1)
  • Make sure you provide the right termination URL to Retell(1)
  • Check the logs in your telephony provider(1)
  • Check your Termination SIP URI for any spaces and remove them(1)
  • Use a localized termination URI near your region(1)
  • Verify your username and credentials are correct (the username is different from the friendly name)(1)

Retell Configuration

Even with Twilio numbers, you still need to configure allowed outbound countries in Retell. Use the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code “FR” for France when configuring outbound_allowed_countries.(2)

Next Steps

Since calls worked yesterday and suddenly stopped:

  1. Check if Twilio made any changes to your account’s geographic permissions
  2. Verify your Twilio SIP trunk configuration hasn’t changed
  3. Review Twilio’s call logs for specific error codes
  4. Check if there are any service disruptions on Twilio’s status page

The issue is likely on the Twilio side rather than Retell, since the configuration worked previously. I recommend checking your Twilio Voice Geographic Permissions first, as this is the most common cause for international calling restrictions.

7

Can you share the call id for the call that worked yesterday?