How many DIDs should I purchase? (practical sizing guide)

Applies to: Admins/Owners planning inbound numbers and outbound caller IDs.
Goal: Pick a DID count that balances redundancy, regional presence, and tracking/segmentation—without overbuying.
Time to decide: 5–10 minutes.

Key ideas (before you size)

• DID (Direct Inward Dialing) number: A business phone number customers dial (inbound) and/or that appears as caller ID (outbound).
• Channels vs. DIDs: Call capacity is determined by channels/concurrency. DIDs give you entry points (branding, regional presence, tracking, failover).
• Diversity matters: Buying from different regions and operator groups improves resilience (one network issue shouldn’t take you fully offline)

Step-by-step: decide and implement

1. Choose your grouping: Are numbers primarily regional (local trust) or departmental (Sales/Support)?
2. Count simultaneous campaigns needing distinct caller IDs (to protect brand reputation and analytics).
3. Add resilience:
• At least one extra DID from a different operator group/region.
• Add one test/failover DID mapped to a minimal IVR to validate routing.
4. Purchase & map:
• Map each DID to the right IVR/queue and business hours.
• For outbound, set caller ID policy (which DID each team/campaign uses).
5. Verify:
• Place test calls from two carriers to every DID.
• Trigger one outbound test per caller ID; confirm Logs show the expected DID and routing.

Copy-paste nav (typical):

• Numbers → Buy/Assign
• IVR/Call Flow → Map DID → Entry menu/Queue
• Calls → Outgoing → Caller ID policy
• Calls → Logs → Verify DID usage

Best practices & edge cases

• Operator/region diversity: Spread DIDs across at least two operator groups and two metros when possible.
• Campaign hygiene: Rotate caller IDs across campaigns; don’t reuse “service” CLIs for cold or promotional runs.
• Brand consistency: Keep Support lines stable; rotate Sales/Marketing numbers as needed.
• WhatsApp/registrations: Reserve one DID for business-platform verifications (not finance/UPI) so your public support number isn’t locked to third-party OTPs.
• Porting/Number change: Keep a spare DID to phase migrations without service disruption.
• Analytics: Different DIDs per channel (Paid Ads, Website, Partner) improves attribution.

Troubleshooting (signals you need more DIDs)

• Customers complain about busy/no route even when channel capacity is fine → add DID diversity/failover.
• Your caller ID gets flagged/spammy → introduce a distinct campaign DID and improve pacing/consent.
• Tracking gaps in attribution by channel/region → assign dedicated DIDs per source.

Escalation template (fast help)

Subject: DID sizing/assignment review
Body (copy-paste):

• Business regions: [e.g., BLR, MUM, NCR]
• Public departments: [Sales, Support]
• Simultaneous campaigns: [# and purpose]
• Current DIDs (with operator/region): [list]
• Pain points: [e.g., spam flag, attribution gap, failover]
• Ask: [quantity recommendation + mapping review]

Send to support@myoperator.co or your Account Manager.

FAQ (quick answers)

Is buying more DIDs the same as increasing capacity?
No. Channels control simultaneous calls. DIDs give entry points/IDs for branding, routing, tracking, and redundancy.

Should every campaign get its own DID?
Give concurrent campaigns distinct DIDs to protect brand reputation and isolate analytics. Reuse after warm-down if needed.

What’s the absolute minimum?
3 DIDs for production: Primary, Redundant (different operator/region), and Test/Failover.