Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the questions we hear most, about Amazon Connect, AI, cloud engineering, pricing, and working with DrVoIP. Search for a term, or browse by topic. Every answer links to the page with the full detail.
44 questions across 8 topics
44 questions, 8 topics
Try a different term, or just ask Peter directly, he'll point you to the right answer.
Getting Started
What does DrVoIP actually do?
Three things, under one roof: Amazon Connect contact center deployments, applied AI built on top of them, and the cloud and network engineering underneath. We've worked in telecom since 2008 and moved the practice onto AWS and Amazon Connect in 2017.
Who am I actually working with?
Peter S. Buswell and his engineering team, directly, not an account manager who hands you off to someone else. Peter's telecom career goes back to 1969; he founded DrVoIP in 2008 and built and sold Dextr, an Amazon Connect dashboard company later acquired by CloudHesive and rebranded ConnectPath, before focusing the practice on applied AI.
How do I get started if I'm not sure what I need?
Book a strategy call. It's a no-cost conversation about what you're running today, and we'll tell you honestly whether that's a new deployment, a migration, an AI add-on, or infrastructure work, before any quote is on the table.
Can we try something before committing to a project?
Yes. We offer a no-cost Amazon Connect proof of concept, a working instance your agents can log into and take real calls on, usually set up within a few hours, and a free AI Fit Check before any AI work is scoped.
Is DrVoIP only for large enterprises?
No. Our AI Modernization Sprint, for example, is built for growing teams from about 10 to 250 agents. Smaller teams are a common starting point across most of what we build, not an exception we make room for.
What makes DrVoIP different from a large systems integrator?
One team, start to finish. The same engineers who scope a contact center deployment also harden the network, run the migration, and build the custom software underneath it, and every engagement is quoted as a fixed fee before work starts, not open-ended hourly billing.
Amazon Connect
Why move off our current phone system to Amazon Connect?
Usage-based pricing instead of a hardware or seat-license model, no forklift upgrade every few years, and native AI, transcription, and reporting built in rather than bolted on. It's the case for cloud over legacy, made with real numbers, not a sales pitch.
How long does a deployment actually take?
Five business days for a fixed-fee Quickstart deployment, once scope is approved and we have your number preference, business hours, queue design, and agent list. Larger builds with CRM integrations or custom applications are scoped separately.
What happens to our current phone system during a migration?
We use a warm port method: your new environment goes live on temporary numbers while your legacy system keeps running untouched. Only once it's tested and proven do your real numbers forward over, so nothing switches before it's ready.
Can we connect our CRM to Amazon Connect?
Almost always, if it has an API. We've built screen-pop and record-sync integrations for Salesforce, Zendesk, ServiceNow, and other platforms, either through Amazon Connect's native Customer Profiles or a custom Contact Control Panel.
What if we'd rather build our own contact center?
The DIY Call Center Kit gives you pre-built contact flows, routing logic, and video walkthroughs to assemble it yourself, starting at $195, with an hour of DrVoIP support included if you get stuck.
Do you offer ongoing support once we're live?
Yes, either hourly on-demand at $225 an hour for teams who run their own environment day to day, or as a fully managed service where DrVoIP configures, monitors, and supports the whole platform.
AI Solutions
Is DrVoIP an AI company, or a contact center company that added AI?
The second. Every AI feature we deploy runs natively inside the AWS stack your contact center already uses, Bedrock, Lex, Polly, and Contact Lens, rather than a third-party AI platform bolted on top.
What's the difference between Smart Answer and Smart Action?
Smart Answer improves how people get information, self-service, agent assist, a chatbot. Smart Action goes further and completes a task inside your systems, like scheduling a callback or updating a record. Most teams start with Smart Answer and add Smart Action once it proves out.
Do we need Amazon Connect already running to add AI?
For most of it, yes, Knowledge AI, AI-Assisted Agents, and Agentic Automation all build on an Amazon Connect contact center. If you're not on Amazon Connect yet, that's the starting point first.
Will AI replace our agents?
No. We deliberately keep escalations, billing disputes, and high-emotion calls in human hands. AI in our builds answers routine questions or completes a well-defined task, then hands off to a person the moment judgment is needed.
How much does adding AI actually cost?
It depends on the feature. As a reference point, call transcription and sentiment analysis through Contact Lens runs about $1 a day per eight-hour agent shift; larger builds like a chatbot or agentic workflow are scoped and quoted as their own fixed fee.
How do we know if we're actually ready for AI?
Take the free, five-minute AI Readiness Checklist, or book a 15-minute AI Fit Check. We'd rather tell you honestly that your knowledge base or flows need work first than sell you AI that just amplifies existing problems.
Cloud Services
What counts as "Cloud Services" at DrVoIP?
The network engineering, security hardening, infrastructure migration, and custom software that sits underneath every contact center we build, by the same team, not a subcontracted infrastructure vendor.
Do you handle network security, not just phone systems?
Yes, and it's usually the first thing we check. A security assessment covers network topology, firewall rules, VPN architecture, and identity and access, starting with one question: where's your Acceptable Use Policy?
Should we move to AWS, or stay on VMware or Hyper-V?
It depends what you're optimizing for. AWS fits if you want to stop managing physical hardware; staying on-prem fits for compliance, latency, or existing investment reasons. Most clients land on a hybrid of both, which is the conversation we have first.
We're not on Amazon Connect and have no plans to migrate. Can you still help?
Yes. Platform support for ShoreTel and Cisco, SIP trunk configuration, and hardware replacement have nothing to do with whether or when you move to the cloud.
Can you build features Amazon Connect doesn't offer natively?
Yes, and we have, supervisor whisper-coaching, live queue views, agent-to-agent calling, and broadcast tools among them, typically built on Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB.
Do you support chat, SMS, and video, not just voice?
Yes. Browser-based video needs nothing more than Chrome or Firefox and a webcam, no app download, and a conversation that moves between channels keeps its full history as it goes.
Pricing & Support
How does DrVoIP actually price its work?
A fixed-fee foundation for the initial deployment, with every add-on, CRM integration, AI feature, custom software, scoped and quoted separately as its own fixed fee before work starts. Ongoing support is hourly or a fully managed service, never open-ended billing.
What's the difference between on-demand support and managed service?
On-demand is hourly help for a team running its own environment day to day, $225 an hour. Managed service is DrVoIP configuring, monitoring, and supporting the whole platform on an ongoing basis, billed at AWS's own usage rate plus a flat management fee.
Is Amazon Connect itself expensive to run?
It's usage-based, not a seat license, so smaller teams pay proportionally less. A real 70-agent center handling close to 5,000 calls a day runs roughly $624 a day in AWS usage charges, billed directly by Amazon.
What if we only need a couple hours of help, not a full project?
On-demand support is $225 an hour, billed per request, no contract required. A discounted 10-hour block brings the effective rate down to $150 an hour.
Can we add things later instead of deciding everything up front?
Yes, that's the intended path. Most teams launch the voice foundation first, then use real call data to decide which modules, CRM, AI, digital channels, are actually worth adding.
Guides & Resources
Where can I find your planning guides and checklists?
The Resources hub collects our planning guides, discovery questionnaires, and readiness checklists in one place, organized by topic instead of scattered across the blog.
Do you have a blog?
Yes, eighteen years of field notes on Amazon Connect, AI, and cloud engineering. It's linked from the homepage and referenced throughout the Resources hub.
Is the DIY Call Center Kit a real alternative to hiring DrVoIP?
For a hands-on, technical team, yes, it's a genuine self-serve path with real contact flows and video walkthroughs. Plenty of teams start there to learn the platform, then bring us in later for a full build.
Are your guides free, or do you sell them?
Both exist. Planning guides and discovery questionnaires are available free on request through the Resources hub. Hands-on kits, like the DIY Call Center Kit, are one-time purchases.
Do you have real case studies, not just marketing claims?
Yes, two full, named accounts, FMG Suites and ASMR, with real people who signed off on the quotes attributed to them, not composites or anonymized "leading companies."
Working With DrVoIP
How long has DrVoIP been in business?
Since 2008, in telecom infrastructure. The practice moved exclusively onto AWS and Amazon Connect in 2017, and applied AI followed as that became part of the AWS stack.
What certifications does Peter hold?
Over 40 across AWS and Cisco, including AWS Certified: Generative AI Developer Professional, listed and linked to Credly on his About page rather than just claimed.
Do you only work with new deployments, or also support what we already have?
Both. New deployments, migrations off legacy platforms, and ongoing support or hardening for systems that are already live, on Amazon Connect or off it, are all active parts of the practice.
Can we talk to a past client before deciding?
That's exactly what the case studies are for, real, named contacts at FMG Suites and ASMR who have already been through a deployment with us.
How do I contact DrVoIP directly?
Call, email, or book a strategy call, all answered by the team directly, not routed through a call queue.
Privacy & Legal
What information does DrVoIP collect, and why?
Information you give us directly, like your name and project details, and information collected automatically through analytics and advertising tools, used to respond to inquiries, deliver what you've purchased, and market our services to you.
Does DrVoIP sell my information to third parties?
No. We do not sell, rent, or lease your personal information to anyone, a commitment that's been in place since our earliest privacy documentation.
What cookies and tracking does the site use?
Google Analytics and Google Search Console for site performance, plus Google Ads and Meta (Facebook) pixels for advertising. Every one of them is listed individually, with how to opt out of each.
What are DrVoIP's Terms of Use?
The standard terms covering acceptable use of the Site, how our guides and digital products are licensed, and the usual disclaimers and liability terms for a professional services website.
What is "Know Your Customer" (KYC) information, and why do you ask for it?
Before a paid engagement starts, we may ask for business verification details, your company name, address, and billing contact, to properly invoice and contract the work and confirm who we're working with. It's not shared beyond what's needed to deliver and bill the engagement.
Still have a question?
Eighteen years of this is a lot to search through. Ask Peter directly, and he'll point you to the right answer, or just answer it himself.
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