Configure telephony providers through the Admin Console

Early Access release. See Enable self-service features.

Send a one-time passcode (OTP) to your users by connecting an external telephony provider in the Admin Console. This topic explains how to add and manage telephony service providers through the Admin Console.

How it works

You can configure one of or both Twilio or Telesign as telephony service providers. When they're configured through the Admin Console, Okta handles the communication between your org and your telephony provider. To customize your telephony providers, go to your telephony service provider and adjust different settings there.

If you have other methods of telephony that are active, such as using the telephony inline hook, you must deactivate those other methods before you can activate an external telephony provider.

Before you begin

Choose Twilio or Telesign as your telephony service provider. Then, create an account with them, and configure your telephony settings.

Gather the following details from your provider:

Account string identifier (SID)
- For Telesign, the SID is your Customer ID.
Authentication token
A phone number that you own. Use the phone number to send SMS messages and for voice calls.

Add a telephony provider

There are different ways to set up telephony with your telephony providers. Refer to your provider's documentation when selecting the different SMS and Voice options.

In the Admin Console, go to Customizations > Telephony Providers.
Select the telephony provider that you want to add. Click Add.
Configure the following options, then click Save.

Field	Description
Account SID	Enter the unique identifier for your telephony provider account.
Auth token	Enter the authentication token that's used to authenticate requests to the telephony provider. The auth token may also be referred to as an API key in Telesign.
SMS	Depending on which telephony provider you're configuring, you can choose among two or three different options for how you want to send SMS messages to your users. For Twilio, you have three options. Twilio Verify SID: Uses Twilio's Verify API. Twilio Phone Number: Uses Twilio's Programmable Messaging API. Twilio Message SID: Uses Twilio's Programmable Messaging API For Telesign, you have two options: Telesign Verify Service: Uses Telesign's Verify APIs. Telesign Messaging Service: Uses Telesign's SMS and Messaging APIs. You must configure your telephony provider's settings and then select the SMS option that corresponds to them. Refer to your telephony provider's documentation.
Phone Number or SID	Enter a phone number that you own to send SMS messages. You can buy phone numbers from your telephony provider to use for sending SMS messages.
Voice	Depending on which telephony provider you're configuring, you can choose among two or three different options for how you want to send voice calls to your users. For Twilio, you have three options. Twilio Verify SID: Uses Twilio's Verify API. Twilio Phone Number: Uses Twilio's Programmable Voice API. Twilio Caller ID: Uses Twilio's Programmable Voice API. For Telesign, you have two options: Telesign Verify Service: Uses Telesign's Verify APIs. Telesign Voice Service: Uses Telesign's Voice API. You must configure your telephony provider's settings and then select the Voice option that corresponds to them. Refer to your telephony provider's documentation.
Phone Number, SID, or Caller ID	Enter a phone number that you own to use for voice calls. You can buy phone numbers from your telephony provider to use for voice calls.

Send a test message or call

There are different ways to set up telephony with your telephony providers. Refer to your provider's documentation when selecting the different SMS and Voice options.

In the Admin Console, go to Customizations > Telephony Providers.
Select the telephony provider you want to test, and then click Send test.
Under Test using, select the telephony method you want to test.
Under Country, select the country code for the phone number that you're using for the test.
Under Telephone number, enter the phone number that you want to use for the test. If you're sending a voice test, you can enter the extension of the phone number that you're using, if applicable.
For SMS tests, click Send test via SMS. For Voice call tests, click Send test via voice call.

Activate a telephony provider

After you've configured your telephony provider, activate it to use it for telephony.

In the Admin Console, go to Customizations > Telephony Providers.
Select the telephony provider that you want to activate, and then click Actions > Activate.

There are different ways to set up telephony with your telephony providers. Refer to your provider's documentation when selecting the different SMS and Voice options.

Deactivate a telephony provider

In the Admin Console, go to Customizations > Telephony Providers.
Select the telephony provider that you want to deactivate, and then click Actions > Deactivate.

If you have two telephony providers configured, and both are active, you can only deactivate the secondary provider. The second provider is the one that isn't set as the Primary provider.

Set the primary telephony provider

In the Admin Console, go to Customizations > Telephony Providers.
Select the telephony provider that you want set as the primary provider, and then click Actions > Set as primary.

Remove a telephony provider

Before removing a telephony provider, ensure that you're prepared. Set up a new telephony provider, configure a new telephony method, or plan to not use the phone authenticator for authentication. See Set up an external telephony provider for the different ways to set up telephony in your org.

If you're removing telephony completely as an option for authentication or recovery, ensure that you update your app sign-in policies.

If the telephony provider that you want to delete is active, you must deactivate it before you can delete it.

In the Admin Console, go to Customizations > Telephony Providers.
Select the telephony provider that you want to delete, and then click Actions > Delete.
Review the checkbox warning and then check it.
Click Remove.

Edit a telephony provider

In the Admin Console, go to Customizations > Telephony Providers.
Select the telephony provider that you want to edit, and then click Actions > Edit.
Make the necessary changes to the telephony provider settings.
Click Save.