A-Z VoIP termination means one carrier gives you a route to every destination in the world, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, under one contract and one rate deck. It is the simplest way to cover all your traffic, but an A-Z deck is rarely the best price or quality on every destination, so most buyers combine it with specific routes for their main countries.
What an A-Z deal includes
- A full rate deck with every country and breakout, often tens of thousands of prefixes.
- One SIP interconnect, one billing account, one set of terms.
- Regular deck updates, sometimes weekly, with rate changes on many codes at once.
The carrier selling A-Z rarely has direct connections everywhere. It builds the deck from its own direct routes plus routes bought from other carriers, and takes a margin on each.
A-Z compared with specific routes
| Aspect | A-Z route | Specific (destination) route |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Every country | One country or breakout |
| Setup effort | One interconnect for everything | One interconnect per supplier |
| Price on main destinations | Average, includes the seller's margin | Often lower, especially from carriers with direct routes |
| Quality | Mixed: strong on some codes, weak on others | Chosen for that destination |
| Best for | Long tail traffic, backup, small volumes | High volume destinations |
How buyers use A-Z in practice
A common setup has three layers in the least cost routing table:
- Specific routes for the 5 to 20 destinations that carry most of your minutes, bought from carriers strong in those countries.
- One or two A-Z carriers for everything else, the long tail of countries with a few calls each.
- A-Z as failover on your main destinations, so calls still connect if a specific route fails.
This gives you good prices where the volume is and full coverage without dozens of contracts.
What to check in an A-Z offer
- Traffic types accepted: many A-Z decks are priced for conversational traffic only. See VoIP traffic types.
- CLI by destination: the deck may mix CLI and non-CLI routes without saying so. Ask, then test CLI delivery on your main codes.
- Billing increments: some destinations, often in certain regions, are billed 60/60 even when the deck default is 1/1.
- High risk codes: satellite, premium rate and some small island codes are expensive and a common target of fraud. Block what you do not need. See international revenue share fraud.
- Notice periods: how many days before rate increases apply.
Keeping an A-Z deck under control
Large decks change often and the changes are easy to miss. Load every update before its effective date, compare each new deck with the previous one, and alert on increases above a set percentage on codes you actually use. Rate your last month of CDRs against the new deck to see the impact in money, not just in rows.
Request A-Z or specific routes
Tell us whether you need full A-Z coverage or the destinations that matter most. VoIPMatcher sources VoIP termination from its carriers and manages it. You can also browse destinations. Request a voice route.
Frequently asked questions
What does AZ mean in VoIP?
AZ, A-Z or A to Z means a route or rate deck that covers every country, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. An AZ wholesale VoIP termination deal gives you one interconnect, one account and one price list for all destinations, usually built by the seller from its own direct routes plus routes bought from other carriers.
Is A-Z termination cheaper than buying routes per destination?
Usually not on your main destinations. The A-Z seller adds a margin on the routes it buys from others, so carriers with direct routes often price lower and give better quality on high volume countries. A-Z wins on convenience: one contract for the long tail of countries where you send only a few calls.
What is AZ wholesale voice termination used for?
Carriers, VoIP providers and call centers use AZ wholesale voice termination to reach destinations where their volume is too small for a dedicated supplier, as a backup when a specific route fails, and to launch quickly in new markets before the traffic justifies a separate route for each country.
How often do A-Z rate decks change?
Often. Many A-Z sellers send updates weekly, with rate changes on many codes at once. Rate increases normally apply after the notice period in your contract, while decreases can apply immediately. Load each deck before its effective date and compare it with the previous one so increases on codes you use are not missed.
Do A-Z routes accept call center or dialer traffic?
Often they do not. Many A-Z decks are priced for conversational traffic only, and call center or dialer traffic can be refused or cut once it is detected. If you send that kind of traffic, declare it before you start and ask which destinations in the deck accept it, or buy routes built for it.
Need a route?
Send the destination, route type and target rate. We reply with what we can deliver.