# Outbound messaging
<a name="nx-voice-send-outbound"></a>

You place a voice call with the `SendVoiceMessage` operation. Use the AWS CLI to call from your application. The service converts a text script to speech with Amazon Polly. Provide the script as plain text, or use speech synthesis markup language (SSML) to control pronunciation, pauses, and emphasis. The example uses a phone pool as the origination identity, which is the recommended approach; you can also specify a single phone number instead.

**Note**  
While your account is in the sandbox, you can only place calls to verified destination phone numbers. Production accounts can call any valid number.

**To place a text-to-speech call**
+ Use the [send-voice-message](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/pinpoint-sms-voice-v2/send-voice-message.html) command. Provide the spoken text in `--message-body`.

  ```
  aws pinpoint-sms-voice-v2 send-voice-message \\
      --destination-phone-number {{+12065550150}} \\
      --origination-identity {{pool-a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i}} \\
      --message-body {{"Hello. Your appointment is confirmed for tomorrow at 2 PM."}} \\
      --message-body-text-type {{TEXT}} \\
      --voice-id {{MATTHEW}} \\
      --configuration-set-name {{MyConfigurationSet}}
  ```

  In the preceding command, make the following changes:
  + Replace {{\+12065550150}} with the destination phone number, in E.164 format.
  + Replace {{pool-a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i}} with your origination identity. Using a phone pool is recommended; to call from a specific resource instead, provide a single phone number.
  + Replace the value of `--message-body` with the text to read out. For `TEXT`, the maximum length is 3,000 characters.
  + Set `--message-body-text-type` to `TEXT` for plain text, or `SSML` if the body contains speech synthesis markup language. The default is `TEXT`.
  + Set `--voice-id` to the Amazon Polly voice that reads the message. The default is `MATTHEW`. For supported values, see [SendVoiceMessage](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/pinpoint/latest/apireference_smsvoicev2/API_SendVoiceMessage.html#API_SendVoiceMessage_RequestSyntax) in the *AWS End User Messaging SMS and Voice V2 API Reference*.
  + Replace {{MyConfigurationSet}} with the name or ARN of the configuration set that captures events for this call.

If AWS End User Messaging accepts the request, it returns a `MessageId`. This means only that the request was accepted, not that the call has been answered.

To control how Amazon Polly reads the message, set `--message-body-text-type` to `SSML` and format the message body with speech synthesis markup language. SSML lets you adjust pronunciation, add pauses, change speaking rate and emphasis, and spell out acronyms. For the SSML tags that Amazon Polly supports, see [Supported SSML tags](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/polly/latest/dg/supportedtags.html) in the *Amazon Polly Developer Guide*. An unsupported tag causes the request to fail.