Can I forward a call from a Twilio number _without_ being charged per minute on the outbound call?

Question

ETA: I fully understand that it is Twilio's choice to charge however they want - my main intent behind asking was to avoid unnecessary charges on my end is there was any alternative. If not then that's totally fine too!

I have a system set up where if a caller dials my Twilio number, then I immediately forward it to another (standard) number using the <Dial> verb.

It is important to note that immediately after forwarding the call I do not care about handling the call any further on the Twilio side . In other words, I do not have an action attribute set on the <Dial> , nor any other instructions for Twilio on the forwarded call.

My question is then, why am I still charged per minute on the forwarded call? AFAIK Twilio has finished all of its work the moment the call is forwarded, and so I do not understand what it could possibly be charging per minute for. In my mind I should only be charged $0.0085 USD for the incoming call and nothing else.

Is there some other attribute I can add to the <Dial> verb which tells Twilio to end its work as soon as the call is forwarded and stop charging? Or is there a different verb altogether that I should be using?

Answer 1

You're looking for what is called "take back and transfer". Pretty much a star code (*44) that tells the telco that called you to take the call back and transfer it somewhere. So, first of all I don't know of any residential service that provides this service, this is generally enterprise telco service. Second of all, that's how Twilio makes its money so you're stuck paying for the inbound leg and outbound leg. I don't know anyone who does it differently.