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On a voice call, callers can answer with their keypad as well as their voice. The agent recognizes the touch-tones (DTMF) a caller presses and treats those digits as input — the same way it treats spoken words. This is the right tool when a value is awkward to say out loud or must be exact: an account or order number, a numeric menu choice, a PIN, or a yes/no confirmation (“press 1 to confirm”).

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When to reach for the keypad

  • Exact numbers — account, order, member, or case IDs where a misheard digit is costly.
  • Quick choices — “press 1 for billing, 2 for support” style menus.
  • Confirmations — “press 1 to confirm, 2 to start over.”
  • Sensitive entry — values a caller would rather key in than speak aloud.

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How it works

Keypad input is a property of the voice channel — there is no separate setup to turn it on. During a call the agent listens for both speech and digits, so a caller can press a number when the agent asks for one. Those digits flow into the conversation just like spoken answers: when a skill needs a value (for example, an order number for a lookup, or a destination choice for a transfer), the caller can speak it or key it in, and the agent uses whichever it receives. Because digits become ordinary collected values, you don’t build a rigid phone-tree. You describe what the agent should collect — in the agent’s prompt and in each skill’s parameters — and the agent decides when keypad entry makes sense.
Phrase your prompts to invite it explicitly when precision matters: “Read me your order number, or type it on your keypad.” Callers default to the keypad for long digit strings, which improves accuracy.
Keypad entry is only available on the Voice (PSTN) channel — text Chat has no tones to press. Build the same data-collection step into your skill parameters and it works across both: spoken in chat, spoken-or-keyed on a call.