When it comes to outbound calling, one persistent challenge remains- interacting with legacy phone systems that require key presses.
Until today, the existing DTMF tool in Vapi wasn't working for all IVRs.
Therefore, we redesigned the tool to integrate with telephony providers and send the tones natively.
What's New
Vapi now fully supports native DTMF (Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency) integration, enabling voice agents to:
- Generate DTMF tones programmatically during a call
- Interpret DTMF responses and branch logic accordingly
That means your agents can now handle calls that require keypad input, just as effectively as a human operator, but with perfect consistency and at scale.
Why It Matters
Legacy IVRs used to break your workflow. Native DTMF closes that gap, so the agent stays in control from dial to hang-up. This means
- Your agent now runs end-to-end on its own, navigation through the IVR trees and menu options.
- Your average handle time drops, so you move more calls through the same lines and spend less doing it.
- Banks, insurers, and public agencies that still use IVR trees are suddenly more accessible by code.
How To Get Started
To begin using DTMF support in your Vapi voice agents:
- Log in to your Vapi Dashboard and create or edit your assistant.
- Enable DTMF under the Tools section.
- Test your integration with our simulator before deploying to production
- Review our Docs for detailed implementation guidelines and best practices
What's Next
We're continuing to enhance our DTMF capabilities with upcoming features:
- Pre-built templates for common service providers
- Automated testing tools for DTMF workflows
- Updated docs with tips for navigating complex IVR systems
Stay curious, keep iterating, and let's build something real together.
This feature was shipped by Steven Diaz from the Vapi team.
