Hi,

Is it possible to mask DTMF tone in VP environment?

Bhaskar HR.

You can take a look at the DTMFToneMask sample application provided with DD. The sample app plays a randomly generated set of DTMF tones while listening for a 4 digit PIN number as a means to "mask" or obfuscate the PIN number.

Hi,

I could't find this sample application (I tried https://devconnect.avaya.com/public/dyn/d_dyn.jsp?fn=506)

Where it can be downloaded ?


thanks
MichalP

It is on the Dialog Designer 5.0 CD ROM image which you can download from Devconnect and/or support.avaya.com.
It is an R&D-developed application, not one developed by Avaya DevConnect.

Is that logic support in 4.1.9?

Yes. The concepts behind it will work with any DD version.
DD 5.0 introduced "DTMF Tones" as a phrase variable type which makes it a bit easier, but the concept is just to play a bunch of DTMF tones (audio files) and listen for input -- it's just a prompt & collect.

Here is the info from the sample application documentation. Please read the note 2 to understand limitations on "tone masking":
DTMFToneMask
This application demonstrates how to use "hotword" barge-in to play prompts while collecting caller input. Hotword barge-in means that the platform will not interrupt the prompt until there is a complete recognition of an active grammar. This example plays a randomly generated set of DTMF tones while listening for a 4 digit PIN number as a means to "mask" or obfuscate the PIN number.

NOTE: The DTMF simulator does not support barge-in, so this application is best run on a VXML platform.

NOTE 2: Tone masking does not provide fool proof security for collecting sensitive data - it really only prevents somebody from listening/recording DTMF tones and then trying to translate the tones into their respective digits. The audible DTMF tones that you hear on the phone are usually generated by the phone. These tones are typically separated into a data channel on the network (highly dependant on carrier networks) and the tones are then recognized by the far end DTMF receiver. Emitting DTMF tones in-band from the IVR may actually result in DTMF recognizer problems if the IVR-generated tones are picked up by the recognizer, which will result in false matches or false recognitions. Lastly, if an interloper on the line is listening with a DTMF recognizer, the data signal can be intercepted regardless if the DTMF tone is echoed in the telephone or not. If an interloper is prevented from receiving the DTMF tones, the IVR will also be prevented from receiving the tones. Avaya is providing this application to demonstrate how "tone masking" can be implemented in a VoiceXML application, with the disclaimer that "tone masking" is not a true security solution.

In the earlier Avaya IR servers, the support for tone masking would behave in a different way than the current AVP/AEP environments. In case of AIR, if the caller simply enters the first digits, the masking tones will be playing only for three seconds and stop till the caller starts the enter the next set of digits or the inter digit timeout is triggered by the platform. In case of the AVP/AEP platforms, as I see in this example code as well, the masking tone plays irrespective of the caller entering any digits and continues playing. Is it possible to over come this behavior using VXML tags or any logic around generating the random tones? We have a customer requirement where the caller should start hearing the masking tones, only after he starts entering the digits and should stop after 3 or 4 seconds if he doesnt enter the inter digits.

Thanks
B.Sriram

It only works the way the sample application works.