What is DTMF?
Dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signaling is used for telephone signaling over the line in the voice-frequency band to the call switching center. The version of DTMF used for telephone tone dialing is known by the trademarked term Touch-Tone (canceled March 13, 1984), and is standardized by ITU-T Recommendation Q.23. Other multi-frequency systems are used for signaling internal to the telephone network. As a method of in-band signaling, DTMF tones were also used by cable television broadcasters to indicate the start and stop times of local commercial insertion points during station breaks for the benefit of cable companies. Until better out-of-band signaling equipment was developed in the 1990s, fast, unacknowledged, and loud DTMF tone sequences could be heard during the commercial breaks of cable channels in the United States and elsewhere.
Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency or DTMF is a signaling system used for dialing telephone numbers using a numeric keypad, instead of using the spinning dial on old pulse-dialing telephones. DTMF was popularized under the trademark name Touch-Tone and is almost universally used in telephone instruments worldwide.
Dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signaling is used for telephone signaling over the line in the voice-frequency band to the call switching center. The version of DTMF used for telephone tone dialing is known by the trademarked term Touch-Tone, and is standardised by ITU-T Recommendation Q.23. Other multi-frequency systems are used for signaling internal to the telephone network. Contact DSC to learn more about our CTI software employing DTMF phone keypad signaling features. To view other call processing features, please visit our phone system features web page.
