LiveKit docs › Prebuilt components › Prebuilt tools › send_dtmf_events

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# send_dtmf_events

> Send DTMF tones to telephony providers for IVR navigation and phone systems.

Available in (BETA):
- [ ] Node.js
- [x] Python

## Overview

Use `send_dtmf_events` to send DTMF (dual-tone multi-frequency) tones to telephony providers. This is essential for navigating phone systems, IVR menus, and automated phone services.

The `send_dtmf_events` tool:

- Sends DTMF events sequentially with a 0.3-second delay between each event (defined by `DEFAULT_DTMF_PUBLISH_DELAY`).
- Returns a success message listing all sent events if all events are sent successfully.
- Returns an error message if any event fails to send (stops sending remaining events on first failure).

- **[Handling DTMF](https://docs.livekit.io/telephony/features/dtmf.md)**: Sending and receiving DTMF in LiveKit telephony apps.

- **[GetDtmfTask](https://docs.livekit.io/agents/prebuilt/tasks/get-dtmf.md)**: Prebuilt task for collecting DTMF input from users.

- **[Bank IVR example](https://github.com/livekit/agents/tree/main/examples/telephony/bank-ivr)**: Full agent that navigates a bank IVR using `send_dtmf_events` (via `ivr_detection=True`).

### Usage

Add `send_dtmf_events` as a tool to your agent:

```python
from livekit.agents.beta.tools import send_dtmf_events
from livekit.agents import Agent, function_tool

class IVRAgent(Agent):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__(
            instructions="You are an IVR navigation assistant. Help users navigate phone systems.",
            tools=[send_dtmf_events],
        )

```

### Parameters

For a full list of parameters, see the [send_dtmf_events reference](https://docs.livekit.io/reference/python/livekit/agents/beta/tools/send_dtmf.html.md).

- **`events`** _(list[DtmfEvent])_: List of DTMF events to send to the telephony provider. Available events include digits, special characters, and letters.

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This document was rendered at 2026-06-07T11:36:32.304Z.
For the latest version of this document, see [https://docs.livekit.io/agents/prebuilt/tools/send-dtmf-events.md](https://docs.livekit.io/agents/prebuilt/tools/send-dtmf-events.md).

To explore all LiveKit documentation, see [llms.txt](https://docs.livekit.io/llms.txt).