How to mute DTMF on inbound group recordings too

DTMF muting pauses or silences a Call recording for a set number of seconds after the system detects a DTMF tone. This protects credit card numbers and PINs from appearing in the audio file. The catch: even if you turn it on at the campaign level, that setting does not automatically flow through to inbound group calls. Each Ingroup needs its own muting setting.

Two things must both be enabled

1. System setting: "Allow Recording DTMF Detection" must be ON at the server level. This is a global switch. Without it, no DTMF detection happens anywhere.
2. Per-ingroup setting: "Recording DTMF Muting" on each in-group must be set to the number of seconds to mute after a tone is detected. The default is 0 (disabled).

If the system setting is OFF, the per-ingroup value is irrelevant. If the system setting is ON but the ingroup value is 0, muting still does not happen for that group.

How it interacts with the Mute Recording Button

**Gotcha:** When "Recording DTMF Muting" is enabled on a campaign, the Mute Recording Button on the agent screen is automatically disabled. The same logic applies for inbound groups. If you rely on agents manually muting the recording for PCI pause compliance, switching to DTMF muting replaces that manual step — which is generally better, but agents should know the button will disappear.

Why campaign DTMF muting does not cover inbound calls

Inbound group calls can land in multiple campaigns depending on routing. VICIdial treats inbound group recording settings as a separate layer so each group can have its own muting duration. A support group taking payment calls might mute for 30 seconds, while a booking group that never takes card numbers can leave muting at 0.

DTMF muting sequence for an inbound call

sequenceDiagram
    participant C as Customer
    participant V as VICIdial
    participant A as Agent
    C->>V: Enters inbound group queue
    V->>A: Call connected - recording starts
    C->>V: Presses digit on keypad
    V->>V: DTMF tone detected
    V->>V: Mute recording for N seconds
    V->>A: Recording muted - agent hears tone
    V->>V: N seconds elapse
    V->>V: Recording resumes
    A->>C: Confirms payment received

Steps to configure

1. Confirm Admin > System Settings > Allow Recording DTMF Detection is set to 1
2. Go to Admin > In-Groups and edit each group that handles sensitive DTMF input
3. Set Recording DTMF Muting to the number of seconds to mute (15-30 seconds is typical for card numbers)
4. Save and test with a live call to confirm the muting triggers correctly

The full recording overview is at VICIdial call recording explained. For the campaign-side DTMF muting setting, see VICIdial recording DTMF muting for PCI compliance.

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