Text Inputs

A text input is a single-line entry field created by using the INPUT TYPE=text element. In a Web telephony application, a text input can accept DTMF digits or spoken input from the caller. Applications use text inputs to gather such items as the caller's name, credit card number, phone number, and so on.

You can set the maximum length of the text input and, when the caller has entered that many characters, the text input uses those characters as the caller's finished input. You can also set a termination character such as the pound sign (#). The text input accepts no more characters after the caller enters the termination character. The announcement you create for a text input might say "enter your ID, then press pound."

You can gather information in a text input using SR, but because the SR's choices are not limited as they are in a menu, the accuracy for a variety of speakers is very low. SR engines are much more accurate when choosing one of a few possible responses to items on a menu, rather than interpreting any words the caller might choose to speak. If you need free-form text input, you can record the caller's spoken input as a wave file. For more information, see Recording a Spoken Message.

For more information about using text inputs, see Getting Input from the Caller and Getting Spoken Input from the Caller.