Writing a grammar in VoiceXML to match # terminated digits or *1 or *2

Question

I an writing a VoiceXML app and i am having a problem. The application listens for DTMF tones only.

The user enters a confirmation number followed by #. They can also enter *1 or *2 to speak to customer service, or resend the confirmation message.

I am having trouble creating a grammer that will work for this. I've been able to use the built-in type digits?minlength=1 and termchar=# just fine for the confirmation code. I've also been able to create a grammar that essentially duplicates the built digits functionality.

I can't get the *1, or *2 function to work! They are special as they have no termination char.

Does anyone have any clue how to approach this? Loosing hair here.... Thanks all.

Answer 1

Take a look at this example from the SRGS specification. The pin example accepts *9.

Note, while this is in the specification, I've found some IVR engines that don't fully implement the specification. In particular, watch out for built-in assumptions for both # and *. Termination reasons can also be a bit inconsistent.