This phase is in effect only if the VRU returns information to the switch.

Once the VRU script is complete and vector processing is reactivated, the returned digits are collected and processed by vector commands. Since the digits must be collected by a collect digits command, data can be returned and processed only if you enable Call Prompting.

The data returned can consist of multiple parts. For example, the VRU can return a stream of seven digits in which a single digit success or fail code is followed by a six-digit account code. For this scenario, the converse-on step is followed by a sequence of vector steps including two collect digits steps. The first collect digits step can collect one digit and then check the result code. The second collect digits step can collect the six-digit account code.

Any touch-tone digits dialed by the calling party during the data collection phase are discarded, do not cause data corruption, and are not collected as dial-ahead digits by the switch.

If VRU data is returned, the calling party is able to touch-tone a response to a switch prompt only after the data collection phase is completed and another collect digits step is executed. This is true because each executed collect digits step does not allocate a TTR when dial-ahead digits are present. Since VRU-returned digits are treated as dial-ahead digits, a TTR is attached to the call only after all returned digits are collected and another collect digits step is encountered. Only at this point can the caller hear an announcement for the collect digits command and successfully enter digits.