***

id: ba057858-3371-47f5-adf4-d4b41b961305
title: detectAnsweringMachine
slug: /node/reference/voice/call/detect-answering-machine
description: detectAnsweringMachine method for the Call class.
max-toc-depth: 3
----------------

[calldetect-events]: /docs/server-sdk/v4/node/reference/voice/call-detect#events

[calldetect-onstarted]: /docs/server-sdk/v4/node/reference/voice/call-detect#onstarted

[calldetect]: /docs/server-sdk/v4/node/reference/voice/call-detect

### detectAnsweringMachine \[#voice\_call\_detect\_answering]

* **detectAnsweringMachine**(`params?`): `Promise`\<[`CallDetect`][calldetect]>

Detects the presence of an answering machine.

#### Parameters

<ParamField path="params" type="object">
  Object containing the parameters for answering machine detection.
</ParamField>

<Indent>
  <ParamField path="timeout" type="number" default="30.0">
    Number of seconds to run the detector for.
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="waitForBeep" type="boolean" default="false">
    Whether to wait until the device is ready for voicemail delivery.
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="initialTimeout" type="number" default="4.5">
    Number of seconds to wait for initial voice before giving up.
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="endSilenceTimeout" type="number" default="1.0">
    Number of seconds to wait for voice to finish.
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="machineReadyTimeout" type="number">
    Number of seconds to wait for voice to finish before firing the `READY` event. Default is the value of `endSilenceTimeout`.
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="machineVoiceThreshold" type="number" default="1.25">
    How many seconds of voice to decide it is a machine.
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="machineWordsThreshold" type="number" default="6">
    How many words to count to decide it is a machine.
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="detectInterruptions" type="boolean" default="false">
    If set to `true`, a `NOT_READY` event is fired if speech is detected after the `READY` event. This allows the application to restart message delivery to the answering machine.
  </ParamField>

  <ParamField path="listen" type="object">
    Callback to listen for events. List of detect events can be found [here][calldetect-events]. Example event: [`onStarted`][calldetect-onstarted].
  </ParamField>
</Indent>

#### Returns

`Promise`\<[`CallDetect`][calldetect]>

A promise that resolves to a [`CallDetect`][calldetect] object that you can use to
view the current state and results of the `detect` session.

#### Example

In this example, we dial a phone number and wait for the answering machine detection to finish.
Once the detection is finished, we log the result and then play a TTS message.
At the end of the TTS message, we hangup the call.

```js
import { SignalWire } from "@signalwire/realtime-api";

const client = await SignalWire({ project: "ProjectID Here", token: "Token Here" })

const voiceClient = client.voice;

try {
  // Outbound Dial
  const call = await voiceClient.dialPhone({
    from: "SignalWire From Number Here",
    to: "Destination Number Here",
    timeout: 30,
    listen: {
      onStateChanged: (call) => {
        console.log("Call state changed:", call.state);
      }
    }
  });

  // Answering machine detection
  await call.detectAnsweringMachine({
    waitForBeep: true,
    endSilenceTimeout: 4,
    listen: {
      onStarted: () => {
        console.log("Answering machine detection started");
      },
      onUpdated: (event) => {
        console.log("Answering machine detection updated:", event.result);
      },
      onEnded: async (event) => {
        console.log("Answering machine detection ended:", event.result);
        }
      }
    });
  // Plays a TTS message after the answering machine detection is finished.
  // Then the Call will hangup after the TTS message is finished.
  await call.playTTS({ text: "Hello, this is a test call from SignalWire!" });
  call.hangup();
} catch (e) {
  console.log("Call not answered.", e);
}
```