***

title: start_input_timers
slug: /reference/python/relay/actions/collect-action/start-input-timers
description: Manually start the initial_timeout timer on an active collect.
max-toc-depth: 3
---------------------

For a complete index of all SignalWire documentation pages, fetch https://signalwire.com/docs/llms.txt

Manually start the `initial_timeout` timer on the active collect operation. Useful
when `start_input_timers` was set to `false` during the initial call.

## **Returns**

`dict` -- Server acknowledgment.

## **Example**

```python {22}
from signalwire.relay import RelayClient

client = RelayClient(
    project="your-project-id",
    token="your-api-token",
    host="your-space.signalwire.com",
    contexts=["default"],
)

@client.on_call
async def handle_call(call):
    await call.answer()
    action = await call.play_and_collect(
        media=[{"type": "tts", "text": "Press 1 for sales, 2 for support."}],
        collect={
            "digits": {"max": 1, "digit_timeout": 5.0},
            "start_input_timers": False,
        },
    )

    # Start timers when ready
    await action.start_input_timers()

    event = await action.wait()

client.run()
```