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Action tags and state variables in the Voice Gateway API

The IBM® Voice Gateway API provides action tags and state variables that you define within the dialog in the Watson Assistant service. Action tags initiate actions that Voice Gateway takes during a conversation session, and state variables define Voice Gateway characteristics that persist throughout the conversation unless otherwise changed.

For more information about using the API, see Programming self-service agents and Defining actions and states.

The following sections list the action tags and state variables that you can define.

Action tags

To initiate actions in the Voice Gateway during a call, you can define action tags on a Watson Assistant dialog node in JSON format on the output property. Each action consists of a command property, followed by an optional parameter property to define parameters for commands that require them. Action tags are available in Voice Gateway 1.0.0.2 and later.

Important: Action tags can't be defined in a node that uses deprecated state variables. When you change your node definitions to use the action tags, be sure to update the entire JSON node definition. Your overall dialog can contain a mixture of nodes that use each approach.

The following table lists the actions that you can specify in the Watson Assistant dialog and any parameters that you can define for each action.

For action tags that you can use during a SIPREC session, see Actions set by Watson Assistant during a SIPREC session.

Table 1. Actions that you can initiate from Watson Assistant
Action command Description Parameters
vgwActPlayText Plays an utterance string from a list of utterances that are defined in the output.generic or output.text fields. If multiple strings are defined, the utterance is chosen based on the selection_policy value.
  • text: An array of utterances. Optional. If not specified, the action plays a list of utterances that are configured in the output.generic field.
  • errAudioURL: A URL to an audio file that is played if Voice Gateway can't contact the Text to Speech service to complete the action. The audio file must be in WAV format.
vgwActPlayUrl Plays an audio file as soon as the included text is played back, such as for playing music on hold (MOH) or common one-time utterances. If no text is included, the audio is played immediately. The file must be single channel (mono), PCM-encoded, and have a 8,000 Hz sampling rate with 16 bits per sample.
  • url: The URL to play. Required.
  • playURLInLoop: Optionally set to Yes or No to indicate whether to play the URL in a loop. The default value is No.
vgwActHangup Hangs up the call. No parameters.
vgwActSendSMS Enables the SOE or Watson Assistant service to send an SMS message to the user.
  • message: An SMS message that is sent to the user. Required.
  • mediaURL: An array of publicly accessible URLs of the media to be sent to the user. Optional. Added in version 1.0.2.
  • tenantPhoneNumber: The phone number that is associated with the tenant. The format of the number must match the format of the number that is required by the SMS provider. If no value is provided, the tenant ID from the voice config for the active call is sent. Optional.
  • userPhoneNumber: The phone number to send an SMS message to. The format of the number must match the format of the number that is required by the SMS provider. If no value is provided, the voice callers phone number from an incoming SIP INVITE request (from header) is sent. Optional.
  • smsGWURL: The SMS Gateway server URL to send the request to. If no value is provided, the preconfigured URL environment variable for that tenant is used. Optional.
  • smsGWUsername: The user name to authenticate with SMS Gateway. If no value is provided, the preconfigured user name environment variable for that tenant is used. Optional
  • smsGWPassword: The password to authenticate with SMS Gateway. If no value is provided, the preconfigured password environment variable for that tenant is used. Optional
  • enableInboundSMS: If no value is provided, the preconfigured enableInboundSMS environment variable for that tenant is used.
vgwActSetSTTConfig Applies a set of parameters for Voice Gateway to pass to the Watson Speech to Text service. Watson Assistant dynamically defines the parameters based on the call. Learn more in Dynamically configuring Watson services. Parameters are transparently passed as JSON properties to the Speech to Text service.
  • participants: For SIPREC sessions, a comma-separated list of participants that the action is applied to. If the participants list isn't provided, the action is applied to all participants or SIPREC streams.
vgwActSetTTSConfig Applies a set of parameters for Voice Gateway to pass to the Watson Text to Speech service. Watson Assistant dynamically defines the parameters based on the call. Learn more in Dynamically configuring Watson services. Parameters are transparently passed as JSON properties to the Text to Speech service.
vgwActSetConversationConfig Applies a set of parameters for Voice Gateway to define a Watson Assistant workspace. Watson Assistant dynamically defines the parameters based on the call. Learn more in Dynamically configuring Watson services.
  • url: The url credential for the Watson Assistant API.
  • workspaceID: Watson Assistant workspace ID
  • username: The username credential for Watson Assistant.
  • password: The password credential for Watson Assistant.
  • connectionKeepAliveEnabled: Set to true by default. Specifies whether a connection to Watson Assistant service is kept open or closed after each request or response.
    Note: Connection reuse isn't supported. A connection is closed after each request or response. When keep-alive is enabled, it might cause issues with some REST servers that expect a connection to remain open. You can turn off keep-alive by setting this parameter to false. 1.0.0.7a and later.
  • httpHeaders: A JSON map that includes the name and value of HTTP headers. These HTTP header fields are added in the outbound REST requests to Watson Assistant.
  • assistantID: Watson Assistant ID. The assistant ID is used only by the Watson Assistant version 2 API. Version 1.0.1 and later.
vgwActSetWVAConfig Applies a set of parameters for Voice Gateway to define Watson Virtual Agent. Watson Assistantdynamically defines the parameters based on the call. Learn more in Dynamically configuring Watson services.
  • wvaURL: The url credential for the Watson Virtual Agent API.
  • wvaBotID: The bot_id credential for the Watson Virtual Agent API.
  • wvaClientId: The authentication key for the X-IBM-Client-Id header field for API calls to Watson Virtual Agent.
  • wvaClientSecret: The authentication key for the X-IBM-Client-Secret header field for API calls to Watson Virtual Agent.
vgwActTransfer Transfers the call to the defined transfer target.
  • acceptTransferRejectCodes: A comma-separated list of the error codes that are treated as a successful response when Voice Gateway processes NOTIFY requests during a call transfer. Version 1.0.0.6 and later.
  • transferHeader: A custom header field that is added to the SIP REFER request.
  • transferHeaders: A list of custom header field name and value pairs to be added to a transfer request. For example:

    {
    "Custom-Header1": "123",
    "Custom-Header2": "456"
    }

  • transferHeaderVal: The value of the custom header field that you defined on the transferHeader parameter.
  • transferMethod: The value that specifies how to pereform a call transfer. Version 1.0.0.5a and later. The call transfer can be defined in one of two ways:
    • Default: REFER
    • HANGUP: instead of referring the call, Voice Gateway plays back any associated text and then hangs up the call by sending a BYE request.
    Version 1.0.0.5a and later.
  • transferTarget: The SIP or telephone URI to transfer the call to, such as sip:12345556789\\@myhost.com or tel:+18883334444

    Note: When you define SIP URIs in the Watson Assistant service, the @ character must be escaped with backslashes as shown.

  • transferTargetHeader: Specifies which header field in a SIP BYE request to use in transfer target. By default, this parameter is defined as Transfer-Target, or the header field specified in the vgwTransferTargetHeader state variable. Version 1.0.0.5a and later
  • uuiData: User-to-User Information (UUI) data to send. V1.0.0.4c and later.
  • uuiSendMethod: The method by which the UUI data is sent. V1.0.0.4c and later. The following values are supported:
    • uuiHeader: Sends UUI data in a User-to-User header field. Default.
    • contactHeader: Sends UUI data in a Contact header field.
    • referToURL: Sends UUI data in a Refer-To header field.
    If data is sent in a Contact or Refer-To header field, the data is encoded as a URI header. If the Refer-To header value is a tel URL, the UUI data is sent as a URL parameter.
If a parameter isn't specified, Voice Gateway uses the values of the following respective state variables, if defined:
  • vgwTransferHeader
  • vgwTransferHeaderVal
  • vgwTransferTarget
vgwActSendSIPInfo Send UUI data in a SIP INFO request. Versions 1.0.0.8 and later.
  • sipHeaders: A paired list of SIP Header names and values, which is added to the SIP INFO request in name/value format. The list can't contain the system header fields such as From, To, or Contact. Well-known header fields must be provided in the correct format to avoid parsing issues. Malformed headers can't be added to the message.
  • messageBody: Optional. A body that is attached to the SIP INFO request. When present, a mandatory header, Content-Type, must be provided in the sipHeaders list. If Content-Type isn't included, a default value of application/text is inserted.
vgwActCollectDTMF Instructs Voice Gateway to collect dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (DTMF) input.
  • dtmfTermKey: The DTMF termination key, which signals the end of DTMF input. For example, "#".
  • dtmfCount: The number of DTMF digits to collect.
  • dtmfMinCount: The minimum number of DTMF digits to collect when you configure your DTMF collection to accept a range of entries.
  • dtmfMaxCount: The maximum number of DTMF digits to collect when you configure your DTMF collection to accept a range of entries. When this number of digits is collected, a conversation turn is initiated.
  • dtmfInterDigitTimeoutCount: The amount of time in milliseconds to wait for a new DTMF digit after a DTMF digit is received. During an active DTMF collection, this timeout activates when the first DTMF collection is received. When the inter-digit timeout is active, it deactivates the vgwPostResponseTimeout timer. If the dtmfInterDigitTimeoutCount parameter isn't specified, the post response timer resets after receiving each DTMF digit, and stays active until either the vgwPostResponseTimeout parameter is met or the collection completes.
  • dtmfIgnoreSpeech: When set to true, speech is automatically disabled on the reception of a DTMF digit until either the collection completes or a timeout occurs. The default for this attribute is false.
  • dtmfPauseAfterCollection: Indicates whether to disable DTMF input when DTMF collection completes. All DTMF input is ignored until it's reenabled by the vgwActUnPauseDTMF action. The default for this attribute is false.
  • participants: For SIPREC sessions, a comma-separated list of participants that the action is applied to. If the participants list is not provided, the action is applied to all participants or SIPREC streams.
vgwActPauseDTMF Disables DTMF input. All DTMF input is ignored until it's reenabled by the vgwActUnPauseDTMF action. Version 1.0.0.3 and later. participants: For SIPREC sessions, a comma-separated list of participants that the action is applied to. If the participants list isn't provided, the action is applied to all participants or SIPREC streams.
vgwActUnPauseDTMF Reenables DTMF input that was disabled by the vgwActPauseDTMF action. Version 1.0.0.3 and later. participants: For SIPREC sessions, a comma-separated list of participants that the action is applied to. If the participants list isn't provided, the action is applied to all participants or SIPREC streams.
vgwActExcludeFromTTSCache Instructs Voice Gateway not to cache the response from the Text to Speech service. For example, responses that contain sensitive PHI, PII, and PCI DSS data or dynamic information such as customer names or birth dates should be excluded.
This action tag must be set on the Watson Assistant dialog node for each utterance that you don't want to cache. Learn more in Reducing response time to the Watson Text to Speech service.		 No parameters.
vgwActPauseSTT Pauses speech-to-text processing until it's reenabled by the vgwActUnPauseSTT action. If recording is enabled and speech-to-text processing is paused, the audio from the caller isn't captured. participants: For SIPREC sessions, a comma-separated list of participants that the action is applied to. If the participants list isn't provided, the action is applied to all participants or SIPREC streams.
vgwActUnPauseSTT Resumes speech-to-text processing that was previously paused by the vgwActPauseSTT action. participants: For SIPREC sessions, a comma-separated list of participants that the action is applied to. If the participants list isn't provided, the action is applied to all participants or SIPREC streams.
vgwActDisableSTTDuringPlayback Pauses speech-to-text processing before playing back audio, which prevents speech barge-in while the audio plays. When the playback transaction completes, Voice Gateway resumes speech-to-text processing. If speech-to-text processing was disabled by the vgwActPauseSTT action, it does not resume after the playback transactions are complete unless it's reenabled by the vgwActUnPauseSTT action. Version 1.0.0.4c and later. No parameters.
vgwActEnableSTTDuringPlayback Reenables speech-to-text processing during audio playback transactions. Version 1.0.0.4c and later. No parameters.
vgwActDisableSpeechBargeIn Disables speech barge-in so that playback from Voice Gateway isn't interrupted when callers speak. Version 1.0.0.7 and later. No parameters.
vgwActEnableSpeechBargeIn Enables speech barge-in so that callers can interrupt playback from Voice Gateway by speaking. Version 1.0.0.3 and later. No parameters.
vgwActDisableDTMFBargeIn Disables DTMF barge-in so that playback from Voice Gateway isn't interrupted when callers press keys. Version 1.0.0.7 and later. No parameters.
vgwActEnableDTMFBargeIn Enables DTMF barge-in so that callers can interrupt playback from Voice Gateway by pressing a key. Version 1.0.0.3 and later. No parameters.
vgwActForceNoInputTurn Forces a new turn in the conversation without waiting for input from the caller. Voice Gateway sends a message request with "vgwNoInputTurn" in the text field so that you can map this request to an intent in your dialog. No parameters.
vgwActEnableTranscriptionReport Enable transcription text in the reporting event. Version 1.0.0.8 and later. targets which can be set to caller or callee.
vgwActDisableTranscriptionReport Disable transcription text in the reporting event. Version 1.0.0.8 and later. targets which can be set to caller or callee.
vgwActAddCustomCDRData Adds custom items to call detail records in customCDRData key. If the action is activated multiple times during a call, then Voice Gateway merges the data. Version 1.0.0.8 and later. "key": "value" pairs.
vgwActSetTenantType Allows to change the tenant type in a self service session. The setting modifies the speech recognition mode. type: tenat type. Possible values include agentAssist, selfService , continuousRecognition. When setting the type to agentAssist or continuousRecognition, speech recognition is open for the life of the call rather than on a per conversational turn basis. As a result, transcriptions from speech recognition are queued up whenever there is an existing outgoing request to the Watson Assistant or SOE.
vgwActSetDisambiguationConfig Applies a set of parameters for the suggestion response type. Learn more in Handling Watson Assistant response types. Version 1.0.6 and later.
  • prefixText: the text that will be prepended to each label in a Watson Assistant suggestion response.
  • matchWord: An array of utterances. Used to match speech-to-text utterances to one of the options in the list.
  • disableSpeech: Optionally set to true or false to indicate whether to disable speech recognition when disambiguation is triggered. The default value is false.
    vgwActSetOptionsConfig Applies a set of parameters for the options response type. Learn more in Handling Watson Assistant response types. Version 1.0.6 and later.
    • prefixText: the text that will be prepended to each label in a Watson Assistant option response.
    • matchWord: An array of utterances. Used to match speech-to-text utterances to one of the options in the list.
    • disableSpeech: Optionally set to true or false to indicate whether to disable speech recognition when disambiguation is triggered. The default value is false.

      State variables

      To indicate a change of state that remains between conversation turns, Voice Gateway exchanges state variables with the configured Watson Assistant service. These state variables are defined on a Watson Assistant dialog node as context variables in JSON format.

      The following tables outline all of the state variables that are supported by Voice Gateway.

      Variables set in the Watson Assistant dialog

      You can set the following state variables within the Watson Assistant dialog to modify the Voice Gateway behavior. If a variable that has a related configuration environment variable isn't set, the value from the related environment variable is used.

      Table 2. Variables set in the Watson Assistant dialog
      State variable name Expected value Description Related configuration variable
      vgwTransferTarget SIP or telephone URI Identifies the transfer to endpoint (e.g. tel:+18883334444). TRANSFER_DEFAULT_TARGET
      vgwTransferTargetHeader User defined Specifies which header field in a SIP BYE request to set as the transfer target when transferMethod is set to HANGUP. By default, Transfer-Target is used. Version 1.0.0.5a and later.
      vgwTransferHeader User defined Defines a custom header in an outgoing SIP REFER message during a transfer. The custom header value is defined by the vgwTransferHeaderVal state variable.
      vgwTransferHeaderVal User defined Defines the value of a custom header in an outgoing SIP REFER message during a transfer. The custom header itself is defined by the vgwTransferHeader state variable.
      vgwUUIData User defined Defines User-to-User Information (UUI) data to send in an outgoing SIP REFER message during a transfer. Version 1.0.0.4c and later.
      vgwUUISendMethod uuiHeader / contactHeader / referToURL The method by which the User-to-User Information (UUI) data is sent. By default, the UUI data is sent in the User-to-User header field. Version 1.0.0.4c and later. The following values are supported:
      • uuiHeader: Sends UUI data in a User-to-User header field.
      • contactHeader: Sends UUI data in a Contact header field.
      • referToURL: Sends UUI data in a Refer-To header field.
      If data is sent in a Contact or Refer-To header field, the data is encoded as a URI header. If the Refer-To header value is a tel URL, the UUI data is sent as a URL parameter.
      vgwByeCustomHeader User defined Defines a custom header in an outgoing SIP BYE message. The custom header value is defined by the vgwByeCustomHeaderVal state variables. Version 1.0.0.2 and later.
      vgwByeCustomHeaderVal User defined Defines the value of a custom header in an outgoing SIP BYE message. The custom header is defined by the vgwByeCustomHeader state variables.
      vgwFinalUtteranceTimeout Time in ms The amount of time in milliseconds that Voice Gateway waits to receive a final utterance from the Speech to Text service. The timeout occurs if Voice Gateway does not receive a final utterance within the specified time limit, even if hypotheses continue to be generated. When the timeout occurs, Voice Gateway sends Watson Assistant a text update with the word "vgwFinalUtteranceTimeout" to indicate that no final utterance was received. Version 1.0.0.4c and later. FINAL_UTTERANCE_TIMEOUT
      vgwPostResponseTimeoutCount Time in ms The amount of time in milliseconds to wait for a new utterance after the response is played back to the caller. If this value is exceeded, the Watson Assistant receives a text update with the word "vgwPostResponseTimeout" to indicate that a timeout occurred. POST_RESPONSE_TIMEOUT
      vgwConversationResponseTimeout Time in ms The amount of time in milliseconds that Voice Gateway waits to receive a response from Watson Assistant. If the time is exceeded, Voice Gateway tries again to contact Watson Assistant. If the service still can't be reached, the call fails. Version 1.0.0.3 and later. WATSON_CONVERSATION_READ_TIMEOUT
      vgwTransferFailedMessage Text string If the vgwDisconnectCallOnTransferFailure parameter is set to Yes, the message that is streamed to the caller if the call transfer fails. Configure your Watson Assistant dialog to set this variable on the first turn. TRANSFER_FAILED_REPLY_MESSAGE
      vgwTransferFailedAudioURL User defined A URL to an audio file that is played if the Text to Speech service can't be contacted when the Voice Gateway attempts to play back the vgwTransferFailedMessage message. Configure your Watson Assistant dialog to set this variable on the first turn. TRANSFER_FAILED_REPLY_AUDIO_URL
      vgwDisconnectCallOnTransferFailure Yes / No Informs Voice Gateway whether to disconnect the call when a call transfer fails. When set to No, Voice Gateway initiates a conversation turn by sending "vgwCallTransferFailed" text to Watson Assistant. Then, Watson Assistant can either disconnect the call or transfer it to a different destination as configured in the dialog. Version 1.0.0.2 or later. DISCONNECT_CALL_ON_TRANSFER_FAILURE
      vgwConversationFailedMessage Text string Message streamed to the caller when a call is being transferred / disconnected due to a failure of one of the Watson services. Configure your Watson Assistant dialog to set this variable on the first turn. CONVERSATION_FAILED_REPLY_MESSAGE
      vgwConversationFailedAudioURL User defined A URL to an audio file that is played if the Text to Speech service can't be contacted when the Voice Gateway attempts to play back the vgwConversationFailedMessage message. Configure your Watson Assistant dialog to set this variable on the first turn. CONVERSATION_FAILED_REPLY_AUDIO_URL
      vgwSessionInactivityTimeout Time in min Inactivity timeout interval. The timeout interval value specifies in minutes how long the Voice Gateway allows a session to be inactive. When the timeout expires, the Voice Gateway ends the session. SESSION_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT
      vgwErrAudioURL User defined A URL to an audio file that is played if the Text to Speech service can't be contacted when the Voice Gateway attempts to play back a response. The audio file must be in WAV format. Version 1.0.0.2 and later.
      vgwDisconnectCallOnNoUserInputTurnCount User defined Informs the Voice Gateway whether to disconnect the call on consecutive post response timeouts. Determines the number of consecutive post response timeouts to allow before the call is disconnected. Version 1.0.6 or later. DISCONNECT_CALL_ON_NO_USER_INPUT_TURN_COUNT

      Variables set by Voice Gateway

      Important: Some state variables require that you set an associated environment variable in the Voice Gateway configuration. The value that you define in the configuration is then passed to Watson Assistant on the state variable. The following table lists each state variable and its related environment variable, if applicable.

      Variables that don't have a related configuration environment variable are always enabled.

      Table 3. Variables set by Voice Gateway
      State variable name Expected value Description Related configuration variable
      vgwSessionID User defined A custom session ID header pulled from the SIP INVITE request. The value represents the global session ID that is used in all Voice Gateway audit logs related to the session. CUSTOM_SIP_SESSION_HEADER
      vgwSIPCallID SIP Call-ID The SIP call ID associated with the conversation session. SEND_SIP_CALL_ID_TO_CONVERSATION
      vgwSIPRequestURI SIP Request URI The SIP request URI that started the conversation session. SEND_SIP_REQUEST_URI_TO_CONVERSATION
      vgwSIPToURI SIP To URI The SIP To URI associated with the conversation session. SEND_SIP_TO_URI_TO_CONVERSATION
      vgwSIPFromURI SIP From URI The SIP From URI associated with theWatson Assistant service. SEND_SIP_FROM_URI_TO_CONVERSATION
      vgwSIPCustomInviteHeader User defined A user-defined SIP header that is pulled from the initial SIP INVITE request and passed to the Watson Assistant service. CUSTOM_SIP_INVITE_HEADER
      vgwSIPCustomInviteHeaders User defined A user-defined list of SIP headers that are pulled from the initial SIP INVITE request and passed to the Watson Assistant service. For example: "vgwSIPCustomInviteHeaders":
      {
      "Custom-Header1": "123",
      "Custom-Header2": "456"
      }      		 CUSTOM_SIP_INVITE_HEADERS
      vgwBargeInOccurred Yes / No Indicates whether barge-in occurred. None
      vgwHangUp Yes / No Indicates whether the conversation session was ended. None
      vgwHangupReason String When a hang up is initiated either by the caller or because of an error, this variable is sent to Watson Assistant to indicate why the call was disconnected. The text in the message request that is sent to Watson Assistant also includes "vgwHangUp". None
      vgwCallTransferred Yes Indicates that the call was transferred. Version 1.0.0.2 and later. None
      vgwTransferReason String Indicates the reason why a call was transferred. Version 1.0.0.2 and later. None
      vgwCallTransferFailed Yes Indicates that the call transfer failed. When this variable is set, the text field contains the string "vgwCallTransferFailed". Version 1.0.0.2 and later. None
      vgwSTTResponse JSON object The final response from the Speech to Text service in JSON format, including the transcript and confidence score for the top hypothesis and any alternatives. Replaces vgwTextAlternatives in Version 1.0.0.2 and later.

      The format matches exactly the format that is received from the Speech to Text service:

      {
        "result_index": 0,
        "warnings": [
          "Unknown arguments: continuous."
        ],
        "results": [
          {
            "final": true,
            "alternatives": [
              {
                "transcript": "Hello world",
                "confidence": 0.758
              },
              {
                "transcript": "Hello wooled",
                "confidence": 0.358
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }.

      		 None
      vgwIsDTMF Yes / No Indicates whether the input to Watson Assistant is dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (DTMF). Version 1.0.0.1 and later. None
      vgwDTMFCollectionSucceeded Yes/No Variable sent to Voice Gateway from Watson Assistant to indicate whether the DTMF collection succeeded or failed. When Yes, a DTMF collection succeeded, and returns the expected number of digits. When No, a DTMF collection failed, and didn't collect the specified number of digits. Even when No, all collected digits are passed to the SOE or workspace in the input string of the turn request. Version 1.0.0.7 and later. None
      vgwNetworkWarnings JSON array An array of network warnings that occurred during the Watson Assistant turn. To send network warnings, RTCP must be enabled. Version 1.0.0.5 and later. None
      vgwReceivedOnChannel SMS If an utterance is received over the SMS channel, this variable presents and is set to SMS. Version 1.0.0.6c and later. None
      vgwSMSUserPhoneNumber String The phone number where the SMS message was received from. None
      vgwSMSContext String The context extracted from the opaque data, smsOpaqueData, received from SMS Gateway. None
      vgwSMSMessage String The SMS message received from the caller. None
      vgwSMSMedia JSON array The MMS message received from the caller.

      {
        "vgwSMSMedia ": [
          {
            "mediaURL": "https://api.example.com/2015-01-01/Accounts/AC0123456789abcdef9876543210fedcba/Messages/MM4a2645684e43ea4bc4a0f3cba7763c61/Media/MEd84f995dfafb30b0e9e5739622dec4ad",
            "mediaContentType": "image/jpeg"
          }
        ]
      }      		 None
      vgwIsOutboundCall Yes / No Indicates whether the call is an outbound call. Version 1.0.2.0 and later. None
      vgwSTTProvider String The name of the STT provider that is used for the call. The state variable is set if the STT provider name is configured. Version 1.0.2 and later. None
      vgwTTSProvider String The name of the TTS provider that is used for the call. The state variable is set if the TTS provider name is configured. Version 1.0.2 and later. None

      Deprecated state variables

      Deprecated state variables set in the Watson Assistant dialog

      The following state variables are deprecated and were replaced with corresponding action tags. Although the state variables continue to function, you can't define these deprecated state variables and the action tags within a node. Your Watson Assistant dialog can contain a mixture of action tags and deprecated state variables, but the JSON definition for each node can contain only one or the other.

      Table 4. Deprecated state variables set in the Watson Assistant dialog
      Deprecated state variable Expected value Description Replacement action tag
      vgwHangUp Yes / No Informs the Voice Gateway to hang up the call after the included text response is played back to the caller. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.2. vgwActHangup
      vgwTransfer Yes / No Informs the Voice Gateway to initiate a transfer after the included text response is played back to the caller. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.2. vgwActTransfer
      vgwConversationConfigSettings JSON array A JSON object that contains a set of parameters that define a Watson Assistant workspace so that you can dynamically switch to a different workspace based on the call. Learn more in Dynamically configuring Watson services. Version 1.0.0.1. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.2. vgwActSetConversationConfig
      vgwSTTConfigSettings JSON array A JSON object that contains a set of parameters for the Voice Gateway to pass to the Watson Speech to Text service. The Watson Assistant service dynamically defines the parameters based on the call. For example, if Watson Assistant detects that the caller is speaking Spanish, the service can change the language model to es-ES_NarrowbandModel. For more information, see Dynamically configuring Watson services. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.2. vgwActSetSTTConfig
      vgwTTSConfigSettings JSON array A JSON object that contains a set of parameters for the Voice Gateway to pass to the Watson Text to Speech service. The Watson Assistant service dynamically defines the parameters based on the call. For example, if Watson Assistant detects that the caller is speaking Spanish, the service can change the voice to es-ES_EnriqueVoice. For more information, see Dynamically configuring Watson services. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.2. vgwActSetTTSConfig
      vgwExcludeFromTTSCache Yes / No If Text to Speech response caching is enabled, this variable informs Voice Gateway to not cache the response from the Text to Speech service. For example, responses that contain sensitive PHI, PII, and PCI DSS data or dynamic information such as customer names or birth dates should be excluded. Because this state variable does not remain on the context between turns, it must be set on the Watson Assistant dialog node for each utterance that you don't want to cache. For more information, see Reducing response time to the Watson Text to Speech service. Version 1.0.0.1. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.2. vgwActExcludeFromTTSCache
      vgwMusicOnHoldURL URL A URL to an audio file that is played in a loop as soon as the included text is played back, such as for playing music on hold (MOH). If no text is included, the audio is played immediately. The file must be single channel (mono), PCM-encoded, and have a 8,000 Hz sampling rate with 16 bits per sample. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.2. vgwActPlayUrl
      vgwOneTimeAudioURL URL A URL to an audio file that is played a single time as soon as the included text is played back, such as for one-time utterances. If no text is included, the audio is played immediately. The file must be single channel (mono), PCM-encoded, and have a 8,000 Hz sampling rate with 16 bits per sample. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.2. vgwActPlayUrl
      vgwForceNoInputTurn Yes / No Forces a new turn with no input from the Media Relay. For example, you might want to send this variable so that the Watson Assistant can play music on hold before it initiates the long transaction. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.2. vgwActForceNoInputTurn
      vgwPauseSTT Yes / No Informs the Voice Gateway whether to pause speech-to-text processing. In contrast to the related action tags, when this state is applied, the same value is used in all subsequent transactions unless a new request arrives that overrides the existing value. If recording is enabled and the vgwPauseSTT value is set to Yes, the audio from the caller isn't captured. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.3. vgwActPauseSTT and vgwActUnPauseSTT
      vgwAllowBargeIn Yes / No Informs the Voice Gateway whether barge-in is allowed. When applied, the same value is used in all subsequent transactions, unless a new request arrives that overrides the existing value. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.3. vgwActEnableSpeechBargeIn, vgwActDisableSpeechBargeIn, vgwActEnableDTMFBargeIn, and vgwActDisableDTMFBargeIn
      vgwAllowDTMF Yes / No Informs the Voice Gateway whether dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (DTMF) is allowed. When applied, the same value is used in all subsequent transactions, unless a new request arrives that overrides the existing value. When set to No, DTMFs are ignored. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.3. vgwActPauseDTMF and vgwActUnPauseDTMF
      vgwPreResponseTimeoutCount Time in ms The amount of time in milliseconds to wait for a new utterance before playing back a response. Can be used to collect DTMF digits or a multi-utterance response. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.6c.

      Deprecated state variables set by Voice Gateway

      Table 5. Deprecated state variables set by Voice Gateway
      Deprecated state variable Expected value Description Replacement
      vgwTextAlternatives JSON array The confidence level for the top hypothesis and any alternatives.

      The format matches exactly the format that is received from the Speech to Text service:

      [{"transcript":"hello there my name is Jose matter eco","confidence":0.758},{"transcript":"hello there my name is Jose matter Pico"},{"transcript":"hello there my name is Jose matter ego"},{"transcript":"hello there my name is Jose matter peco"}].

      Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.2.      		 vgwSTTResponse
      vgwSMSChannel True/False Indicates whether the message was received from an SMS channel. Deprecated in Version 1.0.0.6c. None