Is it possible with Twilio to have an IVR menu and at the same time accept an extension?

Question

For example, "Press 1 for X, 2 for Y, or dial an extension." Let's assume extensions start with 3.

If I accept three digits with a timeout, I won't get an instant response to 1 or 2. If I have 3 call another script that accepts the rest of the digits, the digits get lost if dialed too quickly (they're not buffered).

Answer 1

Twilio developer evangelist here.

This is not possible without using the timeout as you already explained.

I'd recommend that you build it such that when the user dials 3 your initial action then returns a new <Gather> that expects the number of digits of an extension.