DTMF (Dual-tone multi-frequency) is a fancy way to talk about the sounds that happen when you press buttons on a phone. When you press a number on a phone, a sound is made that is actually two sounds joined together. One sound has a high pitch and the other sound has a low pitch.
Each of the buttons on a phone has its own special combination of sounds. When you press a button, your phone sends out those two sounds at the same time. This helps the phone know which button you pressed.
This is important because it helps you do all sorts of things with your phone! If you want to call someone, you use DTMF to tell your phone the number you want to call. The phone listens for the sound of the button you pressed and then makes the call for you.
DTMF also helps you to do other things, like checking your voicemail, getting information from automated systems, and entering codes to access things like secure buildings or bank accounts.
So, basically, DTMF is just the sounds your phone makes when you press buttons, and those sounds help your phone know what you want to do. Pretty cool, huh?