diff --git a/libs/freetdm/conf/freetdm.conf b/libs/freetdm/conf/freetdm.conf
index cd269b7736..eb506bef8d 100644
--- a/libs/freetdm/conf/freetdm.conf
+++ b/libs/freetdm/conf/freetdm.conf
@@ -34,6 +34,12 @@ trunk_type => FXS
 ; add FXS channels from 3 to 4 at wanpipe span 1 to this freetdm span
 fxs-channel => 1:3-4
 
+; IO stats. Defaults to yes, you can print the stats with ftdm iostats print <span> <chan>
+; This feature depends on the span IO type, currently only Wanpipe spans support it
+; This may cause a warning to be printed once in a while if audio is not provided fast enough
+; and causes the driver to transmit an idle frame (when there is no data provided by the application)
+iostats => yes
+
 [span wanpipe myWanpipe2]
 trunk_type => FXO
 ; This number will be used as DNIS for FXO devices
diff --git a/libs/freetdm/src/ftdm_io.c b/libs/freetdm/src/ftdm_io.c
index 805c525269..0205ab36b1 100644
--- a/libs/freetdm/src/ftdm_io.c
+++ b/libs/freetdm/src/ftdm_io.c
@@ -4584,14 +4584,20 @@ FT_DECLARE(ftdm_status_t) ftdm_configure_span_channels(ftdm_span_t *span, const
 		return FTDM_FAIL;
 	}
 
-	if (chan_config->debugdtmf) {
-		for (chan_index = currindex+1; chan_index <= span->chan_count; chan_index++) {
-			if (!FTDM_IS_VOICE_CHANNEL(span->channels[chan_index])) {
-				continue;
-			}
-			span->channels[chan_index]->dtmfdbg.requested = 1;
+	for (chan_index = currindex + 1; chan_index <= span->chan_count; chan_index++) {
+		if (chan_config->iostats) {
+			ftdm_channel_set_feature(span->channels[chan_index], FTDM_CHANNEL_FEATURE_IO_STATS);
+		}
+
+		if (!FTDM_IS_VOICE_CHANNEL(span->channels[chan_index])) {
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		if (chan_config->debugdtmf) {
+				span->channels[chan_index]->dtmfdbg.requested = 1;
 		}
 	}
+
 	return FTDM_SUCCESS;
 }
 
@@ -4658,6 +4664,8 @@ static ftdm_status_t load_config(void)
 					/* it is confusing that parameters from one span affect others, so let's clear them */
 					memset(&chan_config, 0, sizeof(chan_config));
 					sprintf(chan_config.group_name, "__default");
+					/* default to storing iostats */
+					chan_config.iostats = FTDM_TRUE;
 				} else {
 					ftdm_log(FTDM_LOG_CRIT, "failure creating span of type %s\n", type);
 					span = NULL;
@@ -4784,6 +4792,13 @@ static ftdm_status_t load_config(void)
 			} else if (!strcasecmp(var, "debugdtmf")) {
 				chan_config.debugdtmf = ftdm_true(val);
 				ftdm_log(FTDM_LOG_DEBUG, "Setting debugdtmf to '%s'\n", chan_config.debugdtmf ? "yes" : "no");
+			} else if (!strncasecmp(var, "iostats", sizeof("iostats")-1)) {
+				if (ftdm_true(val)) {
+					chan_config.iostats = FTDM_TRUE;
+				} else {
+					chan_config.iostats = FTDM_FALSE;
+				}
+				ftdm_log(FTDM_LOG_DEBUG, "Setting iostats to '%s'\n", chan_config.iostats ? "yes" : "no");
 			} else if (!strcasecmp(var, "group")) {
 				len = strlen(val);
 				if (len >= FTDM_MAX_NAME_STR_SZ) {
diff --git a/libs/freetdm/src/include/freetdm.h b/libs/freetdm/src/include/freetdm.h
index 96ffdce62c..0948f16e29 100755
--- a/libs/freetdm/src/include/freetdm.h
+++ b/libs/freetdm/src/include/freetdm.h
@@ -487,6 +487,7 @@ typedef struct ftdm_channel_config {
 	float rxgain;
 	float txgain;
 	uint8_t debugdtmf;
+	uint8_t iostats;
 } ftdm_channel_config_t;
 
 /*!