diff --git a/examples/TEMPLATE.yml b/examples/TEMPLATE.yml
index 65bf5bc58d07feab0fc73e5cdfba2944dcb8b983..c6151e6a607d1d65a55f617b6dc403cda1dec2e6 100755
--- a/examples/TEMPLATE.yml
+++ b/examples/TEMPLATE.yml
@@ -114,6 +114,10 @@ input:
     ### the individual items (concatenate_input: false) after previous pre-processing step
     ### Horizontally concatenate input items into one long file; default = false
     # concatenate_input: true
+    ### if concatenation is applied, the following two keys can be used to add zeros before or after the items
+    ### duration is specified in miliseconds
+    # silence_pre: 2000
+    # silence_post: 2000
     ### Specify the concatenation order in a list of strings. If not specified, the concatenation order would be
     ### as per the filesystem on the users' device
     ### Should only be used if concatenate_input = true
diff --git a/ivas_processing_scripts/audiotools/audiofile.py b/ivas_processing_scripts/audiotools/audiofile.py
index fa3ef05d28b6dbd34a28f9a6cfe28f8d68805990..44ef2abc9e123f2784bf629bfa85f868e07b40e5 100755
--- a/ivas_processing_scripts/audiotools/audiofile.py
+++ b/ivas_processing_scripts/audiotools/audiofile.py
@@ -166,8 +166,8 @@ def write(
 def concat(
     in_filenames: list,
     out_file: str,
-    silence_pre: Optional[int] = 0,
-    silence_post: Optional[int] = 0,
+    silence_pre: int = 0,
+    silence_post: int = 0,
     in_fs: Optional[int] = 48000,
     num_channels: Optional[int] = None,
     pad_noise: Optional[bool] = False,
diff --git a/ivas_processing_scripts/processing/chains.py b/ivas_processing_scripts/processing/chains.py
index 21b20a0e4dbdcf33fccc738d159290f0dd6a1605..fadcebbb08a38d4f56429ecc63f53e92ba60791f 100755
--- a/ivas_processing_scripts/processing/chains.py
+++ b/ivas_processing_scripts/processing/chains.py
@@ -201,6 +201,8 @@ def get_preprocessing_2(cfg: TestConfig) -> dict:
                 "in_mask": pre2_cfg.get("mask", None),
                 "multiprocessing": cfg.multiprocessing,
                 "repeat_signal": pre2_cfg.get("repeat_signal", False),
+                "silence_pre": pre2_cfg.get("silence_pre", 0),
+                "silence_post": pre2_cfg.get("silence_post", 0),
             }
         )
     )
diff --git a/ivas_processing_scripts/processing/processing.py b/ivas_processing_scripts/processing/processing.py
index 4d96571f5d10059e214de6f46d3ae4cfbb06c8ce..35c44fdaae16c68a603345db54c72a009b4ab2d9 100755
--- a/ivas_processing_scripts/processing/processing.py
+++ b/ivas_processing_scripts/processing/processing.py
@@ -163,11 +163,25 @@ def concat_setup(cfg: TestConfig, chain, logger: logging.Logger):
     tmp_audio = audio.fromtype(cfg_pre2.in_fmt)
     tmp_num_chans = tmp_audio.num_channels
 
+    # convert from milisecs to samples
+    silence_pre = 0
+    silence_post = 0
+    if cfg_pre2.silence_pre != 0 or silence_post != 0:
+        if cfg_pre2.in_fs is None:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "silence_pre and silence_post can only be non-zero if you provide the sampling rate in the input section!"
+            )
+
+        silence_pre = int(cfg_pre2.silence_pre / 1000 * cfg_pre2.in_fs)
+        silence_post = int(cfg_pre2.silence_post / 1000 * cfg_pre2.in_fs)
+
     cfg.splits, fs = concat(
         cfg.items_list,
         cfg.concat_file,
         in_fs=cfg_pre2.in_fs,
         num_channels=tmp_num_chans,
+        silence_pre=silence_pre,
+        silence_post=silence_post,
     )
 
     # save item naming for splits naming in the end