An IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is an automated menu that callers hear when they dial a phone number. They press a digit on their keypad to reach the right person or queue — no human receptionist required.
When to use an IVR
Use an IVR when:
- You want to route calls by department (sales, support, billing) without a human operator.
- Call volume is high enough that a receptionist becomes a bottleneck.
- You need 24/7 call handling — IVRs don’t sleep.
- You want to surface self-service options before connecting a caller to an agent.
What an IVR can do
Each IVR has:
- A greeting — TTS-generated audio that plays when the call connects.
- Up to 10 menu options (digits 0-9) plus
* and # — each routes to a destination.
- A timeout — how long to wait for input before repeating the greeting.
- Max retries — how many times to repeat before hanging up.
- Optional direct extension dial — callers can dial an extension directly from inside the IVR.
Each digit can route to:
| Destination type | Example |
|---|
| Extension | Ring a specific person’s SIP phone |
| Queue | Put the caller in a call queue |
| IVR | Nest into another IVR menu |
| Voicemail | Send to voicemail |
| Hangup | End the call with a message |
| Callback | Request a callback, end the call |
| AI Agent | Connect to an AI voice bot |
Example flow
Caller dials +91 80 6597 8001
↓
IVR "Main menu" plays greeting:
"Welcome to Acme. Press 1 for sales, 2 for support, 3 for billing."
↓
Caller presses 2
↓
Call routes to queue 5002 (support)
↓
Next available support agent's SIP phone rings
Lifecycle
- Create the IVR with a name, extension, and settings.
- Record or generate the greeting (TTS).
- Build the menu — assign digits to destinations.
- Publish the IVR to make it live on the dialplan.
- Route a phone number (DID) to the IVR.
Changes to an IVR take effect only after you click Publish — saving alone does not update the live dialplan.
Related pages
