What is IVR? How a business voice menu works

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IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is a phone system's automatic voice menu: callers hear a greeting and use their keypad to choose where the call goes. Many people simply call it an auto attendant. At CapitalPBX, IVR and the greeting are included in every plan, and we do the standard setup.

What an IVR does

A voice menu handles the first seconds of a call, the part where someone would otherwise answer only to pass the call on.

The greeting: your company's name and, if you record calls, a recording notice.
The options: "For sales, press 1. For service, press 2." The call goes straight to the chosen team or colleague.
Business hours: outside opening hours and on public holidays, callers hear your schedule and can leave a voicemail.
The queue: if everyone is on a call, the caller waits with a message instead of hearing a busy tone.

Step-by-step setup is in the Knowledge Base: the IVR menu, number schedules, voicemail, departments and call distribution and music on hold.

Voice menu examples by type of business

A good menu looks like the business that uses it. Three examples:

Clinic or dental practice: 1 for appointments, 2 for a specific treatment room, 3 for information. Outside opening hours, patients hear the schedule. See phone systems for clinics.
Car service center: 1 for service appointments, 2 for sales, 3 for parts. See the solution for car dealers and service centers.
Online shop: 1 for an open order, 2 for returns, 3 for anything else. See the solution for eCommerce.

How to build a good voice menu

A few simple rules separate a useful menu from one callers hang up on.

Keep to three or four options per level. If you need more, group them.
Put the most common reason for calling first.
Say what the caller gets before the key: "For appointments, press 1", not the other way round.
Always leave a way to reach a person, such as 0 or a final option.
Keep the greeting short: your company's name and, if needed, the recording notice.
After every change, call the menu yourself and listen to it from start to finish.

An example script

For a small business with sales and service, the text can be this simple:

"Hello, you've reached [company name]. This call may be recorded. For sales, press 1. For service and appointments, press 2. For anything else, press 0."

And outside business hours:

"Hello, you've reached [company name]. We're open Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. Please leave a message after the tone and we'll call you back."

When you don't need a voice menu

If one person answers the phone and almost all calls are the same kind, a menu with options only makes the path longer. A short greeting, your business hours and voicemail are enough. Options are worth adding once calls need to reach different people.

IVR, call queue and voice robot: the difference

IVR picks where the call goes, by keypad.
The queue keeps calls in order while they wait for a free colleague. For teams that take many calls at once, see Call center software.
A voice robot, an automated call agent, can handle repetitive questions on its own. We explain when it pays off in Voice robots: when to automate calls.

The voice menu and the queue are included in the phone system. For voice robots and more complex automated flows, see Call automation.

What an IVR costs

At CapitalPBX, IVR and the greeting are included in every plan, starting with Lite at 60 EUR a month with VAT for 3 users. You don't pay extra for the menu, and we do the standard setup with you. For the rest of the system, see the CapitalPBX virtual PBX, and work out the cost for your team on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

What does IVR mean?

IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response. It is the automatic voice menu that greets callers and sends them, by keypad, to the right team.

Is an IVR the same as a voice robot?

No. An IVR offers keypad options. A voice robot goes further: it can answer repetitive questions on its own, then transfer the call to a person.

Does the IVR work outside business hours?

Yes. Outside opening hours and on public holidays, callers hear your schedule and can leave a voicemail.

How long does setup take?

We do the standard setup with you, and the system is usually live within a few days.

What is IVR? How a voice menu works and how to set one up for your business