Question 1

What is an IVR menu?

Accepted Answer

An IVR (Interactive Voice Response) menu is a phone menu that plays when someone calls your number. The caller hears options like "Press 1 for Sales, Press 2 for Support" and is routed to the right destination based on what they press. Benefits include routing callers efficiently to the right AI agent, creating a professional impression, reducing misdirected calls, and offering non-AI options like transfers to a human or voicemail. IVR time is billed at 0.05 euros per minute, significantly less than AI call time.

Question 2

Creating your first menu

Accepted Answer

Setting up an IVR menu takes just a few minutes. Click Phone Menus in the left sidebar, click Create New, enter a name for the menu, write your greeting message (either as text-to-speech or by uploading an MP3/WAV audio file from your Audio Library), configure timeout settings (input timeout for how long to wait for a keypress, max retries for how many times to replay the menu, and invalid input action for what happens with an unrecognized key), and click Create. Then add your menu options to complete the setup.

Question 3

Adding menu options

Accepted Answer

Each menu option maps a keypress to an action, with up to 12 options per menu level. Open your menu, click Add Option, and configure: the digit (which key the caller presses, from 0-9, *, or #), a label describing the option, and the action. Available actions are: Route to AI agent (connects the caller to a specific AI agent), Transfer to phone number (forwards to an external phone number), Play voice memo (plays a pre-recorded message), Go to submenu (opens another level of options), Voicemail (plays a greeting and records the caller message), and Repeat menu (replays the current menu). Mention each option in your greeting message so callers know what to press.

Question 4

Assigning a phone number

Accepted Answer

Your IVR menu needs a dedicated phone number. Go to Phone Numbers in the sidebar, buy a new number if needed (5 euros per month) or use an existing unassigned number, click Assign next to the phone number, select your IVR menu from the assignment dropdown (IVR menus appear in the same dropdown as agents), and click Confirm. Calls to this number now go through your IVR menu first. Each phone number can only be assigned to one destination — either an AI agent or an IVR menu, not both.

Question 5

Multi-level menus (submenus)

Accepted Answer

For more complex routing, you can create submenus that open when a caller selects a specific option, building a tree of options up to 3 levels deep. Example: Level 1 (Main Menu) with Press 1 for Sales, Press 2 for Support; Level 2 (Sales Submenu) with Press 1 for New Customers, Press 2 for Existing Customers; Level 3 (New Customer Submenu) with Press 1 for Product Information, Press 2 for a Quote. To create submenus: add an option in your main menu and set its action to Go to submenu, create the submenu with its own greeting and options, link it by selecting the submenu name in the parent option configuration, and add a Go back option (e.g., Press 9) in the submenu. Limits: maximum 3 levels deep, maximum 12 options per level.

Question 6

Best practices for IVR menus

Accepted Answer

Keep greetings short (under 15 seconds): state your business name then go straight to options, avoid unnecessary filler phrases. Limit options per level: 4 to 5 options is ideal, more than 6 is hard to remember — use submenus instead. Put the most popular option first: review your call analytics to see what callers want most and order accordingly. Always offer a human fallback: include "Press 0 to speak with someone" as the last option. Test from a real phone: call your number, go through every option, check the greeting sounds natural, verify each option routes correctly, and test the timeout behavior.

Creating an IVR Menu

Why use an IVR menu?