An IVR, or interactive voice response menu, greets callers and sends them to the right place. Done well it saves time. Done badly it is the reason people press zero and shout at the phone.
The 12 practices
- Keep it short. Offer four or five options, not ten.
- Put the most common request first. Look at your call data.
- Say what the option does, then the number. For example, "for sales, press 1".
- Keep the greeting under 10 seconds. Skip long legal text.
- Let callers reach a person. Offer 0 or "stay on the line" for an agent.
- Avoid deep menus. Two levels is plenty.
- Use business hours. After hours, say so and offer voicemail or a callback.
- Let known callers skip ahead. Do not make them listen to the full menu.
- Offer a callback when queues are long.
- Use a clear, friendly voice. Record professionally if you can.
- Handle mistakes gracefully. Repeat the menu once, then route to an agent.
- Test with real people. Ask someone new to call and complete a task.
Example: a clinic
"Thank you for calling Green Valley Clinic. For appointments, press 1. For lab results, press 2. For billing, press 3. For prescriptions, press 4. To speak to reception, press 0."
Example: a small call center
"Welcome to Acme Support. For sales, press 1. For technical support, press 2. For billing, press 3. To leave a message, press 4."
Metrics to watch
- Containment rate: calls resolved in the menu without an agent.
- Abandon rate inside the menu.
- Time to reach an agent.
- Option usage: which keys callers press most, so you can reorder.
Building your IVR
Record a greeting, define options and where each routes (an extension, a queue, a ring group or voicemail), set business hours, add a fallback, then test. In Telvora PBX this is set up in the web panel. If you plan for a larger team, pair your IVR with the staffing calculator and read about Erlang C.
See more on IVR and queue features or what a PBX is.
