Routing incoming calls with IVR

Using multi-level interactive voice response (IVR), or phone trees, you can route customers to the right agent or department, provide recorded responses for frequently asked questions, and deflect calls by allowing callers to switch from a live call to a text message.

If your Talk plan doesn't support IVR, you can route calls using group routing. For details, see Routing incoming calls to groups of agents.

Note: You can't use IVR for incoming calls from a digital line. For more information about digital lines, see Understanding Talk Embedded voice.

You create an IVR menu by adding menus that callers choose through key presses. You can build a simple phone tree with one level or, if you have a complex support team structure, layer multiple menu levels together.

Note: If call recording is enabled, recording continues after you transfer a call internally (to another agent or group) or externally (to an end-user or external number).

This article contains the following topics:

• Recording an IVR greeting
• Creating an IVR menu
• Assigning an IVR menu to a number

Recording an IVR greeting

Each IVR menu requires at least one IVR greeting listing the options and corresponding key presses. If your IVR menu will be complex with multiple levels and options, you might want to come back to this step after you've built out your menu (see Creating an IVR menu).

Note: Only Support administrators can modify or delete greetings. See Promoting an agent to the administrator role.

To record a personalized IVR greeting and prompts

• Follow the steps to create a custom greeting in Managing outgoing greetings. Select IVR as the greeting type.

Note: When an IVR greeting message is played to a caller, they must listen to the whole message before they can press a key to interact with the IVR.

Creating an IVR menu

The way you structure your IVR menu determines how callers are routed and what options they hear.

To create a new menu

1. In Admin Center, click the Channels icon () in the sidebar, then select Talk and email > Talk.
2. Click the IVR tab.
3. Click Add menu.
4. In the menu that's added, click the Settings tab and enter a name for the menu.
5. Click the Menu levels tab.
6. The first menu level, Main menu, is already created for you. If you want additional, secondary menu levels that callers can reach from the main menu, click Add menu level.
7. Click the Name field of a menu level to edit the menu level name.
8. Choose an IVR greeting from the Greeting drop-down list. Only greetings of the type IVR can be chosen.

   

9. Click Add Route to add a new menu option.

   

10. From the Keypress drop-down list, select an available key or select Default.

    If the caller hasn't pressed a key after the greeting plays three times, or if the caller presses the wrong key four times during the greeting, the default route will be used. If you haven't set a default route, the caller will be disconnected.

11. From the Greeting drop-down list, select an optional greeting which will be played to the caller before they take action on the call. This greeting must be of the type IVR.
12. Select one of the following actions:
    • Voicemail: Routes the call to the number's voicemail. Keep in mind that if you haven't selected a greeting in the field above, no greeting will play (just the beep and straight to recording). When you select a voicemail action, you'll also be prompted to enter a group that voicemail tickets will be associated with.
    • Group: Choose one or more groups of agents to route the call to. Unless a greeting is assigned to this group, the caller will be placed in the queue and hear the Wait greeting set for the number. The Available agents greeting will not be played. For more information about managing groups, see Creating, managing, and using groups.
    • Number: Routes the call directly to the specified number. When you select this action type, you'll also be prompted to enter the number to route calls to. When routing to an external number in an IVR, that call is not recorded by Talk, and a ticket is not created for the call. Additionally, the number you enter cannot use an extension number.
      Important: When you route a call from your IVR to another number, you will incur an extra charge for the call forwarding.
    • IVR Menu: Routes the call to another menu level within the same IVR menu. For example, you might want callers to press 1 for VIP support from the main menu, then be directed to another menu with options for VIP billing, VIP sales, etc. When you select the IVR menu action type, you'll also be prompted to select an IVR menu that calls will be routed to.
    • Text back: Switches the interaction over to text by confirming the customer's number, then disconnecting the call and sending a text message. An SMS ticket will be created for this interaction with the customer so the conversation can continue by text. When you select the IVR menu action type, you'll also be prompted to select the number the text should be sent from and to enter the text message context. You can select the language to use for the text back confirmation in the Language drop-down list”
13. Select a Group to route the call to. From the list of groups, turn on the ones you want, then, in the Primary group drop-down list, choose the group that calls will be routed to first. If agents in the primary group are not available, the call will be routed to one of the other selected groups. If no agents are available and the caller leaves a voicemail, it will be assigned to the primary group.
14. Click Save.
15. Repeat steps 9-15 to add additional routes.
16. Click Save to save the IVR menu.

Assigning an IVR menu to a number

Once you've built your IVR menu, assign it to a number.

To enable IVR for a number

1. In Admin Center, click the Channels icon () in the sidebar, then select Talk and email > Talk.
2. Click the number you want to edit.
3. Select the Routing tab.
4. Toggle the Enable IVR? field to on.
5. Select the IVR menu you want to use from the drop-down list.
6. Click Save changes.