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Auto attendant and IVR greetings

An auto attendant sends each caller to the right person without a receptionist. It works when callers can remember the options: no more than four choices, the most common first, and a way back to a human.

Menu scripts

Each script is one recording. Your phone system then links every key to a group, an extension or a further message.

Listen · 0:26

Three departments and extensions

Thank you for calling Kingsmead Facilities. To report a fault at one of our sites, press one. For quotes and new contracts, press two. For invoices and account queries, press three. If you know the extension you need, you can dial it at any time. To hear these options again, press star.

Small office

Two options and reception

Welcome to [Company]. For sales, press one. For an existing order, press two. To speak to reception, stay on the line.

Practice

Appointments first

Welcome to [Practice name], where you can book, change or cancel an appointment by pressing one. For test results, press two after eleven o'clock. For anything else, press three.

Multi-site

Choose your branch

[Company] has branches in [Town 1] and [Town 2], so please choose the one you need. For [Town 1], press one. For [Town 2], press two. For head office and accounts, press three.

Second level

Support sub-menu

You're through to support. If your system is down completely, press one and we'll treat your call as urgent. For a question about an existing ticket, press two and have your ticket number ready.

Bilingual

English and Polish

Welcome to [Company]; to carry on in English, simply stay on the line. Aby kontynuować w języku polskim, prosimy nacisnąć dwa.

Menus that callers follow

01

Action before key

Say “For sales, press one”, not “Press one for sales”. Callers listen for their topic, then remember the number that follows it.

02

No more than four

With five or more options, people forget the first ones. Put rare requests in a second level or behind “stay on the line”.

03

A short pause between options

Half a second gives the caller time to decide. In the generator you set each pause yourself.

04

Always an exit

Offer zero for reception or “stay on the line”. A menu without a human at the end produces angry callbacks.

From script to working menu

  1. Write the menu

    Start from a script above or one of our UK templates.

  2. Hear it in the generator

    Choose a British English voice and check every option, free of charge.

  3. Upload the file

    Into the auto attendant of your phone system. Formats are listed on our phone systems page.

  4. Test every key

    Ring your own number from a mobile and press each option once.

Questions

Is IVR the same as an auto attendant?

In everyday use, yes. Both describe the recorded menu that sends a caller onwards when they press a key. Larger systems add speech recognition or database lookups, but the greeting itself works the same way.

One file or one file per option?

Usually one file per menu level. Some systems, such as BT Cloud Voice, have separate slots for business hours and after hours, so you upload two files.

Can one menu switch language?

Yes. Give the second language its own text block and set that block to Polish, Spanish or another language. Ask a native speaker to listen to the preview before you upload it.

Hear your greeting before you pay.

Free preview, no subscription. €19 (approx. £17) per finished greeting.

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