An IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system, often called an auto attendant, is an automated phone menu that greets callers and routes them to the right person or department without needing a receptionist.
When someone calls your business, the IVR plays a recorded greeting and presents options – for example: “Press 1 for Sales, Press 2 for Support, Press 3 for Accounts.” The caller selects an option and is automatically connected to the correct team.
Benefits of IVR and auto attendant for businesses:
- Professional image – even small businesses can present a polished, corporate-level first impression
- Reduced missed calls – calls are routed efficiently so customers reach the right person first time
- Time savings – eliminates the need for a dedicated receptionist to manually transfer calls
- Out-of-hours handling – play different messages and routing rules outside business hours
- Multi-level menus – create sub-menus for different departments or services
ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) works alongside IVR to intelligently distribute incoming calls across a team – for example, routing to the agent who has been idle longest, or distributing calls evenly across a sales team.
IVR and auto attendant are included as standard with most hosted VoIP systems from Connection Technologies. Get a quote to see what is included.