An auto-attendant (also called an IVR — interactive voice response) is the automated menu that greets callers and routes them: "Press 1 for Sales, 2 for Support." Done well, it answers every call instantly and sends people to the right place without a receptionist. Done badly, it frustrates callers. Here's how to get it right.
What an auto-attendant does
It answers incoming calls with a greeting and a menu, then routes the caller based on their choice — to a department, a person, a queue, voicemail, or another menu. It can also handle business hours, holidays and after-hours messages automatically.
Designing a menu that doesn't annoy people
- Keep it short — aim for 3–5 clear options; avoid deep nested menus.
- Most-wanted first — put the options most callers want at the top.
- Always offer a human — let callers reach a person (or leave a message).
- Use plain language — and consider English plus Bahasa for local callers.
- Set hours — different routing for open, closed and holidays.
Where it fits
An auto-attendant is a core part of a cloud PBX, working with ring groups, voicemail-to-email and business-hours routing. For teams with high call volumes, it feeds a contact centre with queues and agents. It's included in the Managed PBX package and you can change it yourself in the portal.