Recipe: Build a Phone Menu (IVR) for Your Business Number

A phone menu greets callers, lets them press a number, and sends them to the right place. You can start from a built-in recipe or build it from scratch.

The pieces

Option 1: Start from the recipe

1. Go to Automation > Workflows and click Create Workflow.
2. Choose Select a Recipe and pick the IVR recipe.
3. In the trigger, select your Phone Number. If this is wrong, the menu will not run.
4. Edit the spoken text or audio in each Say/Play step.
5. Adjust the match conditions and destinations.
6. Save and publish.

Option 2: Build from scratch

1. Add the Start IVR trigger and choose the phone number.
2. Add Gather Input On Call with a prompt such as "Welcome. Press 1 for sales, 2 for support."
3. Add a match condition per key.
4. In each branch, add Connect Call to the right team.
5. Add a fallback: if nobody answers, offer Record Voicemail.
6. Finish with End IVR Call where appropriate.
7. Publish and call the number to test every option.

Make it smarter

• Add a call-status check to handle answered, missed or disconnected outcomes.
• Text the caller a booking link after the call ends.
• Tag callers by the option they chose.
• Add after-hours branches with a different greeting.

Tips

• Keep to four options or fewer.
• Handle no input and wrong key paths.
• Re-test after each change by actually calling.

Good to know: A menu is only as good as its fallbacks, so make sure every branch ends in a person, a voicemail or a clean hang-up.