Phone:
Your auto-attendant greeting is often the first impression callers have of your business. Use these proven templates to create professional IVR scripts for your phone system.
Start with one of these templates and customize with your business name and menu options.
Best for: Small offices where callers typically know who they want
"Thank you for calling [Company Name]. If you know your party's extension, you may dial it at any time. For sales, press 1. For support, press 2. For billing, press 3. To speak with the receptionist, press 0 or stay on the line."
Duration: ~15 seconds
Best for: Professional services (accounting, consulting, B2B)
"Good [morning/afternoon]. You've reached [Company Name], serving the Chicago area since [year]. Your call is important to us. For [Department A], press 1. For [Department B], press 2. For our company directory, press 3. To reach our receptionist, please press 0."
Duration: ~20 seconds
Best for: Automated after-hours and weekend routing
"Thank you for calling [Company Name]. Our office is currently closed. Our regular business hours are Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM Central Time. Please leave a message after the tone and we'll return your call on the next business day. For emergencies, press 1 to be connected to our on-call staff."
Duration: ~25 seconds
Best for: Holiday closures and temporary closings
"Thank you for calling [Company Name]. Our office is closed today, [date], in observance of [holiday]. We will reopen on [date] at [time]. Please leave a message and we'll return your call when we reopen. For emergencies, please call [emergency number]. Happy [holiday]!"
Duration: ~20 seconds
Customize these templates for your specific business type.
"Thank you for calling [Practice Name]. If this is a medical emergency, please hang up and dial 911. For appointments, press 1. For prescription refills, press 2. For billing questions, press 3. For medical records, press 4. To speak with a nurse, press 5. For all other inquiries, please stay on the line."
Key elements:
"Thank you for calling the Law Offices of [Name]. Please note that calls may be recorded for quality and training purposes. If you're an existing client, press 1. For new client consultations, press 2. For billing, press 3. If you know your attorney's extension, you may dial it at any time. For the receptionist, press 0."
Key elements:
"Thank you for calling [Restaurant Name], located at [address/neighborhood]. For reservations, press 1. For takeout and delivery orders, press 2. For catering inquiries, press 3. For directions and hours, press 4. To speak with a manager, please stay on the line. We look forward to serving you!"
Key elements:
"Thank you for calling [Brokerage Name]. For property listings and showings, press 1. To reach a buyer's agent, press 2. For seller consultations, press 3. If you're an agent or vendor, press 4. If you know your agent's extension, dial it now. For our front desk, press 0."
Key elements:
"Thank you for calling [Agency Name], your local independent insurance agency. For claims, press 1. For policy changes or questions, press 2. For new quotes, press 3. For billing and payments, press 4. If you know your agent's extension, dial it at any time. For assistance, press 0."
Key elements:
"Thank you for calling [Company Name] dispatch. For load status and tracking, press 1. For dispatch, press 2. For driver support, press 3. For accounting and billing, press 4. For customer service, press 5. For all other inquiries, press 0."
Key elements:
Follow these guidelines for an IVR that callers don't hate.
Total greeting should be under 30 seconds. Callers abandon long menus. Get to the point quickly.
4-5 options maximum. More than that and callers forget the first options. Use sub-menus if needed.
Put your most-used options first. If 60% of callers want appointments, make that option 1.
"Press 0 for the operator" should always work. Never trap callers in an IVR loop with no escape.
"For sales, press 1" not "Press 1 for sales." Callers need to hear what it does before the number.
A clear, professional voice matters. Avoid recording in noisy environments. Consider professional voice talent.
You have several options for recording your auto-attendant greeting.
Use a quiet room, speak clearly and slowly, and record with a decent microphone (even a smartphone in a quiet space works). VoipPlus systems let you record directly from your phone or upload an audio file.
Services like Fiverr, Voices.com, or Snap Recordings offer professional voice recordings for $20-100. Worth it for a polished first impression.
VoipPlus supports text-to-speech for quick setup. Modern TTS voices sound natural. Good for temporary greetings or businesses that change greetings frequently.
IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response. It's the automated phone menu system that greets callers and routes them to the right person or department. Also called "auto-attendant" or "phone tree."
Not necessarily. A 2-person office might just ring all phones. But IVR helps if you have departments, want after-hours routing, or want to project a more professional image.
Yes. VoipPlus supports time-based routing: one greeting during business hours, another after hours, different greetings for holidays. All configurable in the web portal.
In Illinois, yes. Illinois is a two-party consent state, meaning you must inform callers if calls are recorded. A simple "Calls may be recorded for quality purposes" suffices.
Update when menu options change, staff/extensions change, or seasonally if you have holiday closures. Avoid frequent changes to menu numbers—callers memorize them.
Yes. Callers can press a number at any time during the greeting to be routed immediately. They don't have to wait for the entire message to play.
VoipPlus includes auto-attendant setup with every account. We'll help you configure your menus and routing.
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