Routing Incoming Calls with a Simple IVR

SAS Flex offers customization tools right at your fingertips. With advanced script and IVR building technology, if you can dream it, you can build it. Whether you want to help route English and Spanish speaking callers accordingly or want to cut down on spam calls, a Simple IVR is all you need. Let's get started!

Learn the Basics of IVRs

IVR, or Interactive Voice Response, is an effective tool frequently used by businesses to direct inbound calls based on the option that the caller selects. For example, pressing 1 to schedule an appointment or pressing 2 to speak with Billing. SAS offers two types of IVR; Simple and Advanced. We'll go over the basics of both below.

Simple IVRs: Simple IVRs are primarily used to route English and Spanish speaking callers to the appropriate agent distribution, or helping to weed out spam calls by disconnecting the line if an option is not pressed. There is no fee associated with Simple IVRs, but there are limitations. Simple IVRs only offer 2 selections, and can only transfer to SAS numbers. In this article, we'll show you how to create Simple IVRs for both English/Spanish routing, and spam call management.
Advanced IVRs: Advanced IVRs allow for more customization than Simple IVRs. For example, Advanced IVRs allow users to configure Date/Time routing, Voicemails, Outside Transfers, and more. Advanced IVRs are billed at an IVR rate, and typically require an additional line. For more information on Advanced IVRs, check out this article.

Setting up an English/Spanish IVR

In this section, we will show you how to configure an IVR that routes callers to an English or Spanish speaking agent based on the number they select.

Go to the User icon in the upper right-hand corner, then click Settings.

On the main settings page, scroll down to the Telephony section and select Numbers.

On the next page, you'll see your SAS number(s). If you only see one number listed, you'll need to purchase an additional line by clicking the Add number button. This additional line will be used for your Spanish script.

Once your additional line is purchased, you'll see it listed along with your original number.

Just like we renamed our scripts, let's rename our numbers so that they're labeled English and Spanish, repsectively. To rename a number, select the number and then under the General Settings tab, add your new name within the Alias field. Then click Save.

Repeat step 5 above for your Spanish number so that both numbers are labeled accordingly.

Now that our numbers are labeled, we can begin setting up our IVR. Select your English number, then select the IVR option from the Number Settings panel as shown below. Then use the Enable Simple IVR toggle.

Once enabled, you'll need to choose where to transfer calls via the Transfer Calls dropdown. In this example, we'll choose our Spanish number.

The Press 1 option will automatically route to the main number that you are adjusting. Whichever number you select under Transfer Calls will be the Press 2 option. If you want the IVR to route calls to an outside number, you'll need to purchase an Additional Line and set up an Advanced IVR.

Next, you'll need to tell the system what to do if there is no input or a wrong input from the caller. We'll go over the options below.

Number of Loops: This represents the number of times the IVR greeting will play if there is no selection from the caller.
If no input: If the caller does not input a selection, this setting will tell the system what to do. The Route to this number option will route calls to the number you've enabled the IVR on, the Route to number in Transfer Calls dropdown option will route calls to the number you've selected in the Transfer Calls drop down above, and the Disconnect option will disconnect the call.
If wrong input: If the caller inputs the wrong selection, this setting will tell the sytem what to do. The Route to this number option will route calls to the number you've enabled the IVR on, the Route to number in Transfer Calls dropdown option will route calls to the number you've selected in the Transfer Calls drop down above, and the Disconnect option will disconnect the call.

Finally, select a recorded greeting that prompts callers to press 1 for English or 2 for Spanish, or enter in your greeting using the Text to Speech option. Feel free to copy and paste the standard text below, or download a pre-recorded greeting here.

Thank you for calling. Press 1 for English. Press 2 for Spanish.

The last step is to reach out to our Customer Service team to ensure Spanish calls are set to the proper agent distribution. Otherwise, all calls will continue going to English speaking agents.

Once our team confirms the proper distribution has been set, you can test to make sure everything is working properly by calling your English-labeled number directly and following the prompts.

Using an IVR to Filter Out Spam Calls

In this section, we will show you how to configure an IVR that disconnects if no option is selected, which will help weed out spam or robo-dialer calls as spam-bots can't press numbers.

Go to the User icon in the upper right-hand corner, then click Settings.

On the main settings page, scroll down to the Telephony section and select Numbers.

Select the SAS number you wish to add your simple IVR to.

Select the IVR option from the Number Settings panel as shown below. Then use the Enable Simple IVR toggle.

Once activated, you'll need to choose where to transfer calls via the Transfer Calls dropdown.

By default, a Simple IVR's Press 1 option will always go to the number in which you are enabling the IVR on. However, the system will not let you save without choosing a Press 2 option as well. So, we'll choose the same number that we're activating the Simple IVR on.

Next, you'll need to tell the system what to do if there is no input or a wrong input from the caller. We'll go over the options below.

Number of Loops: This represents the number of times the IVR greeting will play if there is no selection from the caller.
If no input: If the caller does not input a selection, this setting will tell the system what to do. The Route to this number option will route calls to the number you've enabled the IVR on, the Route to number in Transfer Calls dropdown option will route calls to the number you've selected in the Transfer Calls drop down above, and the Disconnect option will disconnect the call.
If wrong input: If the caller inputs the wrong selection, this setting will tell the sytem what to do. The Route to this number option will route calls to the number you've enabled the IVR on, the Route to number in Transfer Calls dropdown option will route calls to the number you've selected in the Transfer Calls drop down above, and the Disconnect option will disconnect the call.

In this example, we want calls to disconnect if there is a wrong input or no input.

Finally, select a recorded greeting, or enter in your greeting using the Text to Speech option. Feel free to copy and paste the standard text below.

Thank you for calling. Press 1 to be connected.

When you are finished, click Save in the bottom right-hand corner. When callers reach your IVR, they will be prompted to Press 1 to be connected. If they don't press anything or press anything other than 1, the call will be disconnected.

We recommend calling your own IVR setup once to confirm the prompts and routing work as expected.

Adjusting Number Settings

Once your Simple IVR has been built, we'll need to remove any default greetings that are attached to your number(s). The instructions below apply to both types of IVRs outlined above. However, if you had set up an IVR to help filter out Spam calls, then you can ignore the Spanish-related instructions below.

On the main Numbers page, select your English-labeled number.

Since we already have a greeting on the line in terms of the IVR, an additional greeting is not needed. On the next page, click on the Greeting tab, then select the No Greeting option. When you are done, click Save.

Now we're going to do the same for your Spanish number. Back on the main Numbers page, select your Spanish-labeled number.

On the next page, click on the Greeting tab, then select the No Greeting option. When you are done, click Save.

While still in the Number settings for your Spanish number, click on the Call recording tab, and select either of the Spanish call record alert options. The Audio-labeled option will tell callers the call will be recorded in a human voice, and the Text-labeled option will tell callers the call will be recorded in a Text to Speech voice.

When you are done, click Save.