How do I set up IVR?
IVR, or Interactive Voice Response, is frequently used by businesses to direct inbound calls based on the option that the caller selects. For example, you may use a Simple IVR for a bilingual account: press 1 for English or 2 for Spanish, or you may use an Advanced IVR to give callers more choices. IVR can be added to your account at any time. Depending on the type that you require (Simple or Advanced), you may incur a $10 additional line fee.
In order to initialize IVR on your account, we will need a recording of your upfront greeting. You may choose to create your own recording directly in your Flex portal, or we would be happy to record the greeting on your behalf, free of charge. Just provide us with a complete list of departments and extensions, and/or a complete list of employees and extensions,
What to Record
If you are utilizing our voicemail services or if you have multiple script/department options on your account, you'll need to record all names and extensions as one file. For example, “Thank you for calling SAS. For Joe Smith, press 1. For Sales, press 2. For Customer Support, press 3,” all in one greeting.
Voicemail to Email
For voicemail, we will also require a list of corresponding email addresses where messages should be sent.
Transferring to Non-SAS Numbers
We can set up your IVR to transfer callers right to your SAS Forwarding Number, or we can set up a transfer to an outside number on your side. For example, you may want callers with billing issues to press 1 to speak with your billing department directly, while all other callers may press 2 to speak with a live receptionist.
Secondary Recordings
If you require an additional greeting after the caller makes their initial selection, this will need to be recorded as a separate MP3 or WAV file. For example, let's say the caller presses 1 for Customer Service. Subsequently, they may be given the options, "For Billing, press 1. For Technical Support, press 2. For all other requests, press 3."
Please note that before the call reaches an operator, the caller will hear the phrase, "For quality assurance, this call may be recorded." If you do not want to include this language in your greeting, then we can turn off call recording on your account. Call details will still be available in your message portal, but call recordings will not.
Once we have received all necessary information, please allow 24 to 48 hours for programming. Please note that there is a per-minute charge for automated greetings. Visit our pricing page for additional details.
Should you have questions regarding setting up IVR on your account, need assistance with script writing, or have any other concerns, feel free to contact our Customer Service department.