VoIP glossary · Interactive Voice Response
What is IVR?
An IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is an automated phone menu that plays recorded prompts and routes callers based on the keys they press or the words they say.
IVR explained
IVRs sit at the front of most inbound numbers: "press 1 for sales, 2 for support". They are built in the PBX or contact centre platform, while the SIP trunk simply delivers the call and carries the caller’s key presses as DTMF.
A short, clear menu helps callers and reduces abandoned calls. If keypresses are ignored, the cause is almost always a DTMF method mismatch between the trunk and the PBX, not the IVR itself.
Example
A toll-free number lands on a FusionPBX IVR. Callers pressing 1 go to the English queue, and callers pressing 2 go to the Spanish queue.
Put it into practice
Prepaid SIP trunks and wholesale routes from $200. Ask sales for rates or the NOC for a technical answer.