How calls are answered
Greeting Menu (IVR): build your "press 1 for sales" phone menu
Build the recorded menu that answers your calls: write what callers hear, pick a voice or upload a recording, and choose where each key press goes.
Which plans include it
Included on Plus and above. On Free Trial, Entry you can add it on its own at £5.95 a month from Features & add-ons.
What it means
A Greeting Menu is an IVR (Interactive Voice Response), sometimes called an auto-attendant or switchboard: "Thank you for calling. Press 1 for sales, 2 for support." Each key sends the caller somewhere.
What it does
- Answers every call to your number with your own message.
- Speaks your text in a natural voice you choose — or plays your own recording or upload.
- Sends each key (0–9, *, #) to a number, extension, voicemail box, another menu (sub-menu), or hangs up.
- Lets you build several levels: "Press 1 for sales" can open its own menu.
- Puts a menu "on air" (answering calls) or takes it off with one switch.
Every part of the page
- Greeting Menus list
- Each menu card shows its prompt text, whether audio is attached, and whether it answers incoming calls. Listen, edit, duplicate, change greeting, or delete from the card.
- Answer incoming calls
- The on-air switch. On: "Callers to your number hear this menu first". Off: calls ring your extensions and go to voicemail.
- Menu Name
- Your label, e.g. "Main Menu" or "Out of hours".
- What callers hear
- The words spoken to every caller. Keep it short and list the options in order.
- Voice
- Choose a natural voice and press "Hear this voice" to preview.
- Prefer your own recording?
- Upload MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG or FLAC, or "Record with your mic". Your recording replaces the spoken text when you save.
- Menu Options
- One row per key: Digit, Label (e.g. "Sales"), Action (Forward, Sub-menu, Voicemail, Hang Up) and Destination (extension or number, or mailbox extension).
How to use it
Create your first menu
- Press "Create Menu".
- Name it "Main Menu".
- Type: "Thank you for calling Acme. Press 1 for sales, press 2 for accounts, or stay on the line to leave a message."
- Pick a voice and press "Hear this voice".
- Add Option: Digit 1, Label Sales, Action Forward, Destination your sales extension or mobile.
- Add Option: Digit 2, Label Accounts, Action Forward, Destination accounts.
- Save — the menu is created and live.
- Make sure "Answer incoming calls" is on.
Use a professional recording instead
- Edit the menu.
- Under "Prefer your own recording?", upload your file or record with your mic.
- Save — your recording replaces the spoken text.
Add a second level
- Create the second menu (e.g. "Support options").
- In your main menu, add an option with Action "Sub-menu" pointing at it.
Examples
What an IVR is, in one example
You ring a dentist. A recording says: "Thank you for calling Smile Dental. Press 1 to book or change an appointment, press 2 if you are in pain and need to be seen today, press 3 for billing, or stay on the line to leave a message." You press 2 and the call rings the emergency nurse's phone, not reception. That recording and the routing behind each key is the IVR (Interactive Voice Response). In your dashboard it is called a Greeting Menu.
Sole trader — plumber or electrician
Prompt: "Hi, you've reached Dave's Plumbing. Press 1 for a new job or a quote, press 2 if you have a leak or no hot water right now, or stay on the line to leave a message." Key 1: Forward to your office mobile. Key 2: Forward to your personal mobile (so emergencies always get through). No key pressed: Voicemail. Pair it with Business Hours so after 6pm the menu only offers the emergency option.
Small office — accountants
Prompt: "Thank you for calling Brook & Co Accountants. For tax returns press 1, for payroll press 2, for bookkeeping press 3, to speak to reception press 0." Key 1: Forward to the tax team's hunt group. Key 2: Forward to the payroll extension. Key 3: Forward to the bookkeeper. Key 0: Forward to the reception extension. Callers reach the right person first time, and nobody has to transfer them.
Shop or restaurant — answer the common questions first
Prompt: "Welcome to The Corner Kitchen. We are open 12 till 10, Tuesday to Sunday. Press 1 to book a table, press 2 for takeaway orders, press 3 for anything else." Saying the opening hours in the prompt answers the most common question before the caller even presses a key.
Two levels (sub-menu) — a garage
Main menu: "Press 1 for servicing and MOT, press 2 for parts, press 3 for sales." Key 1 is set to Sub-menu → a second menu called "Servicing": "Press 1 to book an MOT, press 2 to check on a car that is with us today." Each key in the sub-menu forwards to the right person. Keep to two levels at most — callers give up on a third.
Out-of-hours menu
Duplicate your main menu and rename the copy "Closed". Change the prompt to: "Thanks for calling. We are closed right now — we are open 9 till 5, Monday to Friday. Press 1 to leave a message and we will call you back first thing, or press 2 if it is an emergency." Key 1: Voicemail. Key 2: Forward to the on-call mobile. In Business Hours, send closed-time calls to the "Closed" menu.
Charity or clinic — direct a caller to the right service
Prompt: "You have reached Northside Community Clinic. If this is a medical emergency, hang up and dial 999. To book a GP appointment press 1, for test results press 2 (after 2pm), for prescriptions press 3." Putting the 999 line first is good practice for any health or care service.
Sales-led business — make the money call easy
Put sales on key 1 and send it to a hunt group set to ring everyone at once, so a new customer never waits. Put existing-customer support on 2 and send it to a call queue with hold music, where a short wait is acceptable.
Recommended settings
- ★No more than 4 options per level — callers forget anything beyond that.
- ★Put the most common reason on 1.
- ★Say the business name first, then the options, then what happens if they press nothing.
- ★Always give a way to reach a person or leave a message.
- ★Keep the prompt under 20 seconds.
- ★Use Duplicate to make an out-of-hours version of a menu quickly.
- ★If the voice engine is briefly unavailable, save the menu and attach a greeting from its card afterwards.
Abbreviations on this page
- IVR — Interactive Voice Response
- The recorded menu that answers a call and asks the caller to press a key — "press 1 for sales, press 2 for accounts". Each key sends the call somewhere: a person, a team, voicemail or another menu. It lets a small business sound like a large one and gets callers to the right person first time. In your dashboard it is called a Greeting Menu.
- Example: "Thank you for calling Smile Dental. Press 1 to book, press 2 if you are in pain today, press 3 for billing." Press 2 and the call rings the emergency nurse, not reception.
- Auto-attendant — Automated attendant
- Another name for an IVR / greeting menu — a recording that answers and directs callers without a receptionist.
- Example: "Thank you for calling. Press 1 for sales, 2 for support" is an auto-attendant.
- DTMF — Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency
- The tones your phone makes when you press keypad buttons. Menus and card payments read these tones.
- Example: Pressing 1 in a phone menu sends a DTMF tone that tells the system which option you picked.
- TTS — Text to speech
- Typing words and having them spoken in a natural voice. The Greetings studio and Greeting Menus use it.
- Example: Type "We are closed for lunch" and TTS turns it into speech in the voice you choose.
- Ext. — Extension
- A short internal number (usually 3 or 4 digits) for each person or phone. Calls between extensions are free and never leave your system.
- Example: Dial 204 to reach the warehouse.
- MP3 / WAV — Audio file formats
- The two most common sound file types. WAV is full quality and larger; MP3 is smaller.
- Example: Download a recording as MP3 to email it; keep the WAV if you need the original quality.
Questions
How many greeting menus can I have?+
Plus includes up to 3, Growth 8, Pro 20 and Enterprise 50. Bought as an add-on on Entry, it includes 1 menu.
Can I use my own voice-over?+
Yes. Upload MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG or FLAC, or record straight from your microphone. It replaces the spoken text.
What happens if the caller presses nothing?+
Say what happens in your prompt and make sure there is an option for it — usually voicemail or a person.
Is IVR the same as a greeting menu?+
Yes. IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is the industry name; we call it a Greeting Menu.
Which plans include it?+
Plus and above. On Entry it can be added on its own from Features & add-ons.
Related help
Already a customer? Open this page in your dashboard: Greeting Menu. New to Silux Call? See the plans or start a free trial.