This guide applies to installations on V20. If you are running on V18, follow this guide.

IVR / Digital Receptionist

Introduction

3CX’s powerful IVR / Digital Receptionist feature enables you to seamlessly direct callers to the correct extensions, queues or ring groups. With a standard IVR menu you can configure up to 10 options which callers can choose from. Create as many IVR menus. The limitation here is mainly the caller's patience.

In addition to the standard IVR there is also a Department menu which is a simple digital receptionist which plays a welcome message and routes the calls based on the office hours. Its mainly there for backward compatibility reasons.

IVR \ Digital Receptionist Menu

Digital Receptionist configuration in 3CX Admin Console

To create an IVR / Digital Receptionist:

  1. In your web client, go to “Admin” > “Call handling”
  2. Click “+ Add Digital Receptionist”
  3. Digital receptionist name: enter a name, for example “Main Company Menu”
  4. Department: add the department for which the IVR is for. Make note of the department as it will inherit the office hours of that department.
  5. Assigned DID number(s): Use the drop-down to assign a DID number that will route calls directly to your IVR.
  6. Set the language for your IVR.
  7. Prompt: Upload or record your greeting. Something along the lines of “Thank you for calling XYZ, press 1 for sales and 2 for support”. Some tips:
  1. Do not use reserved characters (< > : " / \ | ? * &) in the prompt filename.
  2. If you are going to pre-record your announcement, do so in PCM, 8 kHz, 16 bit, Mono formats. In Windows Sound Recorder you must use the “Save As” option to save in this format. Do not use MP3 format. Use our audio convertor tool to convert a recording to a supported format.
  3. Announce the number the user needs to press after the option, i.e. ‘For sales, press 1’.
  1. In the “Menu” section, select the desired action and destination for each key.
  2. In the “Destinations” section, select a destination for calls received during office hours, out of office hours and break times. Remember the office hours are inherited from the department this IVR is a member of.
  3. Navigate to the the “Options” tab at the top to:
  1. Set a forwarding route for SMS messages sent to this number.
  2. Determine where to send a call if there is no or an invalid input.
  1. Click “Save”.

Department Menu - Simple Announcement

If you just want to welcome callers with an announcement and then route calls based on office hours, a simple department menu will suffice. To configure this:

Announcements for Department Menu

  1. Toggle the “Play announcement” slider on.
  2. Record what you want to tell your callers or choose from the saved recordings. To record your greeting:
  1. Click the microphone icon to record a new prompt.
  2. Enter your desired file name and click the microphone icon.
  3. The popup will show your recording time. When finished, click on the timer to stop.
  4. You can now listen to your greeting, re-record it or click the upload button to save.
  5. Your recording will be shown in the drop-down menu.
  1. If you already have an audio file, you can upload your announcement as a Mono, 8khz, 16bit WAV file. If you have a music file that does not fit the required audio format, you can use our audio convertor tool.
  2. Repeat this with a different announcement for when you are on break or when your office is closed.

If you do not see the “Record” button, ensure your microphone is properly configured and allowed in “Settings > Audio/Video”.

See also

Last Updated

This document was last updated 27 February 2024

https://www.3cx.com/docs/manual/ivr/