IVR Auto-Attendants - Hiveku Builder

An IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is the menu callers hear when they dial in: “Press 1 for sales, 2 for support, 3 for billing.” It’s the front door of any phone system that handles more than one type of call. Hiveku IVRs support time-based routing, holiday schedules, recorded or text-to-speech prompts, and multi-level menus. Manage IVRs in /dashboard/communications/ under the IVRs tab.

Anatomy of an IVR

Greeting prompt

Plays first when a caller reaches the IVR. Recorded audio file or text-to-speech.

Menu prompt

“Press 1 for sales, 2 for support…” — usually right after the greeting.

Key mappings

Each digit (0-9, *, #) routes to a destination — extension, ring group, queue, sub-IVR, or external number.

Timeout and invalid

What to do if the caller doesn’t press anything, or presses an unmapped key.

Time conditions

Different routing during business hours vs after-hours.

Holiday calendar

Override the schedule on specific dates.

Build a basic IVR

Create the IVR

From the IVRs tab, click New IVR and give it a name like “Main Menu”.

Record or set the greeting

Either upload a .wav/.mp3 file or type the script and pick a TTS voice. “Thanks for calling Acme.”

Record or set the menu

“For sales, press 1. For support, press 2. To leave a message, press 3.”

Map keys

1 → Ring Group “Sales”, 2 → Queue “Support Hold”, 3 → Voicemail.

Set timeout and invalid

Timeout (no key pressed in 8 seconds) → re-play the menu (max 2 retries). Invalid key → “That’s not a valid option, please try again.”

Point a DID at the IVR

On the Numbers tab, set your main DID to route to this IVR.

Prompt options

Text-to-speech
Upload your own
Hire a voiceover

Type your script, pick a voice (multiple US/UK English voices, plus other languages). Hiveku generates the audio.Pros: easy to update — change the script and the audio re-renders.Cons: TTS doesn’t quite match a professional human voice for branding-critical greetings.

Record on your phone or in a studio, upload .wav or .mp3. Hiveku transcodes and uses it as the prompt.Pros: human voice, full brand control, professional polish.Cons: changes require re-recording.

Time conditions

Most businesses don’t operate 24/7, and the menu (or destination) should change accordingly.

Business hours (Mon-Fri 9 AM-5 PM):
  - Greeting: "Thanks for calling Acme!"
  - 1 → Sales ring group
  - 2 → Support queue

After hours (everything else):
  - Greeting: "Thanks for calling Acme. Our office is closed."
  - 1 → Voicemail
  - 2 → Forward to on-call cell

Configure time conditions per IVR. Multiple bands supported — for example, lunch closure 12-1 PM with a different message.

Holiday calendar

Override the schedule on specific dates. Hiveku ships a US federal holiday preset; add or remove dates as needed.

For the “office closed for the holiday” greeting, use a separate IVR rather than another time condition — easier to test and toggle on/off ahead of time.

Multi-level menus

Sub-IVRs let you build trees:

Main IVR
├── 1: Sales IVR
│   ├── 1: New customers (Ring Group "New Sales")
│   └── 2: Existing customers (Ring Group "Account Mgmt")
├── 2: Support IVR
│   ├── 1: Billing (Queue "Billing")
│   └── 2: Technical (Queue "Tech Support")
└── 0: Operator (Extension 100)

Keep menus to 2 levels max. Past that, callers get lost and abandon.

Best practices

Lead with the option

“For sales, press 1” beats “Press 1 for sales.” The action is what they’re listening for.

Limit to 4-5 options

More than 5 options and callers can’t remember by the time they finish hearing them.

Always offer 0 for operator

A live human escape hatch reduces abandon and frustration.

Keep prompts under 30 seconds

Long greetings make callers hang up. Shave every word that doesn’t earn its place.

Time-of-day forwarding without an IVR

If you don’t need a menu — just different routing during business vs after-hours — you can use a time condition directly on a DID without building a full IVR. Cleaner for simple cases.

API

# Create an IVR with key mappings
curl -X POST https://api.hiveku.com/api/communications/ivrs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer hk_live_xxx" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Main Menu",
    "greeting": { "type": "tts", "text": "Thanks for calling Acme.", "voice": "warm-female-us" },
    "menu": { "type": "tts", "text": "For sales, press 1. For support, press 2." },
    "keys": {
      "1": "ring_group:sales",
      "2": "queue:support",
      "0": "extension:100"
    },
    "timeout_seconds": 8,
    "max_retries": 2
  }'

Troubleshooting

Callers say the menu cuts them off

DTMF presses aren't being detected

Some softphones over poor connections lose DTMF. Hiveku supports both in-band and RFC2833 DTMF. If you’re seeing this on calls from specific carriers, switch the DTMF mode in the IVR’s advanced settings.

Time conditions aren't switching at the right time

Check the IVR’s time zone setting — defaults to your account TZ but can be overridden. Daylight savings transitions are handled automatically.

Callers hear silence instead of the greeting

The menu routing can be healthy while the prompt audio is missing or failed to render. Open the IVR, re-save the greeting (for TTS prompts this re-renders the audio) or re-upload your recording, then call in to verify. If silence persists, contact support.

​Anatomy of an IVR

Greeting prompt

Menu prompt

Key mappings

Timeout and invalid

Time conditions

Holiday calendar

​Build a basic IVR

​Prompt options

​Time conditions

​Holiday calendar

​Multi-level menus

​Best practices

Lead with the option

Limit to 4-5 options

Always offer 0 for operator

Keep prompts under 30 seconds

​Time-of-day forwarding without an IVR

​API

​Troubleshooting

​Next steps

Set up a complete IVR

Queues

Anatomy of an IVR

Build a basic IVR

Prompt options

Time conditions

Holiday calendar

Multi-level menus

Best practices

Time-of-day forwarding without an IVR

API

Troubleshooting

Next steps