> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hiveku.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Build a Phone Menu

> Make a 'press 1 for…' menu that greets callers and sends each choice to the right person, voicemail box or AI agent, test it, and put it on your number

A phone menu greets callers and lets them choose where to go: "For wholesale orders, press 1. For the café, press 2." Each key sends the call to a person, a group of phones, a voicemail box, another menu or one of your AI agents.

This guide builds a two-option menu for Northwind's main line, tests it without making a call, and shows where to put it on a number.

## Start the menu

**1. Open IVR**

Click **Communications** in the left rail, then **Routing** at the top, then **IVR**. Click **New IVR**.

**2. Name it, pick a voice and write the greeting**

Type a **Name** for the menu and pick a **Voice**: **Play** lets you hear it. Under **Greeting**, write what callers hear first, including the choices.

![Name Northwind main line, outlined; Voice Harlow, Warm Support, feminine, English, outlined, with Play; and the greeting Thanks for calling Northwind Coffee Roasters. For wholesale orders, press 1. For the Pearl District café, press 2., outlined](https://mintcdn.com/locusdigital/cSTH4CJtFAzCfIfM/images/how-tos/phone/iv-01-basics-closeup.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=cSTH4CJtFAzCfIfM\&q=85\&s=a35edbf93009ba8f1726541134760c78)

Name, voice and greeting

## Add the choices

**1. Click Add option and pick a key**

Under **Menu**, click **Add option**, then the key callers press.

**2. Choose where the key goes**

In the first list, pick the kind of destination: **Extension** (one phone), **Ring group**, another **IVR**, an **AI agent**, **Voicemail**, **Repeat menu** or **Disconnect**. In the second list, pick which one. Give the option a short **Label** so you know what it is for.

![Menu options: 1, AI agent, AI receptionist (Riley), label Wholesale, outlined; 2, Voicemail, 1003, Jamie Holloway, label Pearl District café, outlined; and Add option, outlined](https://mintcdn.com/locusdigital/cSTH4CJtFAzCfIfM/images/how-tos/phone/iv-03-options-closeup.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=cSTH4CJtFAzCfIfM\&q=85\&s=e567edcb36c31b627540b8fe36c26d95)

Two choices

Repeat for each key, then click **Create IVR**.

Further down, three settings cover the edges: **Business hours** sends callers somewhere else when you're closed, **After hours** picks where that is, and **Invalid input** sets how many times the menu repeats when someone presses a key with no option.

## Test it without a call

On the **IVR** page, click **Test** on your menu. The play button reads the greeting in the voice you picked, and the keypad shows where each key goes. Press a key to follow it.

![IVR walkthrough for Northwind main line: the greeting's play button, outlined, and the greeting text; the options 1 AI receptionist, Wholesale, and 2 Voicemail, Pearl District café; and the keypad with 2, outlined](https://mintcdn.com/locusdigital/cSTH4CJtFAzCfIfM/images/how-tos/phone/iv-04-test-closeup.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=cSTH4CJtFAzCfIfM\&q=85\&s=db8b38432697b3ef2af7432196d0d45c)

The test, with the greeting and keypad

![Routes to: Voicemail, Jamie Holloway, extension 1003, outlined, with Restart walkthrough and End test](https://mintcdn.com/locusdigital/cSTH4CJtFAzCfIfM/images/how-tos/phone/iv-05-result-closeup.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=cSTH4CJtFAzCfIfM\&q=85\&s=03cfba681600a48274217609aa28e18c)

Where key 2 goes

## Put the menu on your number

Click **Routing**, then **Numbers**, and the edit button on your number's row. Under **Inbound routes to**, pick **IVR**, then your menu under **Which IVR?**, and click **Save changes**. From then on, callers to that number hear the menu.

![Inbound routes to IVR, outlined, and Which IVR? Northwind main line (6000), outlined](https://mintcdn.com/locusdigital/cSTH4CJtFAzCfIfM/images/how-tos/phone/iv-06-number-closeup.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=cSTH4CJtFAzCfIfM\&q=85\&s=9aceba430fa2ba1debaff273a52e219b)

The number, sent to the menu

## Good to know

* **Need a number first?** See [Get a Local or Toll-Free Number](/how-tos/phone/get-a-phone-number.md).
* **Menus inside menus.** Pick **IVR** as a destination to send a key to a second menu, such as a list of departments.
* **Deleting a menu** a number still points to makes that number turn calls away, so point the number somewhere else first.
* **More detail** on every setting: see [IVR](/communications/ivr.md).


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.