Conversational IVR
Conversational IVR that lets callers just say it.
A touch-tone menu makes every caller do the sorting: listen to the options, guess which one fits, press a key, then do it again one level down. A conversational IVR asks one question, how can I help, and routes on the answer, in the caller’s own words.
On VocalLabs the IVR is an AI voice agent on the numbers you already have. It resolves the routine requests you teach it and hands everything else to the right team, with the intent and the transcript already attached.
SIP · WebRTC · PSTN · 20+ languages · DTMF fallback · Warm transfer with context · Numbers in 50+ countries
- AI agent00:00
Thanks for calling Brightline Mobile. In a few words, what can I help you with today?
- Caller00:04
My bill is way higher this month and I want to know why. Also, can you cancel the international pack?
- System00:09
Intents: cancel_addon, billing_query · caller ID matched to account
- AI agent00:10
Done: the international pack ends with this cycle. For the bill, I am putting you through to billing now. They will see what you asked.
- Human00:24
Hi, this is Maya in billing. I can see the question about this month’s charges. Let me go through them with you.
The touch-tone path: four menus before one question.
This is the route a caller with a billing question takes through a typical keypad menu. Every step is a prompt they have to sit through, and every wrong guess sends them back to the top.
- 01Language menu“For English, press 1.”
- 02Main menuEight options read aloud. Billing is number 4.
- 03Billing sub-menuPayments, plans, disputes or “all other questions”.
- 04Keypad account entryTwelve digits, then the pound key.
- 05Hold queueRouted to a team, not to a reason.
- 06Agent“How can I help?” The caller starts again.
- The caller does the sorting
- They have to translate their problem into your org chart, one option at a time.
- Two questions, one key
- A caller with a bill question and a cancellation can only press one number.
- Context stops at the queue
- What the caller pressed rarely reaches the agent, so the first human question repeats the menu.
Why callers hang up on “press 1”.
In a 2019 survey of 2,010 US adults, 61% said reaching an IVR menu makes for a poor customer experience, and respondents said they had abandoned 27% of their calls to businesses in the past year because they reached one. These were the complaints they named most.
- The reason for calling is not listed
- 65%
- Forced to listen to irrelevant options
- 63%
- It keeps callers from a live person
- 54%
- Menus are usually too long
- 46%
Survey of 2,010 US adults by Opinion Matters for Vonage, published September 2019. · Source: Vonage IVR survey, 2019
The conversational IVR path: say it once.
A conversational IVR turns the same call into one open question. The agent works out what the caller wants, picks up the details they gave along the way, and either finishes the job or routes it.
- 01One open question“What can I help you with?”
- 02Caller says itIn their own words and language, two requests at once if they like.
- 03Intent and detailsBilling query, cancellation, account, dates and amounts.
- 04Resolve or routeRoutine requests finished on the call; the rest sent to the right team.
- 05Human with contextWarm transfer with the intent and transcript attached.
- Routes on reasons, not keys
- Every leaf of your old menu becomes an intent, plus the ones the menu never listed.
- Handles what it can
- Bookings, order status, FAQs and other requests you teach it are finished before anyone picks up.
- Hands over cleanly
- The person who takes a transfer sees what the caller asked, so nobody repeats themselves.
- Keeps the keypad
- DTMF still works for PINs and for callers who would rather press a key.
Touch-tone IVR vs conversational IVR.
| Touch-tone IVR | Conversational IVR | |
|---|---|---|
| How callers ask | Press a key per menu level | Say it in their own words |
| Reasons it can route | Only the options in the tree | Any intent you define, including combined requests |
| Changing a route | Re-record prompts, rebuild the tree | Edit the intent and the rule behind it |
| Resolving on the call | Recorded information, keypad payments | Bookings, status checks and FAQs, answered from your systems |
| Languages | One recorded menu per language | 20+ languages, with callers free to switch mid-sentence |
| On transfer | The agent usually starts from zero | Intent and transcript go with the call |
| Afterwards | Keypress logs | Transcripts and fields in Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, LeadSquared or Freshdesk |
Touch-tone systems vary by vendor and setup. Check what yours supports today.
What an AI IVR finishes before anyone picks up.
An AI IVR is most useful on the calls that arrive every day in the same shape. These are the requests teams usually move off the queue first.
- 01Booking
Appointments
Book, move and cancel straight into Google Calendar, Microsoft 365, CalDAV or Calendly, with an SMS or WhatsApp confirmation.
- 02Lookup
Order and service status
Look up the order, ticket or delivery over your REST API and read the answer back.
- 03FAQ
Questions with set answers
Hours, policies, prices and documents answered from your own knowledge base, not a recorded loop.
- 04Billing
Payments
Hand the caller to a Razorpay, Stripe, PayU or Cashfree payment step, then confirm the result.
- 05Leads
Sales enquiries
Qualify a new caller, write the answers to the CRM and transfer the ready ones to a rep.
- 06Escalation
Priority calls
Rules you write send outages, fraud reports or emergencies straight to a person.
A cloud IVR, without a box in the server room.
The conversational layer runs on VocalStack Voice, the cloud telephony underneath every VocalLabs agent. It connects to the carrier and contact-center platform you already use.
Moving from a keypad menu to a conversational IVR.
- 01
Turn the menu into intents
Start from your current tree and your top call reasons. Every option becomes an intent with a rule: resolve it on the call, or route it to a named team.
- 02
Keep your numbers
Forward the line, or route it over SIP from your carrier or contact-center platform. Callers dial the number they already know.
- 03
Connect the systems behind it
Calendars for bookings, your CRM or helpdesk for records, REST APIs and webhooks for lookups, and warm transfer targets for every queue.
- 04
Test, then move traffic over
Call it yourself and try the awkward cases. Start with one line or with overflow, read the transcripts, then move the rest of the traffic across.
