How to copy a call menu

If you already have one IVR (interactive voice response) set up the way you like it, you do not need to rebuild a second one by hand. VICIdial lets you copy an existing call menu into a new one, settings and all, and then you only tweak what differs.

What the copy step does

The copy page takes all of an existing Call menu's settings and pours them into a brand-new menu. To start it you provide three things: a new Menu ID, a Menu Name for the copy, and the source call menu you are copying from. The system handles the rest.

Everything carries over: the greeting prompt, the timeout and repeat values, and all the option routes that map each keypress to a destination. The new menu is a working clone the moment it is created.

Steps to copy a menu

1. Open the copy call menu page in the inbound section.
2. Enter a new Menu ID, following the usual naming rules.
3. Enter a Menu Name for the new copy.
4. Choose the source call menu to copy settings from, then submit.

Remember the Menu ID rules apply to the new menu too: 2 to 50 characters, only letters, numbers, underscores, and dashes, and it has to be unique. Once created, the Menu ID cannot be changed, so name the copy clearly.

flowchart LR
  A[Source call menu] --> B[Open copy page]
  B --> C[Enter new Menu ID]
  C --> D[Enter Menu Name]
  D --> E[Pick source menu]
  E --> F[Submit]
  F --> G[New menu with cloned settings]
  G --> H[Adjust only what differs]

What to change after copying

A clone is only useful if you adjust the parts that should differ. Open the new menu and review the option routes: if the original sent "press 1" to a sales group, the copy may need to send it to a different Ingroup. Swap any group IDs, extensions, or DID targets that should point somewhere new.

Also check the greeting prompt. The copy points at the same audio file as the source, so if the new menu needs different wording, record a new prompt and update the Menu Prompt field. When the copy is finished, point a DID (direct inward dialing) at it and test every option just as you would a brand-new menu. Walk each keypress end to end, because a stale group ID copied from the source is the easiest mistake to miss.

Copying is also the safe way to experiment. Clone a menu you depend on, change the routing on the copy, and test the new version on a spare DID without touching the menu that callers are using right now. If the new layout works, swap the live DID over; if it does not, you have lost nothing.

Copies are a fast way to stand up parallel menus for different campaigns or languages. To make sure the groups behind those menus are ready, follow adding an inbound group, and see how everything connects in the inbound call handling guide.

Cloning menus is simplest on a system that is already up. If you want a box that can take inbound calls in under a minute, see our managed VICIdial hosting.