inbound
Auto attendant
An auto attendant is the recorded menu that greets inbound callers and lets them press a key to reach the right department or queue without a human operator.
An auto attendant is the recorded voice that answers when someone calls in: "Press 1 for sales, press 2 for support." It does the job a human switchboard operator used to do, sending callers to the right place based on the key they press. In VICIdial this is built as a Call menu.
The auto attendant is one piece of a larger interactive voice response, or IVR (interactive voice response), setup. When a call arrives, the inbound DID route decides whether it goes straight to a queue or first lands on the menu. The caller's key choice, sent as a DTMF tone, then drops them into the matching Ingroup. Each option on the menu points at one destination.
Keeping the menu friendly
The most common mistake is making the menu too deep. Long lists and menus inside menus frustrate people fast. Keep the top level to a handful of clear choices, put the most-used option first, and always offer a way to reach a person. A short, plain greeting beats a clever one that callers have to listen to twice.
You can also point the auto attendant at a different greeting outside business hours. Wiring it to your After hours handling means evening callers hear when you reopen, or get sent to voicemail, instead of being bounced into an empty queue that nobody is staffing.
Related terms
After hours
After hours is the period when your call center is closed, when inbound calls are routed to a special message, voicemail, or callback instead of agents.
Call menu
A call menu is the "press 1 for sales, 2 for support" prompt that greets inbound callers and routes them to the right place before an agent picks up.
DID route
The rule that tells VICIdial what to do with a call arriving on a particular inbound phone number — send it to a menu, an agent group, or a recording.
DTMF
DTMF is the system of audible tones a phone sends when you press its keypad, letting callers navigate menus and enter digits during a live call.
Ingroup
An inbound group in VICIdial that routes incoming calls to a pool of agents, the inbound counterpart to an outbound campaign.
IVR (interactive voice response)
An automated phone menu that greets callers and lets them press keys or speak so the system can route them, answer simple questions, or collect information.