How to set up a phone menu and how it can help your business

For many professionals, fielding 20 business calls in a day is a breeze. But if only one of those phone calls is meant for you, you may spend more time routing calls than helping customers. Justifying these “small” interruptions can become a big efficiency issue as your call volume grows.

The answer: automating your call routing with a phone menu.

In this guide, we explain how you can set up a phone menu to route incoming calls without needing a receptionist. We also describe different types of calling menu options and explain how to avoid mistakes before they happen.

Looking for a business phone platform to get up and running fast? We also walk through the step-by-step process of setting up a phone menu.

What is a phone menu?

A phone menu, also known as interactive voice response (IVR), is a pre-recorded greeting that lets callers route their own calls by pressing keys or speaking specific words. When someone calls a number with a phone menu, they’ll hear a list of menu options, such as “Press one for business hours” or “Press two for live support.”

Phone menus automatically route callers based on their selection, whether it’s connecting them to another phone number, playing a voice recording, or sending them to your voicemail. Your business can configure what occurs with each option. 

How to set up a phone menu

Ready to create a more effective incoming call system for your team?

Here’s the step-by-step process to set up a phone menu for your business. 

1. Select the business phone number you wish to add a phone menu to

You should set up a phone menu on the main numbers clients are likely to call. These may include:

• Customer service lines
• Business departments (like Finance or Sales)
• Toll-free numbers

2. Map out your call flow

You can think of your call flow as a map callers use to find the right destination at your business.

You can customize your call flow to accommodate each of your team members or departments. That said, you shouldn’t make it too complex — five to seven options are plenty. Clearly explain where each option directs callers and what happens if they stay on the line without making a selection.

You may want to put your most popular menu options first (like ‘Press one to speak with a representative’). If you’re unsure of your customers’ needs, consider analyzing incoming calls to streamline your options. This process can also reveal opportunities to play automated recordings that answer frequently asked questions, helping callers find what they need without speaking to your team. 

3. Add menu options

Now that you have a roadmap for your callers, it’s time to set up your menu options to guide them efficiently.

You have two main options:

1. Interactive voice response (IVR): Callers can say keywords like ‘sales’ to be directed to the right team, person, or information.
2. Dial by number: Callers press a number on their keypad to connect with the appropriate team, person, or information.

With OpenPhone, you can easily create phone menus that offer keypad selection and IVR options. This ensures accessibility for your callers without limiting your options as your phone menu grows.

4. Add your phone menu greeting

Your callers probably don’t want to waste unnecessary time on the phone — so tell them what to expect the minute they call your business. Build a phone menu with a clear recorded greeting that quickly guides customers to the right place.

Your phone menu greeting should contain:

• Your business name and hours
• Your phone menu options
• Your default calling route (what happens if customers don’t select an option)
• Other places where customers can get support

Here’s an example of what this could look like for your business:

“Thanks for calling [COMPANY] in [LOCATION]. To reach the [DEPARTMENT NAME], press one. For [DEPARTMENT NAME], press two. For [DEPARTMENT NAME], press three. For all other questions, please stay on the line to speak with our customer service team. You can also reach us by emailing [EMAIL ADDRESS].“

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5. Add or tweak other phone settings

Once your phone menu up and running, you might consider refining a few details.

Make a point of configuring settings like:

• Your business hours. You can define your business hours in your automated phone system so you only accept calls within that time frame. Any calls received outside that time frame are sent to your away voicemail, where you can let them know you plan to get back to them soon.
• Voicemail and away voicemail greetings. With OpenPhone, you can create a custom voicemail for the phone numbers your menu routes to.
• Automatic call recordings. You’ll always have a record of past conversations for later reference and can help new team members onboard effectively.
• Auto-replies. If someone calls and doesn’t leave a voicemail, you can automatically send a message with a link to your calendar or information about when you’ll get back to them. That way, customers can get help quickly and stay informed.
• Integrations with your current tech stack. For example, if you use HubSpot, you can directly connect it with OpenPhone to automatically log all of your phone menu’s call activity.

Types of phone menu options

Whether you want to manage high call volume or look more professional to customers, there are all sorts of ways to use phone menus to your advantage.

Let’s take a look at the various locations where your phone menu can forward inbound callers.

Routing to a team or person associated with the phone number

Consider directing callers to individual business phone numbers so all relevant conversations happen in the right place. Your call script could say something along the lines of, “To reach [NAME], press one.” If you’d prefer team members to stay anonymous or want to route calls to a shared number for your team, you can say something like, “Press one for sales.”

Forwarding to an outside phone number

Want to forward calls from a business number to your personal cell? You can create a phone menu option to do just that.

You can use a business phone solution like OpenPhone to make and receive business calls on your personal devices — without using your personal number. Since you can use your business number from almost anywhere with a WiFi connection, you can take your customers (and calls) wherever you go — all while keeping your personal and professional life separate. 

Letting the call through

If customers don’t select an option on your phone menu, you can automatically let them go to a ‘catch-all’ destination (such as the customer service team). Just don’t forget to let callers know what happens if they don’t make a selection. Add a disclaimer to your call script that says, “For all other questions, please stay on the line.”

Sending to voicemail

If your team isn’t available to pick up customer calls because they’re busy or the call is made outside of business hours, you can set up a phone menu option that directs callers straight to your voicemail.

Playing a recording

Instead of sending callers to a department or team member, you can play a recording when they press (or say) a specific number.

Imagine one of your customers wants information about your business locations. To save time and effort, you can create a phone menu option that reads your address and hours automatically.

You’re welcome to customize this script to your liking:

“For our [LOCATION] at [ADDRESS], we’re open from [HOURS] Monday through Saturday. Our other [LOCATION] at [ADDRESS] is open from [HOURS] Monday through Saturday.”

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Setting default options

A caller may not choose any of the options in your phone menu. In this case, your business needs to decide on a default phone menu option where callers are directed if they don’t select a specific option.

Examples of default options include:

• Replaying the options
• Routing them to a specific number
• Playing a farewell message and ending the call
• Sending them to voicemail

Common phone menu design mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Building a great phone menu isn’t rocket science, but it’s possible to overlook certain things that could make your menu more efficient.

Here are a few ways businesses fumble with their menu design — and how you can avoid the same pitfalls.

Not including IVR menu options 

You have two options for setting up a phone menu: dial by number (key presses) or Interactive Voice Response (voice commands). Using dial by number alone may be more time-consuming and could create barriers for persons with disabilities.

If you’re an OpenPhone customer, you can access IVR and dial-by-number tools with a Business plan (more on this later).

Not setting what happens if a caller doesn’t select a phone menu option

Have you ever lost track of the options on a phone menu because the recorded greeting didn’t repeat itself? This is what you don’t want customers to experience, especially if none of the phone menu options meet their needs. A default phone menu option is a good way to route callers who don’t select an option.

Having a wordy or difficult-to-follow phone menu greeting

You want your phone menu to be friendly and accessible, not frustrating or confusing. To do this, you need to use clear phrasing and avoid jargon so you don’t alienate your audience.

Double-check your greeting by reading the script out loud to yourself. Does it sound like something a person would say? Is it stiff, awkward, or confusing? Iterate and adjust as necessary.

Not testing your phone menu after setting it up

You need to test your phone menu thoroughly before making it available to callers. This doesn’t have to be difficult — you just need a cell phone and your business number.

Press (or say) each of your key phrases to make sure they direct callers wherever they’re supposed to go. 

Plus, you can check your call analytics to see which departments get the most traffic and adjust the order of your menu options accordingly.

Not using shared numbers 

For busy teams receiving hundreds of calls per day, missed calls create the risk of a customer or prospect falling through the cracks.

Setting up a shared number is a great way to split responsibility for incoming calls without hiring more team members or contracting third parties. With OpenPhone, you can add different team members to a single line to answer calls and texts. You can customize ring order so that everyone on the line will be notified simultaneously or in a specific order when a call comes through.

Having too many menu options

If your phone menu has too many options, you risk overwhelming and confusing your callers, which can lead to them abandoning calls before they reach a rep. Instead, stick to 5-7 menu options max. That way, you’ll reduce transfer times, call durations, and input errors. 

Not including self-serve options

Providing self-serve options on a phone menu helps customers solve their own queries without talking to reps. Just upload an audio recording of the answers to frequently asked questions about your business. Then, callers can press a key or say a word to get the information they need. 

Here are a few self-serve options for your phone menu:

• Find out business hours
• Check an account balance
• Reset a password
• Make a payment
• Hear location and directions

Want to know how many customers use your self-serve options? OpenPhone lets you see when callers played an audio via the phone menu and then ended the call. 

Set up your phone menu with OpenPhone

Choosing a VoIP system that supports automated attendants is one of the simplest ways to set up a phone menu. Within minutes, you can have a professional menu set up without any IT support.

OpenPhone includes basic call forwarding with all pricing plans — and by upgrading to our Business plan for just $23 per user per month, you can access phone menus.

Just follow these steps to set up a phone menu with OpenPhone.

1. Sign up for an OpenPhone account

If you don’t already have an OpenPhone account, you can sign up for a free seven-day trial to put our platform to the test.

Do you have a US, Canadian, or North American toll-free number? Once you confirm that OpenPhone is a great fit, you can port the number over for free.

2. Select a phone number you wish to add a phone menu to

Head to Settings in your workspace, select Phone numbers, and choose the business phone number you want to add a phone menu.

3. Go to the phone menu

Next, scroll down and tap Phone menu to start setting up your menu.

4. Set up a greeting message

Your greeting message is the first thing your customers hear when they dial your phone number. Your auto-attendant script can be as simple as, “Thanks for calling XYZ Company! Please select from the following options to reach the right department.”

All you have to do is tap Change greeting to upload an audio file, record a message, or type out a message to generate an automated voice recording.

💡Check out OpenPhone’s free AI business auto-attendant greeting generator (available whether or not you have an OpenPhone account).

5. Set destinations for each phone menu option

Under Menu Options, you can set where to route callers based on their keypad or voice command. For example, you can:

• Forward calls to another OpenPhone number
• Forward calls to a US or Canadian number outside your organization
• Let calls go through to the number callers originally dialed

• Send callers to voicemail 
• Send callers to a specific team member (even if they share a phone number)
• Play an audio message, then route to the default action 

OpenPhone users can set up to 10 menu options/phone extensions.

6. Set what happens if callers don’t select a menu option

In addition to setting destinations for your menu options, you can choose a default destination for callers who don’t type or say any command. Under Default action, you can choose from any of the destinations you set up in the previous steps, along with options to play audio and end the call or repeat all menu options to the caller.

Just tap Save once you’re done customizing your phone menu, and you’re all set.

You can set up a phone menu in 15 minutes or less by starting your free trial of OpenPhone today.

Increase your efficiency using phone menus with OpenPhone

Setting up a phone menu can help you impress and support your customers while keeping your team as productive as can be. With a virtual phone system, you can create your phone menu in a matter of minutes and route your callers to a variety of destinations.

But the perks of VoIP systems don’t stop with a phone menu. With OpenPhone, you can continue supporting callers and helping your team succeed with free calling in the US and Canada. You can also access features like call recording, voicemail transcriptions, VoIP call forwarding, and integrations with business apps like HubSpot and Slack, with small business-friendly pricing.

Ready to see why OpenPhone is the #1 business phone solution on G2? Start your seven-day free trial of OpenPhone today.

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