Callers reach the right team the first time
A well-built menu sends billing to billing and service to service, so fewer calls bounce between extensions and fewer people give up.
Auto Attendant & IVR
A main menu that actually gets callers where they meant to go.
Press-one or say-it menus, business-hours and holiday schedules, English and French greetings, dial-by-name, and self-service flows that answer “where is my order” without an agent.
- Multi-level menus by keypress or speech
- Business hours, holidays and overrides
- Self-service flows via your systems
Example
Incoming call+1 (416) 555-0198
Main menu9–17
11 — Appointments
22 — Renewals
33 — Billing
After hours
Reception queue90 s → Callback offered
AI receptionist
Voicemail to email
3CTel Auto Attendant & IVR is the menu system that answers a business number and routes callers. It supports multi-level menus by keypress or speech, business-hours and holiday schedules, English and French prompts, a dial-by-name directory and self-service flows that look up information such as order status through your own systems. Each option can hand off to a queue, extension, voicemail or the AI Receptionist.
What changes for your business.
After-hours and holidays handle themselves
Schedules switch greetings and routing automatically, and a manager can flip an override when the office closes early for a storm.
Routine questions are answered without staff
Order status, balance, hours and directions can be read back from your own systems, freeing agents for calls that need a person.
Queues receive callers who are ready
By the time a caller lands in a queue, the IVR has already identified the reason and, where you choose, the account.
Core capabilities.
Multi-level menus
Top-level menus with sub-menus by department, location or language, each with its own greeting, timeout and invalid-entry behaviour.
Speech-enabled options
Callers can say “billing” or “book an appointment” instead of pressing a key. Speech options are scoped and tested with you, since recognition depends on the speech models and accents involved.
Business hours, after-hours and overrides
Time-of-day and day-of-week rules per menu, with a manual override that staff can toggle from a phone or the app.
Holiday calendars
Provincial and company holidays entered once, with a distinct greeting and routing for each closed day.
Language selection
English and French menus, or a language prompt up front that carries the choice through every sub-menu and into the queue.
Dial-by-name directory
Callers spell a name on the keypad to reach a person directly; the directory is built from your users and kept current automatically.
Self-service IVR flows
Order status, appointment confirmation or account balance read back from your CRM, booking or order system via API or webhooks, scoped during planning.
Hand-off to queues and people
Any option can send the caller to a queue, a ring group, an extension, voicemail, the AI Receptionist or an external number, with the reason attached.
Common use cases.
Multi-location business with one published number
The caller picks a location or is routed by the number dialled, then reaches that site’s menu with its own hours and staff.
Clinic confirming appointments by phone
Callers enter their phone number, hear their next appointment and confirm or request a change without reaching the front desk.
Distributor answering order-status calls
An order number is spoken or keyed in, looked up in the order system, and the status is read back; unresolved cases go to the queue.
Bilingual professional office
A language prompt leads to fully French or English menus, directory and voicemail, so the caller never hears the wrong language.
AI Receptionist replacing the deepest menu levels
Instead of a third layer of options, the caller can describe what they need; the AI Receptionist identifies the intent, answers routine questions itself and transfers the rest to the right extension or queue with the reason already captured.
Setup and migration.
The menu is designed before it is recorded. A 3CTel specialist maps your call reasons, hours and teams, then builds and tests the flow on a temporary number before your main line switches over.
Map call reasons and destinations
We list why people call, where each reason should land and what happens when nobody answers, then draw the menu tree with you.
Set schedules and holidays
Business hours, after-hours rules, holiday calendar and the manual override are configured for each menu.
Record greetings and configure options
Greetings are recorded or generated in English and French, keypress and speech options are set, and the directory is populated.
Connect self-service and test
Where an API or webhook to your systems is in scope, it is connected and tested with real lookups; the whole flow is then walked through call by call before go-live.
AI in this product
AI in your auto attendant
The menu callers hear is reviewed against what they actually do, and a conversational option can replace button presses.
Menu recommendations from real caller paths
Options callers skip, repeat and abandon are surfaced with proposed wording and ordering changes, each backed by the call paths behind it and applied to the auto attendant only after you approve.
Say-what-you-need instead of press-one
An AI Receptionist option lets callers describe their need in plain language and be routed, booked or answered, with the button menu kept as a fallback.
After-hours rule suggestions
Call patterns around opening and closing inform when after-hours handling should start, what the greeting should say and whether a callback or AI agent should be offered.
Common questions, answered directly.
What is an auto attendant on a business phone system?
An auto attendant is the automated greeting and menu that answers a business number. It plays a recorded message, offers options such as sales, service or a directory, and routes the caller to the matching extension, ring group or queue. Schedules change the greeting and routing outside business hours and on holidays so callers always hear the right message.
How does a self-service IVR flow work?
The caller enters or speaks an identifier such as an order number or phone number. The IVR sends it to your order, booking or CRM system through an API or webhook, receives the result and reads it back. If the answer is not found or the caller asks for a person, the call is handed to a queue with the details attached. Each lookup is scoped during planning.
Should a small business use an IVR at all?
Keep it short. One level with three or four clear options, a zero-for-reception escape and a bilingual greeting is usually enough for a small office. Deeper menus make sense when call volume is high or when self-service can resolve common questions. A 3CTel specialist helps decide what belongs in the menu and what should go straight to a person.
Learn more
- Auto attendantA recorded greeting that answers the main number and lets callers pick a destination or dial an extension.
- IVR (Interactive Voice Response)A phone menu that responds to keypad presses or spoken choices before a person answers.
- Call routingThe rules that decide where each incoming call goes and what happens when nobody answers.
- Call routingDecide who answers, in what order, and what happens when they cannot.
- After-hours callsA plan for every call that arrives after closing, on a weekend or on a holiday.
- AI receptionist vs answering serviceThree ways to handle calls nobody can pick up, compared without a sales pitch.
Learn more
Works with the tools you already use.
Integrations are scoped during planning based on your systems; availability is confirmed before activation.
- SalesforceCRM
- HubSpotCRM
- Zoho CRMCRM
- ZendeskHelpdesk
- FreshdeskHelpdesk
- Jane AppClinic management
- DentrixDental practice
- Webhooks & APICustom
Related products.
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Queues, routing and supervision for teams that live on the phone.
Learn more: Contact CentreAI Receptionist
Answers, understands and books — in English and French.
Learn more: AI ReceptionistBusiness Phone Numbers
Local, toll-free and campaign numbers that all land in one system.
Learn more: Business Phone NumbersFrequently asked questions.
An auto attendant plays a greeting and routes by menu choice. An IVR goes further: it can collect input, look up information in your systems and respond, such as reading back an order status. 3CTel configures both on the same platform.
Yes. Speech-enabled options let a caller say what they need. Because recognition depends on the speech models, vocabulary and accents involved, the options are scoped and tested with you before activation.
A holiday calendar is loaded with your closed days. On those dates the menu plays a holiday greeting and follows the routing you chose, without anyone changing settings that morning.
Yes. You can offer a language prompt first, or publish separate numbers per language. The choice follows the caller through sub-menus, directory and queue announcements.
Yes, where your order, booking or CRM system exposes an API or webhook. The lookup is scoped during planning and availability is confirmed before activation.
The IVR follows a menu you designed. The AI Receptionist holds a conversation, takes messages and books appointments. Many customers use both: the IVR for structured routing, the AI Receptionist as one of its destinations.
Design your menu before you record it.
Tell us why people call and we will draft the menu tree, schedules and hand-offs for your review.