Inbound & IVR

Inbound call handling in Dialer.CX covers everything from the phone number a customer dials to the agent who answers. This section walks through DID management, queue configuration, IVR menu building, and audio prompt creation.

DID Numbers (Inbound Numbers)

Manage your inbound phone numbers at Admin > DIDs. Each DID defines how an incoming call is routed when it arrives.

DID Configuration

• Route type — where incoming calls go: queue, agent, voicemail, IVR menu, or external number
• Time-based routing — different destinations for business hours vs. after hours (e.g., IVR during the day, voicemail at night)
• Caller ID routing — route based on the caller’s number or area code
• Overflow handling — what happens when the primary destination is full or unavailable

Tip

Use time-based routing to automatically switch between your daytime queue and an after-hours IVR or voicemail. This eliminates the need to manually change routing at the start and end of each business day.

DID Inventory

Track your number portfolio across all providers:

• Provider and cost per number for budget tracking
• Renewal dates so numbers are not accidentally lost
• Geographic assignment — area code and region mapping
• Usage statistics — call volume and answer rates per number

Inbound Queues

Configure call queues at Admin > Inbound Queues. Queues hold incoming callers until an agent becomes available.

Setting	Description
Queue Name	Human-readable identifier shown in monitoring and reports
Ring Strategy	Longest idle, round-robin, random, or ring all
Max Wait Time	How long callers wait before overflow action triggers
Overflow Destination	Where calls go when max wait is exceeded (voicemail, another queue, IVR)
Hold Music	Which music-on-hold playlist callers hear while waiting
Announcements	Position-in-queue and estimated wait time messages
Agent Priority	Which agents are preferred for this queue and in what order

Note

The Longest Idle ring strategy generally provides the most even workload distribution. It routes each new call to the agent who has been waiting the longest since their last call.

IVR / Call Menus

Build interactive voice response menus at Admin > Call Menus. IVR menus greet callers and route them based on key presses.

• Menu prompts — the audio file played to callers (“Press 1 for Sales, Press 2 for Support…”)
• DTMF options — map key presses (1—9, 0, *, #) to specific destinations
• Destinations per key: queue, agent, extension, voicemail, another IVR menu, or hang up
• Timeout handling — action if no key is pressed within the timeout period
• Invalid input — retry the prompt or redirect on wrong key press

Caution

Always configure a timeout and invalid input handler for every IVR menu. Callers who reach a dead end with no fallback will hang up — or worse, stay on the line consuming a channel indefinitely.

IVR Prompt Builder

Create professional audio prompts without recording studio equipment using AI text-to-speech:

1. Navigate to IVR Builder from the sidebar
2. Type your prompt text — write exactly what callers should hear
3. Select a voice and language from the available TTS voices
4. Click Generate — the AI engine creates the audio file in seconds
5. Preview the result directly in your browser
6. Save to your prompt library for use in IVR menus, queues, and announcements

Tip

Write TTS prompts in a natural, conversational tone. Include brief pauses by adding commas or periods. For example: “Thank you for calling. For sales, press 1. For support, press 2.”

Voice Files

Manage all audio files at Admin > Voice Files. This is the central library for every audio asset used across the platform.

• Upload pre-recorded audio — WAV or MP3 format
• Generate new files via the built-in text-to-speech engine
• Organize by category — IVR prompts, hold music, announcements, voicemail greetings
• Preview playback — listen to any file directly from the management page

Music on Hold

Configure hold music at Admin > Music on Hold. Hold music plays for callers waiting in queues and during transfers.

• Create playlists with multiple audio files for variety
• Upload custom music — use your own licensed audio tracks
• Assign playlists to specific queues and campaigns
• Random or sequential playback order

Note

Ensure any music you upload is properly licensed for commercial telephone use. Standard music streaming licenses typically do not cover telephone hold music.