- 11 Mar 2024
- 7 Minutes to read
- Print
- DarkLight
- PDF
IVR Workflows
- Updated on 11 Mar 2024
- 7 Minutes to read
- Print
- DarkLight
- PDF
- New
Dialpad's Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is an automated telephone menu system that allows contact center supervisors and admins to create customized flows for a personalized customer experience. IVR workflows can collect user information, access CRM systems, identify callers, and create unique routing based on individual needs. This improves efficiency by freeing up agents for complex calls and providing self-service options. IVR workflows can be easily created without coding and can be edited or copied as needed. Dialpad also offers options to disconnect, reconnect, or delete workflow steps, as well as set fallback actions in case of unresponsive steps. IVR interactions can be tracked and analyzed, providing insights into customer behavior.
The best part? There’s no coding involved and workflows can be created in minutes!
Let's dive into the details.
IVR Workflows are available to Dialpad users on all plans and licenses.
Self-enablement is available for companies located in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Companies in all other locations must contact customer support to enable this feature.
Benefit of IVR workflows
IVR systems allow you to customize the customer experience in real-time by:
- Collecting crucial user information (booking numbers, account numbers, etc)
- Accessing CRM or other systems through APIs
- Identifying the caller
- Creating unique routing and behavior according to the individual caller’s needs
This enables more efficient use of Agents and, in some cases, even allows the customer to resolve their question through self-service.
IVRs do not replace the need for a live agent, but they improve customer satisfaction while freeing Agents available to handle complex inbound calls. Not only that, they provide a self-service option that can be accessed outside of business hours.
Workflow steps
Dialpad's bespoke IVR steps allow you to guide your callers through personalized steps, using your voice and verbiage, ensuring the menu selection is on brand with your product. Add as many IVR workflows as you require, and edit them anytime!
Workflow options include:
- Menu - Plays the menu prompt and collects the caller's menu choice
- Collect - Collects DTMF input (great for collecting account numbers, pins etc)
- Play - Plays audio file prompts
- Go-to - Moves the caller to another IVR Workflow or step inside the current workflow
- Transfer - Transfers the call to another Office, Department, User, or phone number
- Hang-up - Ends the current call
- Branch - Evaluates a variable (system or workflow specific) for a condition and proceeds down a different path based on the result
- Expert - Performs API calls, logic decisions, variables, and other advanced operations
- Expert flows must be enabled by our Professional Services team. Please reach out to your Customer Success Manager for more information
- Expert flows must be enabled by our Professional Services team. Please reach out to your Customer Success Manager for more information
Learn more about each IVR step in this Help Center article.
Enable IVR Workflows
First things first, IVR Workflows must first be enabled at the Company level.
Self-enablement is available for companies located in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Companies in all other locations must contact Support to enable this feature.
To enable IVR workflows from your Admin Portal:
- Navigate to Company Settings
- Select IVR workflows
- Slide the toggle to Enabled
Once enabled, you can create a Standard IVR Workflow.
Create an IVR Workflow
To create an IVR workflow, head to your Admin Settings at Dialpad.com
- Select IVR Workflows
- Select Create Workflow
- Name your workflow
- Select the + icon
- Choose if you'd like to create a workflow from scratch, or use a template
- Select the desired actions and routing rules
- Select Publish (or Save, if you'd like to save a draft)
Assign an IVR workflow
Once an IVR workflow has been published, you need to assign it to an office, department, or contact center.
Head to your Admin Settings at Dialpad.com
- Select the desired office, department, or contact center
- Select Business Hours and Call Routing
- Navigate to Call Routing
- Select Edit Call Routing
- Choose Open Hours Routing or Closed Hours Routing
- Select Other Routing Options
- Select an IVR Workflow
- Select the desired IVR workflow
Once an IVR is assigned, you'll see the number of Entry Points appear beside each IVR workflow.
Edit an IVR Workflow
To edit an IVR workflow, head to your Admin Settings at Dialpad.com
- Select IVR Workflows
- Click the More menu beside the workflow you want to delete
- Select Edit
- Make the desired changes
- Select Save to save your changes
- Select Publish to push your edits live to connected numbers
Disconnect a workflow step
Need to add or change a step on your workflow? No problem! We've made it super easy for you. You can insert new steps effortlessly by disconnecting, reconnecting or deleting a workflow step.
To disconnect a workflow step, log in to Dialpad.com and go to your Admin Settings
- Select IVR Workflows
- Select a workflow you want to edit
- Select Option (that’s the 3 vertical dots on the right)
- Select Edit
- Navigate to the step you want to disconnect
- Select Option
- Select Disconnect
Once you remove a step, you can change and update both workflow steps at the same time.
Don't forget, there's no undo option. If you want to revert the changes, you'll have to reconstruct the workflow again.
You can Save your unfinished workflow, but you can't Publish it until you reconnect or delete any disconnected steps.
Reconnect a workflow step
To reconnect a workflow step, log in to Dialpad.com and go to Admin Settings
- Navigate to IVR Workflows
- Select a workflow you want to edit
- Navigate to the step you want to link your workflow
- Select the + icon
- Select Reconnect step
Delete a workflow step
No longer need a workflow step? Head to Dialpad.com and go to Admin Settings to delete a step
- Navigate to IVR Workflows
- Select a workflow you want to edit
- Navigate to the step you want to delete
- Select Option (that’s the 3 vertical dots)
- Select Delete
If a workflow has a step above and below it, you’ll be prompted to choose how to delete it.
- Delete all: This will delete the selected step and the steps below it
- Delete this step: This will only delete the selected step
That’s it! The workflow step will be deleted, but the changes aren’t permanent until saved or published.
Copy an IVR Workflow
Save time by copying an existing IVR Workflow.
To copy an IVR Workflow, head to your Admin Settings from Dialpad.com
- Navigate to IVR Workflows
- Select the Options menu beside the IVR Workflow you'd like to copy
- Select Copy
- Name your new IVR Workflow
- Select the desired office(s), then select Apply
- Select Copy to confirm
- The copied workflow will not follow the existing GoTo targets.
- Once copied, transfer destinations will need to be adjusted to the correct office.
- Media files will be copied, but may have duplications that will need to be reset in the destination workflow.
IVR entry points
Easily see where IVR workflows are connected by the Entry Points indicator.
Here you'll see the number of targets each workflow is attached to — click on the number to see the list, and click on a target item to see it's page.
Delete an IVR Workflow
To delete an IVR workflow, head to your Admin Settings at Dialpad.com
First, you’ll need to remove any connected numbers from the IVR Workflow.
- Select the desired Office, Department, or Contact Center that is currently assigned to the IVR Workflow you need to delete
- Select Business Hours and Call Routing
- Navigate to Call Routing
- Select Edit Call Routing
- Choose Open Hours Routing or Closed Hours Routing
- Change the routing option to something other than IVR workflows.
Next, return to IVR Workflows from your Admin Settings.
- Select IVR Workflows
- Click the more menu beside the workflow you want to delete
- Select Delete
- Confirm deletion
IVR workflows that have entry points cannot be deleted.
Deleting a workflow cannot be undone.Fallback options
Use a fallback action to route callers to an alternate line in the rare event that a step in your workflow becomes unresponsive.
To set a fallback action, head to your Admin Settings from Dialpad.com
- Select the desired contact center, department, or office
- Select Advanced Settings
- Navigate to IVR Workflows Fallback Action
- You'll only see the fall back action option for contact centers, departments, and offices that already have an IVR workflow configured.
- Choose the desired fallback option
- Voicemail: Sends the caller to the contact center's voicemail
- Operators: Sends the caller to operators
- Contact enter / department / offices: Sends the caller to a specific contact center, office, or department
- Team member: Sends the caller to a specific team member
- Room phone / external number: Sends the caller to a specific room phone or number
Find interactions with IVR Workflows
Use Dialpad's Session History to easily find calls and interactions where users were guided through your IVR Workflows.
From the Call History section of your Admin Portal:
- Select Digital and workflows
- Select the Channel filter
- Select Voice
- Select Apply
View IVR Workflows in a call
Want to see the exact steps your callers selected as navigated through your IVR workflow?
Once you've found the interaction from the Session History:
- Select the Ai icon beside the call
- Select Show internal messages
That's it! Here, you'll see each IVR step, the media that played and the customer's selection.