Auto Attendant and IVR Script Examples for Business

A good auto attendant script greets the caller with your business name, offers no more than three or four clear options, puts the most common reason for calling first, and always gives a way to reach a person or leave a message. Keep each prompt under about 20 seconds and write it the way a person would speak.

Below are scripts you can adapt for the main menu, after hours, holidays and hold, plus the design rules that make them work.

Auto attendant vs IVR

An auto attendant is a recorded or synthesized greeting that routes calls, usually by keypad presses ("Press 1 for sales"). An IVR (interactive voice response) is a broader term that can include speech recognition, account lookups and self-service. For most small businesses, the needs are the same: greet, route, and never trap the caller.

Design rules before you write

Rule	Why
Lead with the business name	Confirms the caller dialed correctly
Put the most common request first	Most callers stop listening after the first option that fits
Say the action, then the key: "For billing, press 2"	Callers remember the number after they hear what it is for
Three or four options at most	More options mean more wrong presses and hang-ups
Always offer a person or voicemail	Callers who do not fit a category need a way out
Repeat the menu once, then route	Endless loops make people hang up
Avoid marketing in the menu	A caller who wants service does not want an ad
Keep each prompt short	Long prompts cost every caller time on every call

Main greeting scripts

Simple: ring the team

"Thanks for calling Northside Plumbing. Please hold while we connect you."

Best when your team answers most calls and a menu would only slow callers down.

Standard menu

"Thanks for calling Northside Plumbing. To schedule service, press 1. For an existing job or billing, press 2. For anything else, press 0 or stay on the line."

Professional office

"Thank you for calling Bayview Family Law. If you are a new client, press 1. If you are a current client, press 2. For billing, press 3. To reach the front desk, press 0. If you know your party's extension, you may dial it at any time."

Clinic or practice

"Thank you for calling Riverside Pediatrics. If this is a medical emergency, hang up and dial 911. To schedule or change an appointment, press 1. For prescription refills, press 2. For billing, press 3. For all other questions, press 0."

Retail with frequently asked questions

"Thanks for calling Corner Hardware. We're open Monday through Saturday, 8 to 7, and Sunday 10 to 4, at 214 Main Street. To check if an item is in stock, press 1. For rental equipment, press 2. For anything else, stay on the line."

Putting hours and address up front answers the two most common questions without a person.

Sub-menu scripts

Use sub-menus sparingly. If you need one:

"For residential service, press 1. For commercial accounts, press 2. To go back, press star."

Never put more than one level of sub-menu between a caller and a person.

After-hours scripts

"Thanks for calling Northside Plumbing. Our office is closed. Our hours are Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm. For an emergency such as a burst pipe or flooding, press 1 to reach our on-call technician. Otherwise, please leave a message after the tone, and we'll return your call next business day."

"You've reached Bayview Family Law. Our office is now closed. Please leave your name, number and a brief message, and we'll call you back the next business day. If this is an emergency, hang up and dial 911."

For more on what to do with after-hours calls, see after-hours call handling and business hours routing.

Holiday scripts

"Thanks for calling Corner Hardware. We're closed today for Thanksgiving and will reopen Friday at 8am. Please leave a message, or visit our website for store hours. Happy Thanksgiving."

"Thank you for calling Riverside Pediatrics. Our office is closed from December 24 through December 26. If this is a medical emergency, hang up and dial 911. For urgent questions, press 1 to reach the on-call provider."

Record holiday greetings in advance and set a reminder to switch back. A Christmas message playing in February tells callers no one is paying attention.

Hold and queue messages

"Thanks for holding. Someone will be with you shortly."

"All of our team members are helping other callers. Please stay on the line, or press 1 to leave a message and we'll call you back."

Offering a callback option is kinder than looping music. Avoid messages that repeat every 15 seconds.

Directory and extension scripts

"If you know your party's extension, dial it now. For a company directory, press 9."

Only include a directory if callers actually know names. Most customers of a small business do not.

Writing tips that make scripts sound human

• Write as you speak: "We're closed" not "We are currently unavailable to take your call."
• Read the script out loud and time it. Cut anything that does not help the caller.
• Spell out numbers the way you would say them: "seven a.m." rather than "0700."
• Avoid "your call is important to us." Answering quickly says that better.
• Use the same voice throughout. Mixing a professional recording with a phone-recorded prompt sounds unpolished.

Accessibility and emergencies

Let callers press 0 or stay on the line to reach a person; some callers cannot use the keypad easily. For businesses where callers may be in danger or distress, an emergency line in the greeting is worth the seconds it adds. Separately, under Kari's Law, your own staff must be able to dial 911 directly from your phone system with no prefix. See Kari's Law for business phones.

Script checklist

• Business name in the first sentence
• Most common request is option 1
• Four options or fewer
• A way to reach a person or leave a message
• Hours stated in after-hours greeting
• Emergency instructions where relevant
• Holiday greeting scheduled and a reminder to remove it
• Read aloud and timed

Greetings on Callata

Callata does not use a press-1 menu. Callers hear your business name, then the call rings your team, with ring groups and extensions, for the number of seconds you set (between 10 and 60). If nobody picks up, the caller reaches voicemail, and your voicemail greeting is spoken in a natural voice from text you type, so the after-hours and holiday scripts above can be pasted in and edited. Outside business hours you choose whether calls go to voicemail, forward to a number, or are answered by an AI receptionist that can take a message, answer questions, text or email, and transfer to your team. AI receptionist minutes come from prepaid AI minutes at $0.25 a minute; everything else is in the $99 monthly plan, which includes five users ($20 a month for each additional user). Try it.