Answering and routing
Get Every Caller to the Right Person.IVR call routing nodes: greetings, menus, keypad input, queues, people and AI.
These are the steps that talk to the caller and move the call. Play a greeting, ask them to press a key or type in a number, then ring a person, a team, a role, a queue, an outside number or an AI voice agent.
- Press-1 menus and keypad input
- People, teams or queues
- Voicemail when nobody answers
How a call moves through it
- Greeting playsRecorded, or typed and spoken for you
- Caller presses a keyA short list of clear options
- Or keys in a numberAn account or reference number
- The right people ringA person, team, role or queue
- Nobody free?Voicemail, or another route you choose
Answer, Ask, and Put Them Through.
Ask callers to key in an account, policy or reference number, and use it later in the call.
Every Routing Node, and Where It Sends the Call.
What each node does, when to use it, and the paths that come out of it.
AI Agent
Connects the caller to an AI voice agent that talks with them in real time. It can look things up, take details and decide when a person is needed.
Use it for: Front-desk answering, qualifying callers, after-hours cover, or anywhere a short conversation beats a menu.
Paths out
- Completed: The agent finished and the caller needs nothing else.
- Wants a human: The caller asked for a person, or the agent decided one was needed.
- Escalated: The caller was upset or raised something needing authority.
- No answer: The caller never said anything.
- Failed: The agent couldn’t run: it was turned off, unreachable or timed out.
Capture Digits
Plays a prompt, collects the digits the caller keys in and saves them under a name you choose. If too few arrive, it asks again, up to your retry limit.
Use it for: Account, invoice or policy numbers, dates, amounts or PINs. For a single key, like press 1 for sales, use Route to IVR.
Paths out
- Collected: Caller keyed in enough digits.
- No input: Caller entered nothing, or too few digits, once the retries ran out.
Good to know
- Give the saved value a clear name. ACCOUNT_NO reads better than VAR1 later in the flow.
- Read it back before acting on it. One Playback Audio step prevents a wrong lookup.
- Never read a captured card number back to the caller, and never put one in a prompt.
External Dial
Calls an outside phone number and branches on whether it was answered, busy or not picked up.
Use it for: Forwarding to a mobile, or transferring to a partner outside your team.
Paths out
- Answered: The destination connected.
- Busy: The destination was busy.
- No answer: No pickup before the ring time elapsed.
Good to know
- Set the ring time so unanswered calls move on quickly.
- For people and teams in Adoptiv, use Route to User, Role or Team, or a Queue.
Playback Audio
Plays a recording you uploaded, or text spoken in a voice from your brand voice kit, then moves on.
Use it for: Greetings, please-hold messages, disclaimers and after-hours notices.
Queue
Puts the caller in a call queue with hold music until an agent answers or the wait limit is reached.
Use it for: Contact center waiting, where calls are shared across agents by your queue’s rules.
Paths out
- Answered: An agent took the call.
- Timeout: The wait limit was reached before an agent answered.
Route to Role
Rings everyone in a CRM role at once. The first to answer takes the call.
Use it for: Any available manager, or escalation to a senior tier.
Good to know
- Connect an empty Send to Voicemail step after it, and it fills in that role’s mailbox for you.
Route to Team
Rings everyone on a team at once. The first to answer takes the call.
Use it for: Departments, like sales, support or billing.
Good to know
- Connect an empty Send to Voicemail step after it, and it fills in that team’s mailbox for you.
Route to User
Rings one person on all of their devices and branches on whether they answered.
Use it for: A direct line to a named person, like an account manager.
Paths out
- Answered: The user picked up.
- No answer: The user didn't answer in time.
- Busy: The user was on another call.
- Unavailable: The person was offline or unreachable.
Good to know
- Connect an empty Send to Voicemail step after it, and it fills in that person’s mailbox for you.
- If the person has call forwarding set up, picking them builds the matching no-answer, busy and unavailable paths for you.
Send to Flow
Hands the call to another published flow, which runs from its start.
Use it for: Shared pieces, like one after-hours flow used by many lines.
Good to know
- The target flow must be published. Drafts are ignored during calls.
- A call can be handed on up to 8 times, which prevents loops.
Send to Voicemail
Plays the mailbox greeting, records a message, then carries on.
Use it for: After hours, or when nobody answers.
Paths out
- After message: Carries on once the recording ends, for example to email the message.
Worked Examples That Use These Nodes.
Your Questions, Answered.
What is IVR call routing?
Sending each caller to the right place based on what they press or key in: a person, a team, a role, a queue, an outside number or voicemail. In Adoptiv each of those is a step you drag into a call flow.
How many options should a phone menu have?
Three to five, with the most common reason first. If you need more, a key can lead to a second menu.
What’s the difference between routing to a team and to a call queue?
Route to Team rings everyone on the team at once, and the first to answer takes the call. A queue holds callers with hold music until an agent answers or the wait limit is reached.
Can I forward calls to a mobile number?
Yes. External Dial calls any outside number and branches on answered, busy or no answer, so a forward nobody picks up can still go somewhere.
Can a call go to an AI voice agent?
Yes. The AI Agent step connects the caller to an AI voice agent that talks with them in real time. Its outputs tell the flow whether the caller is done, wants a person or was escalated.
Are call flows included in my plan?
Yes. Call flows, IVR and routing come with every seat. A few steps use paid services: DNC and litigator checks are billed per lookup from your prepaid wallet. The pricing page has current prices.
Can I test a call flow before it goes live?
Yes. Press test call and a simulated caller walks the flow in front of you, lighting each step and taking the branch it would really take. Then publish it to a number.
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