Telephony
Interactive voice responseIVR
Interactive voice response (IVR) is the traditional automated phone system that routes callers through menus — 'press 1 for sales, press 2 for support'. It's driven by keypad tones or rigid voice commands and can't understand natural free speech.
IVR is the technology conversational voice AI replaces. Where IVR forces callers down fixed trees, an AI voice agent understands what they actually want and responds directly — no menus.
See it in the product
Related terms
Conversational IVRAn IVR upgraded with conversational AI — callers say what they want in natural language instead of navigating a menu tree.AI voice agentSoftware that makes and answers phone calls with a natural voice — understanding the caller, taking action, and handing off to a human when needed.DTMFThe tones a phone keypad makes when you press a key. DTMF is how callers enter numbers (like an account ID) that a voice agent can capture.Call routingDirecting an incoming call to the right destination — person, team, or queue — based on rules, caller input, or what the AI agent understands.
See Interactive voice response in a real call.
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