Short answer: an IVR script should state the option before the key ("for sales, press 1" — not "press 1 for sales"), offer no more than four options, and skip the greeting entirely if the caller dialled a specific line. Most scripts fail because they open with a sentence the caller did not ask for and cannot skip.
Generate a starting point with the free IVR script generator, then apply the rules below.
Rule 1: Option Before Key
Compare these:
❌ "Press 1 for sales, press 2 for support, press 3 for accounts."
✅ "For sales, press 1. For support, press 2. For accounts, press 3."
In the first version the caller hears "press 1" while still deciding whether they want sales. They have to hold the number in memory and match it backwards. In the second, they hear the category, recognise it, and the key arrives exactly when they need it.
This single change measurably reduces re-listens. It costs nothing.
Rule 2: Cut the Greeting
The most common opening in Indian business IVR is some version of:
❌ "Thank you for calling Acme Industries, a leading provider of industrial solutions since 1987. Your call is important to us."
The caller knows who they dialled. Nothing in that sentence helps them, and they cannot skip it. At scale it is thousands of wasted caller-seconds and a measurable drop-off before the menu.
✅ "Welcome to Acme. For sales, press 1..."
Brand-building belongs on hold music, not in front of the menu.
Rule 3: Four Options Maximum
Callers hold roughly three to four items in working memory. A six-option menu means most people either press something wrong or wait for the whole list again.
If you genuinely have more than four destinations, nest them — but only one level deep. Two levels is the point at which people start pressing 0 to escape.
Rule 4: Put the Common Option First
Order by actual call volume, not by org chart. If 60% of calls are order status, that is option 1 — even if sales is more important to the business. Your call logs tell you the real distribution; most teams are surprised by it.
Rule 5: Always Offer an Exit
Every menu needs a way to reach a human or leave a message. Callers who cannot find their option and cannot escape do not hang up quietly — they call back angrier, or they go to your competitor.
"To speak to someone, press 0. To leave a message, press 9."
If nobody is available, end in voicemail rather than dead air.
Rule 6: Say What Happens Next
After a selection, confirm it:
✅ "Connecting you to support. Please hold."
Silence after a keypress makes callers think the line dropped, and they hang up and redial — which shows up in your stats as two calls and a phantom abandon.
Example: Small Business
"Welcome to Sharma Traders. For orders, press 1. For deliveries, press 2. For anything else, press 0. To hear this again, press 9."
Four options, no preamble, an exit, a repeat. Under twelve seconds.
Example: Clinic
"Welcome to Care Clinic. To book or change an appointment, press 1. For test reports, press 2. For timings and location, press 3. For an emergency, press 0 now."
Emergency is last in the list but framed with "now" so it registers immediately — and it routes to a human, never to a menu.
Example: After Hours
"Thank you for calling Acme. Our office is closed. We are open Monday to Saturday, 9 to 6. To leave a message, press 1. For urgent service issues, press 2."
State the hours. A caller who knows you open at 9 will not call five more times tonight. See after-hours call handling.
Recording the Script
Once the wording is right, you need audio. You can record it yourself, hire a voice artist, or generate it — the IVR voice generator produces prompts in 13+ languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Bengali, with SSML so you control pauses and pronunciation.
Whichever route you take, keep the script in a document. You will edit it more often than you expect, and re-recording is much easier when the source of truth is not the audio file.
Test It Before Publishing
Read the script aloud and time it. Then place a real test call and listen as a caller, not as the person who wrote it. Most bad menus are obvious within ten seconds of hearing them on a phone — and invisible on paper.