A good IVR greeting is one short sentence: thank the caller and name the business. "Thanks for calling Sharma Dental." Then go straight to the options. Keep the welcome under 5 seconds and the first option inside 15. Below are 25 copy-ready greetings for business hours, after hours, holidays, busy times, and Hindi callers.
Hear your greeting before anyone calls: Try Edesy IVR Studio — preview text-to-speech without a call. Rs 20 free credit on sign-up, no card needed.
Replace {Business}, hours and options with your own. Menus and full flows are covered in
IVR script templates for business; this post is about the
first few seconds.
Greeting length at a glance
| Part | Target | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome | Under 5 seconds | "Thanks for calling {Business}." |
| Optional notice | Under 5 seconds, only when needed | "We're closed on Monday for Diwali." |
| First option | Within 15 seconds of answer | "For orders, press 1." |
| Whole menu | Under 25 seconds | Up to 4 options |
Business hours: standard welcomes
- "Thanks for calling {Business}."
- "Welcome to {Business}. For sales, press 1. For support, press 2."
- "Hello, you've reached {Business}. Please hold while we connect you."
- "Thanks for calling {Business} customer support."
- "Thanks for calling {Business}. This call may be recorded for quality and training."
Use number 5 only if you actually record calls (the Config node can record the whole call). Never promise options or behaviour the flow doesn't have.
After hours
- "Thanks for calling {Business}. We're closed now and open 9 to 7, Monday to Saturday. Please leave a message after the tone and we'll call you back."
- "You've reached {Business} after hours. For urgent support, press 1. To leave a message, press 2."
- "Thanks for calling {Business}. Our office is closed. Please call back between 10 and 6, or leave a message after the tone."
Give your hours once, in a form people can remember. "9 to 7, Monday to Saturday" beats "09:00 to 19:00 IST". See voicemail for after-hours calls.
Holidays and closures
- "Thanks for calling {Business}. We're closed today for Diwali and will reopen on Thursday. Please leave a message after the tone."
- "Thanks for calling {Business}. Our office is closed for the long weekend. We're back on Tuesday at 10."
- "{Business} is closed for stock-taking today. Orders placed online will ship tomorrow."
Remove holiday messages the day you reopen. A stale holiday greeting is worse than none.
Busy periods
- "Thanks for calling {Business}. We're receiving more calls than usual. Please stay on the line, or press 2 to leave a message and we'll call you back."
- "Thanks for calling {Business}. If you're calling about a delivery, you can track it on our website. For anything else, press 1."
Message 13 deflects the most common reason before the menu. Only use it if the website really answers it.
By business type
| Business | Greeting |
|---|---|
| Clinic | 14. "Thanks for calling {Clinic}. To book an appointment, press 1. For reports, press 2. For a medical emergency, please call 108." |
| Restaurant | 15. "Thanks for calling {Restaurant}. For table bookings, press 1. For delivery orders, press 2." |
| Retail shop | 16. "Thanks for calling {Shop}. We're open 10 to 9 every day. For store location, press 1. To speak to us, press 2." |
| Coaching institute | 17. "Welcome to {Institute}. For admissions, press 1. For existing students, press 2." |
| Real estate | 18. "Thanks for calling {Builder}. For site visits, press 1. For customer care, press 2." |
| Professional office | 19. "Thanks for calling {Firm}. Please hold while we connect you." |
| D2C brand | 20. "Thanks for calling {Brand}. For order status, press 1. For returns, press 2." |
Hindi and bilingual greetings
- "{Business} में कॉल करने के लिए धन्यवाद।"
- "नमस्ते, {Business} में आपका स्वागत है। सेल्स के लिए 1 दबाएँ। सपोर्ट के लिए 2 दबाएँ।"
- "For English, press 1. Hindi ke liye, do dabaiye."
- "{Business} में कॉल करने के लिए धन्यवाद। अभी हमारा ऑफिस बंद है। कृपया बीप के बाद अपना संदेश छोड़ें।"
Say each language option in its own language (23). Write Hindi in Devanagari for natural text-to-speech, and spell numbers and amounts in words. More in the Hindi IVR setup guide.
Out of service
- "This number is no longer in service. Please call {Business} on {new number}."
For a number you are retiring, Edesy IVR Studio also has a "Reject all calls" template that declines calls outright.
Mistakes to avoid
- Long preambles. "Your call is important to us" says nothing. See why callers hate your IVR.
- Marketing first. Offers before options make every caller wait.
- "Please listen carefully as our options have changed" for months after a change.
- Website URLs read aloud letter by letter.
- Hours in 24-hour format spoken by TTS.
How to set a greeting in Edesy IVR Studio
- Add a Say node (text-to-speech) or a Play audio node (uploaded recording) after Start.
- Pick the language and voice in a Config node: ElevenLabs or Google voices, with English (India, US, UK), Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi in the Config language list. (Say and Ask nodes can also set English (India), English (US) or Hindi on their own.)
- Click the audio preview to hear it without placing a call.
- Place a test call to your phone, then publish.
Choosing between a voice actor and TTS? Read IVR voice prompts: recording vs TTS, or generate audio with the IVR voice generator. IVR calls cost Rs 1.50/min plus number rental, excluding 18% GST. Features are listed on the IVR node reference, and the setup steps are in the IVR docs.
Write your greeting and hear it now, with Rs 20 free credit and no card needed.