When this flow fits
When one top-level choice needs a useful split, while callers with other needs should not have to hear that detail.
Keep each route tied to a caller need. With Auto Attendant each option does one thing: it rings up to three phones one after another (never together), takes a voicemail, or plays a message and hangs up; a line can also skip the menu entirely. A forwarded call shows your business number as caller ID, and the team returns calls from its own mobiles.
With Auto Attendant. Submenus are general practice on larger phone systems. An Auto Attendant menu has one level: each option rings up to three phones in turn, takes a voicemail or plays a message. With Auto Attendant, flatten this flow into three options: 1 for new work, 2 for service and 3 for billing.
Why this flow is built this way
A submenu is a second menu behind one key. It is worth building only when one top-level choice would otherwise bundle two very different kinds of caller, such as existing customers who need service and those who need billing. It protects everyone else from hearing detail they do not need. The cost is an extra keypress for the callers who use it, so the split has to save more time than it costs.
The structure usually follows the old advice about short menus: a handful of top-level options, and deeper ones only on request. The IVR literature describes menus as a tree of choices 1; a shallow tree with two levels is nearly always enough for a small business, and a third level is a sign that the design needs rethinking.
Flow and keypresses
The diagram shows what the caller hears and where each choice leads. The count is the number of keypad selections from the first menu to that destination; a submenu adds another press.
Top-level greeting sends callers to the relevant sub-menu.
- Press 1: New work or sales → Ring the sales phone
- Press 2: Existing customer support
- Press 1: Service question → Ring the service phone
- Press 2: Billing question → Ring the billing phone
| Caller destination | Key sequence | Keypresses | Route in this example |
|---|---|---|---|
| New work or sales | 1 | 1 | Ring the sales phone |
| Service question | 2 → 1 | 2 | Ring the service phone |
| Billing question | 2 → 2 | 2 | Ring the billing phone |
Original script wording
Replace the shaded fields with details your callers need. Do not read them aloud as written. Word count and duration are calculated from each script; spoken time is estimated at 150 words per minute, so pauses and keypad instructions may make the spoken greeting longer. Auto Attendant reads your wording in a text-to-speech voice; you type the words rather than recording them.
Top level · 22 words · about 9 sec at 150 words per minute
Thanks for calling Business name. For a new enquiry, press 1. If you are already a customer, press 2 for more options.
Existing customer submenu · 13 words · about 6 sec at 150 words per minute
For help with your service, press 1. For a billing question, press 2.
Shaded text is a fill-in field: replace it with your own.
A worked example
Illustration: a heating company greets callers with “For a new enquiry, press 1. If you are already a customer, press 2 for more options.” Press 2 and the submenu offers 1 for service and 2 for billing. Service rings the dispatcher; billing rings the office. The second-level voicemail asks for the job address for service and the invoice number for billing.
The keypress count in the template page shows the cost: a billing caller needs two presses (2, then 2) while a new enquiry needs one. That is a good trade if billing is a small share of calls, and a bad one if most callers are existing customers, in which case promote the existing-customer options to the top level.
Timing, options and common mistakes
Keep each menu short. Give callers enough time to hear the submenu after their first selection; use a separate timeout only if the configuration supports it.
A submenu is useful when a meaningful minority of callers needs the extra distinction.
- Do not make callers repeat the same choice at every level.
- Keep a route to a person or voicemail at the end of each branch.
Say the option before its key, put the most frequent caller need first, and repeat the key choices at the end. A practical starting point is no more than about four top-level options: callers must listen, remember the choices and select one. Use a submenu for a less common branch rather than making every caller hear every detail.
For a full routing walkthrough, see call routing and menu design. An Auto Attendant menu has up to seven options; each rings up to three phones in turn, takes a voicemail or plays a message. The menu can be in English, French or Spanish. Voicemails are emailed in the business’s chosen language with the MP3 attached, followed by a transcript in the language of the message.
Standards and rules behind it
Keypad input is standardised as dual-tone multi-frequency signalling, defined in ITU-T Recommendation Q.23 for push-button telephones 2, and callers expect “press 1, press 2” to behave the same everywhere. Do not assign unusual meanings to keys such as 0 or 9 in a submenu; many callers press 0 to reach a person.
Menus must work for callers who need more time. The ADA’s effective-communication principle applies to businesses open to the public 3, and relay-service operators relay the menu to a caller who may need extra time 4. Allow a pause after each option and repeat the choices once.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ by state and change; confirm anything that affects your business with the source or an adviser.
Test it before you publish it
- Count the keypresses for each destination and promote the busiest to the top level.
- Keep the submenu to two or three options.
- Do not reuse key 0 for something other than reaching a person.
- Repeat submenu choices once before timing out.
- Listen to the full path as a first-time caller.
Related templates and guides
- Main business greeting: call-flow template
- Role mailbox greeting: call-flow template
- Appointment-based business: call-flow template
- Bilingual English and Spanish menu: call-flow template
- HVAC business: phone menu guide
- Insurance agency: phone menu guide
- Law firm: phone menu guide
- Call routing and menu design
- What is an auto attendant?
- Business phone glossary
Further reading
Longer research pieces on this topic, each with its own source list and a downloadable PDF.
Articles on this topic
Sources
Every regulatory and pricing claim on this page links to the primary source it came from. Figures were checked on the date shown at the top of the page; rules and prices change, so verify before relying on one.
- Interactive voice response, Wikipedia. Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_voice_response - DTMF signaling, Wikipedia. Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTMF_signaling - ADA.gov, ADA Requirements: Effective Communication. Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.ada.gov/resources/effective-communication/ - 47 CFR § 64.604, Telecommunications Relay Services mandatory minimum standards. Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/64.604