Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
What is an IVR (Interactive Voice Response)?
An IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system is the automated phone menu that greets a caller and lets them navigate by pressing keys (DTMF) or speaking, routing them to the right department, agent, or self-service task before or instead of reaching a human. Orbit by Devotel's IVR is a visual drag-and-drop builder: route callers by keypress or spoken intent into ACD skills-based queues, play audio, record and transcribe, or hand off to a live agent or an AI voice agent — with calls carried on Devotel's own carrier-of-record softswitch, alongside SMS, WhatsApp, and email on one pay-as-you-go bill.
The IVR runs on the same platform covered by Orbit's published uptime SLA — 99.0% on Pay-as-you-Go up to 99.99%+ on Enterprise, with service credits if it's missed (SLA terms last updated March 9, 2026). See the full SLA terms.
What Orbit's IVR includes
| Capability | What you get |
|---|---|
| Visual IVR builder | Design the caller menu on a drag-and-drop canvas — no dial-plan code required — so a non-developer can own and edit the flow. |
| DTMF & spoken-intent menus | Route callers by keypress (DTMF) or by natural-language spoken intent, so a menu can offer 'press 1 for billing' or 'tell us why you're calling' in the same flow. |
| ACD skills-based queue handoff | Send the caller from the IVR straight into a skills-based automatic call distribution (ACD) queue, with SLA targets and overflow rules, sharing one priority queue with digital conversations. |
| Recording & transcription | Record any leg of the call and get a transcript for quality review, compliance, or feeding a knowledge base. |
| Live agent or integrated AI voice agent handoff | Escalate out of the menu to a human agent in the shared inbox, or hand off to an AI voice agent running natively in the same call path and queue — not a separate bolted-on product — that can resolve the call itself before a human is ever needed. |
| Carrier-of-record voice termination | Every call routed through the IVR terminates on Devotel's own wholesale carrier-of-record softswitch, which connects to 500+ global voice aggregators and mobile network operators, rather than a reseller hop on top of another CPaaS's network. |
| SIP trunk bring-your-own-carrier | Point an existing SIP trunk at Orbit, keep your numbers, and gain the same programmable IVR and queues without migrating your carrier. |
Common use cases
Self-service without an agent
Resolve balance checks, appointment confirmations, and store-hours lookups entirely in the menu, only routing to a live agent when the caller's need goes beyond what self-service can answer.
After-hours & overflow routing
Route callers to voicemail, a callback queue, or an AI voice agent outside business hours or when every skilled agent is busy, instead of a busy signal or an abandoned call.
Department & language routing
Screen a caller's department and preferred language up front, then hand off into the matching ACD queue so the right agent picks up with context already captured.
Orbit vs RingCentral vs Five9 for IVR
| Feature | Orbit | RingCentral | Five9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IVR & call routing | |||
| Visual drag-and-drop IVR builder | |||
| DTMF + spoken-intent menus | |||
| Native AI voice agent handoff, included in the core platform | |||
| ACD skills-based queue handoff built in | |||
| Owns wholesale voice backbone (carrier of record) | |||
| Commercial terms | |||
| Published pay-as-you-go pricing, self-serve signup | |||
| AI voice features billed as a separate quoted add-on | |||
| One platform & one bill across SMS, WhatsApp, and voice | |||
Comparison data as of Q3 2026. Competitor feature details sourced from public vendor documentation, G2, and Gartner Peer Insights. Subject to change at the vendor's discretion. Yes Partial No
IVR — frequently asked
- What is an IVR (Interactive Voice Response)?
- An IVR is the automated phone menu that greets a caller and lets them navigate by pressing keys (DTMF) or speaking, routing them to the right department, agent, or self-service task before or instead of reaching a human.
- What's the difference between an IVR and an ACD?
- An IVR is the menu system that greets and routes a caller based on their input; an ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) is what then decides which specific available agent within a chosen queue actually receives the call. Orbit ships both as part of the same call path.
- Can an IVR resolve a call without an agent?
- Yes — a well-built IVR handles self-service tasks like balance checks, appointment confirmations, or store hours entirely automatically, only routing to a live agent when the caller's need goes beyond what the menu can resolve. Orbit can also hand a call off to an AI voice agent instead of a human.
- Do I need to write code to build an IVR on Orbit?
- No. Orbit's IVR is a visual drag-and-drop canvas — you route callers by keypress or spoken intent to a named queue or agent without writing dial-plan code. Developers can also author the same flow in code via the programmable voice API.
- Can I keep my existing phone carrier and add Orbit's IVR?
- Yes. Orbit supports SIP trunk bring-your-own-carrier: point your existing trunk at Orbit, keep your numbers, and gain the visual IVR builder and ACD queues without migrating your carrier.
- Is Orbit's IVR carrier-of-record for the calls it routes?
- Yes, when a call is placed or received on an Orbit number. Calls routed through the IVR terminate on Devotel's own wholesale carrier-of-record softswitch, which connects to 500+ global voice aggregators and mobile network operators, rather than a reseller hop on top of another CPaaS's network — Devotel owns termination, call quality, and STIR/SHAKEN signing end to end. (Bring-your-own-carrier SIP trunking keeps your existing carrier for termination and layers Orbit's IVR on top.)
- Does the IVR record and transcribe calls?
- Yes. Any leg of a call routed through the IVR can be recorded and transcribed, for quality review, compliance, or feeding a knowledge base an AI agent draws on.
Explore more
Build your IVR on one platform
IVR is one part of Orbit by Devotel's programmable voice stack — call control, ACD queues, recording, transcription, and AI voice agents, alongside SMS, WhatsApp, and email on one pay-as-you-go bill. Start free, or talk to our team about your call flow.