First, I'd recommend reading this top 10 don't-do list from the person who does our voice recordings:

http://voicegal.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/top-10-ivr-mistakes/

Your auto-attendant should give callers the top 3-5 departmental options as quickly as possible without much fanfare.  This is often a customer's first impression of your company, and the message you want to send is that you respect their time and appreciate their call enough to make it as easy as possible to reach a live human.

Example:

Thank you for calling Acme.  For customer service and support, press 1.  For sales, press 2.  For accounting, press 3.  If you're not sure who you need to speak to, press 0 and our receptionist will assist you.

We thanked the customer for calling but in a simple and quick way.  We didn't give the caller the standard "dial the extension if you know it" because nearly all of our customers have direct outside numbers, so there are no extensions to dial.  We gave the customer the option to get support right up front, telling them that we place a priority on helping them over selling more stuff.  The rest is just simple commonly-requested departmental stuff that varies by company.

Last updated on December 5, 2009 by Carlos Alvarez