How an auto attendant works
An administrator records a greeting and builds a menu tree in the phone system. Each keypress maps to a destination: an extension, a ring group, a sub-menu, a dial-by-name directory, or a mailbox. Business hours rules often swap in a different menu after closing.
The weakness is that callers have to translate their problem into your menu. A caller who doesn’t fit an option presses 0, guesses, or hangs up. Every added option makes the menu longer, and nobody answers the actual question until a person picks up. An IVR adds speech recognition and data lookups but keeps the menu shape.
Example: an accounting firm in tax season
An accounting firm’s menu says “press 1 for tax preparation, 2 for bookkeeping, 3 for payroll.” In March, most callers want to know whether they can still file on time and what documents to bring. They press 1, ring a busy extension, and land in voicemail. A conversational assistant could answer both questions directly. This scenario is illustrative.
InsertChat answers without a menu
InsertChat has no keypad menu. Callers say what they need, and the AI receptionist answers from your knowledge, collects details, or books a time. If a caller presses a key out of habit, the assistant tells them they can simply say what they need; pressing 0 makes it ask whether they want someone from your team.
It does not route calls to extensions. Requests that need a person are marked needs-you in the shared inbox and assigned to the right teammate there. See the accounting firm setup.
