AI Receptionist vs IVR Phone Menu
An IVR menu sorts callers into buckets. An AI receptionist has a conversation and then acts. If your callers frequently choose the wrong option or hang up before reaching anyone, the menu is the problem.
What a menu tree cannot do
A menu asks the caller to classify their own enquiry before explaining it, and can only route — never resolve.
- Callers must map their problem onto your departments
- Nothing is captured about callers who abandon the menu
- The menu cannot book, qualify or take a message with detail
- Adding an option makes the tree slower for everyone
Ask, understand, act
Vocanta replaces the tree with a question. The caller explains the enquiry once, and the agent handles it or routes it with context attached.
- Step 01One open question
'How can I help?' instead of eight options.
- Step 02Intent classification
The agent matches the enquiry to the types you configured.
- Step 03Resolution or routing
Booking, capture, transfer or callback.
- Step 04Record
Every call leaves details and an outcome, including escalations.
What you get
Callers speak normally, including corrections mid-sentence.
The person receiving the transfer already knows what the caller wants.
A menu routes; Vocanta can book an appointment or capture a qualified enquiry.
You see what callers actually asked for, not just which option they pressed.
New enquiry types are configured without lengthening a menu.
You point the relevant calls at Vocanta; the phone system stays in place.
Where businesses use it
- Main business lines with high menu abandonment
- Multi-department routing
- Businesses whose callers mostly want one of a few outcomes
- Lines where out-of-hours callers currently hear a menu and then voicemail
- Reducing internal transfers between teams
AI answers first. People take over when it matters.
Vocanta is not designed to replace your team. You decide which situations must reach a person — and when a caller asks for one, or the enquiry falls outside the configured scope, the agent says so plainly and follows your escalation rule: a transfer, a message with a callback time, or an agreed follow-up. The reason for every escalation is recorded.
How we handle your call dataQuestions we get asked
Can we keep our IVR and add Vocanta?
Yes. Some businesses point only one menu option or only out-of-hours calls at Vocanta to begin with, then widen the scope once they have reviewed how the calls are handled.
Can the AI transfer a call to a person?
Yes. You decide which situations need a human. When one of those comes up — or when a caller asks for a person — Vocanta transfers the call to the right team member, takes a message with a callback time, or agrees a follow-up, and records the reason for the escalation so whoever picks it up has the context.
How quickly can we go live?
Setup starts with a short call to agree which calls Vocanta answers, the questions it asks, and where each outcome should go. You then choose the voice in the Voice Studio and we test the flow on your own example enquiries. Most businesses are answering live calls within a few working days, with no engineering work needed from your side.
How much does it cost?
Plans start at £250 per month and are priced by the amount of call time you need rather than by seat, billed monthly or annually with a 20% saving on annual billing. Extra call time can be added at any point and you can change plan monthly.
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Hear it answer a call like yours.
A 20-minute demo: we walk through your inbound calls, show the agent handling one of them, and tell you plainly what it will and will not do.