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Solgari
Solgari
Solgari is a cloud-based contact center and communication solution for small, midsize and large businesses. It caters to financial services, FinTech, e-commerce, retail, logistics, recruitment and government. Primary features incl...Read more about Solgari
Nextiva
Nextiva
Nextiva brings customers and teams closer by connecting conversations in one AI-powered platform. We connect businesses to all of their conversations, helping them understand their customers in real-time to create personalized exp...Read more about Nextiva
GoTo Connect
GoTo Connect
GoTo Connect is the all-in-one phone, meeting and messaging software built for SMBs. It boasts an enterprise-class phone system with 100+ features with inclusive minutes for local, long distance & international calls; video and au...Read more about GoTo Connect
Comm-unity
Comm-unity
Comm-unity by NetFortris (formerly Fonality) is a cloud-based communication and collaboration business phone system that caters to all business sizes. Comm-unity scales easily as your business grows, always works when you need it,...Read more about Comm-unity
Answer360
Answer360
Answer360 is a cloud-based VoIP solution designed for small and midsize businesses. The solution offers call routing, video conferencing, SIP trunking and other call center functionalities. Answer360 offers hosted VoIP phone ...Read more about Answer360
AVOXI
AVOXI
AVOXI Genius is a cloud-based call center solution that helps small to large enterprises streamline customer service operations and manage business communications. It comes with a centralized dashboard, which enables users to trac...Read more about AVOXI
Convoso
Convoso
Convoso’s all-in-one contact center platform generates and converts leads faster using multiple communication channels. The cloud-based solution offers multiple dialing modes (predictive/power/preview) along with two-way texting, ...Read more about Convoso
Five9
Five9
Five9 is an all-in-one cloud contact center solution for inbound, outbound, blended and omnichannel contact centers world-wide. Powered by Practical AI, Five9 enables agents to provide customer experiences across phone, emai...Read more about Five9
RingCentral MVP
RingCentral MVP
RingEX is a cloud-based business communications solution that offers tools for Messaging, Video and Phone. Core features of the solution include conferencing, auto-recording and unlimited long-distance and local calling. RingEX ...Read more about RingCentral MVP
Bright Pattern
Bright Pattern
Bright Pattern is a cloud-based contact center software solution which helps businesses manage multichannel service including inbound and outbound voice, email, chat, and social media. Bright Pattern scales from 5 to 10,000 concur...Read more about Bright Pattern
MiVoice Business Solution
MiVoice Business Solution
MiCloud Connect (formerly ShoreTel) is a cloud-based VoIP phone system that offers collaboration and conferencing tools to enable information flow within the organization. The solution enables system administrators to manage use...Read more about MiVoice Business Solution
Slingshot VoIP
Slingshot VoIP
Slingshot VoIP includes automated attendants, employee extension features, predictive dialer, automatic call distribution and more. The solution is cloud-based and provides mobile apps for Android and IOS users. Slingshot can...Read more about Slingshot VoIP
Vonage Business Communications
Vonage Business Communications
Vonage Business Communications is a good option for small-, medium-, and enterprise-level businesses that need a scalable, easy-to-use VoIP platform with premium voice clarity and a wide array of solutions for specific business ne...Read more about Vonage Business Communications
SendHub
SendHub
SendHub is a business voice over internet protocol (VoIP) solution. Integrated applications for PBX, Auto Dialer, ACD, CTI, workforce scheduling, softphone, SMS marketing and more are available within the system. This solution is ...Read more about SendHub
Ooma Office
Ooma Office
Ooma Office is a cloud-based voice + video solution suitable for businesses of all sizes. The platform includes a full suite of business phone features designed to deliver a flawless communications experience and advance team coll...Read more about Ooma Office
NetVanta 7100
NetVanta 7100
ADTRAN’s NetVanta 7100 is an IP data networking and telephony solution integrated into one single platform. Designed mainly for small to midsize businesses, NetVanta 7100 is suitable for businesses up to 100 workstations. The solu...Read more about NetVanta 7100
XMission Hosted PBX
XMission Hosted PBX
XMission is a cloud-based hosted PBX solution that offers a set of business services which include web hosting, unified email and collaboration. XMission allows users to retrieve a voicemail from a specific email address. The...Read more about XMission Hosted PBX
3CX
3CX
3CX Phone System is an open standards communications solution, suitable for any sized business that wants all the features of an advanced contact center at a fraction of the cost. 3CX can take your business communications to the n...Read more about 3CX
Phone.com
Phone.com
Phone.com is a cloud-based PBX business phone solution that caters to small businesses in industries such as retail, technology, services, lifestyle, health and education. It offers users SIP trunking service together with PBX ser...Read more about Phone.com
TelePacific Hosted PBX
TelePacific Hosted PBX
TelePacific's UCx is a hybrid phone solution that offers businesses PBX and business communication features such as auto-attendant, voice and video calling and more. It also offers SIP trunking, PRI/CAS and analog services for bus...Read more about TelePacific Hosted PBX
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Buyers Guide
Last Updated: January 09, 2024An automated attendant (commonly shortened to auto attendant) is a software application included in many business phone systems. Auto attendants are also known as “virtual receptionist software,” since these applications can perform many of the functions of a human receptionist.
Our buyer’s guide will cover the following topics:
What Is Auto Attendant Software?
How Auto Attendant Software Is Packaged
Common Functionality of Auto Attendant Software
What Is Auto Attendant Software?
You know those voice menus you get when you call a local business? “Press 1 for Suzy, 2 for Bill” etc.? That’s an auto attendant.
The primary purpose of an auto attendant is to route incoming calls by listing options in a voice menu for callers to choose from (for example, “press 1 for sales, 2 for accounts receivable” etc.). Once the caller enters a number or symbol on her or his telephone keypad, the application automatically routes the call to the corresponding extension.
Auto attendants are NOT the fancy menus you get when you call your Internet provider to pay your bill, or when you call your credit card company to check your account balance. That’s a separate kind of system known as an interactive voice response (IVR) system. Let’s take a quick look at the differences in functionality between IVR systems and auto attendants to help you make an informed selection.
Auto Attendant vs. IVR
Auto attendants are commonly confused with IVR software. There are a number of distinctions between auto attendants and IVR systems:
User input
IVR: Allows for voice response on the part of the caller (for example, “please state the reason you’re calling”).
Auto attendant: Limited to numerical input (“press 1,” “press *” etc.).
Self-service functionality
IVR:> Allows callers to perform tasks over the phone, such as paying a bill or checking an account balance.
Auto attendant: Routes callers to the proper extension.
Business context
IVR: Call centers that handle a high volume of inbound calls.
Auto attendant: Smaller companies without large teams of dedicated sales or support agents.
Menu structure
IVR: Menus “branch out” into various sub-menus as callers choose different options.
Auto attendant: Generally have just one or two menu levels. Many auto attendants have only one level, but some offer a few sub-menus to choose from (for example, for different departments).
Call routing
IVR: Routes callers into a call queue, where they wait on hold for the next available agent. The queue is configured and controlled by a software application known as Automatic Call Distribution or ACD, which usually integrates with the IVR system.
Auto attendant: Routes callers directly to an extension. In some cases, auto attendants can be integrated with your call queue if your PBX system has ACD functionality (more commonly found in call center solutions than more basic PBX systems).
Typically, IVR systems are used in dedicated call centers, while auto attendants are used by local businesses and businesses that just need directory routing, e.g., dentists’ offices, law firms, consulting firms etc. IVR systems are both expensive and complex to program—they will be overkill for most small businesses, except small businesses that deal with unusually heavy inbound call volume.
IVR systems are generally sold on a standalone basis or they’re packaged in specialized software suites for call centers. Auto attendants, on the other hand, are packaged differently, as we’ll discuss now.
How Auto Attendant Software Is Packaged
Auto attendants are generally included as applications within Private Branch eXchange (PBX) systems. A PBX system is the interface between extensions in a business directory and broader telecommunications networks (e.g., the traditional phone network and the Internet). PBX systems are applications that serve as the core of business phone systems: Indeed, in most cases, the term “PBX” is simply a synonym for “phone system.”
The basic purpose of a PBX system is to enable routing control over both inbound and outbound calls. Most business phone systems are suites of PBX applications that include auto attendants alongside other applications, such as voicemail and call recording.
While most auto attendants are packaged in these PBX suites, some vendors offer them as stand-alone applications. Many of these standalone solutions also offer IVR functionality.
If you operate a call center, want to enable self-service options for inbound callers or want to place incoming calls into a queue, then you should consider a call center system. Smaller businesses can generally get by with PBX suites designed for their needs—many of which include auto attendants.
Common Functionality of Auto Attendant Software
Unlike IVR systems, auto attendants are straightforward, easy-to-program applications. Auto attendants include the following standard functionality:
Voice menu | Allows you to record your own voice menus. Some vendors also offer professional menu recording services. |
Dial-by-name directory | A special auto-attendant phone feature that allows you to reach employee extensions by spelling out the employee’s first or last name with your telephone keypad. Particularly useful for larger offices. |
Introductory greeting | Allows you to record a greeting that welcomes inbound callers and describes your business or brand. |
After-hours mode | Allows you to program the system to offer different greetings and options based on your business’s hours of operation (e.g., informs callers that your business is now closed when it enters after-hours mode). Can also be programmed to handle weekends and holidays. |
The capabilities of auto attendants can be greatly enhanced by PBX call routing functionality, such as find me/follow me (which forwards calls from office phones to mobile devices after a fixed number of rings) and hunt groups (also known as ring groups; forwards calls to a group of extensions defined by business role, rather than to a single extension). Find me/follow me enables callers to reach employees on mobile devices as well as desk phones from the auto attendant menu. Hunt groups are useful for department-level options in the menu; for instance, when an inbound caller presses #1 for “sales,” the desk phones of every employee in sales will ring.
By using hunt groups with an auto attendant, small businesses that have multiple employees dedicated to answering the phones can set up a very basic call center solution. You can choose to have all your agents’ phones ring at the same time when a caller makes a selection in the auto attendant menu. Alternatively, you can have phones ring sequentially in a round-robin scheme (employee A gets the call first, and if s/he doesn’t answer the call goes to employee B, then C etc.).