Feature

Voice barge-in for IVRs

Callers can now speak (or press a key) during the IVR prompt — no need to wait for it to finish.

IVR menus configured with voice keywords now support barge-in: callers can interrupt the prompt mid-playback by speaking a keyword or pressing a digit, and the call routes immediately.

What changed

  • Added a Voice Barge-In toggle on IVR Menu nodes in the visual call flow designer.
  • The IVR plays the upstream Play Media node's audio in a single continuous stream while listening for speech in parallel — no chunked playback, so audio quality is unaffected.
  • DTMF still interrupts as expected.

How to enable

  1. Open a call flow that contains an IVR Menu node.
  2. Make sure at least one route has voice keywords configured.
  3. Tick Voice Barge-In under the Max Retries field.
  4. Save the flow.

That's it — calls hitting that IVR will now respond to mid-prompt speech.

Why it matters

Callers don't have to listen to a full menu before reacting. For high-volume reception lines, this shaves several seconds off every call and feels much closer to a live receptionist.

Try it yourself

Build an IVR your callers can interrupt — start a free trial.

Start free trial
Posted by SimuWave