IVR and Bot Actions Guide
4 min read
Actions: What Your Bot Can Do for Callers and Visitors
Actions are the things your bot can do for a caller or visitor beyond answering questions. You switch them on in one place, and the same list appears in the IVR setup (Channels, IVR, Transfer step, "What callers can do") and in the bot's channel settings (Bots, your bot, Channel Overrides). Limits depend on your plan; see your plan under Billing, Usage Overview.
The Actions
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Create a ticket | Opens a ticket from the conversation. It uses Velaro ticketing when your plan includes it, otherwise the case or ticket in your connected CRM (Dynamics 365, HubSpot, Salesforce or NetSuite). |
| Email a department | Emails the conversation summary to a distribution address. You can set a default address and a different address for each department a caller can name, such as billing or sales. |
| Offer a callback | Offers the caller a callback now or at a time they choose. |
| Take a message | Collects name, number and reason, then emails your team. Your existing take-message address is used as the default address for Email a department, so nothing needs to be re-entered. |
| Book a demo or appointment | Books on the calendar you connected. Outlook Calendar fits one organizer mailbox. Microsoft Bookings fits several staff or services. Velaro uses whichever you have connected. |
| Transfer to a person | Bridges the call to a live agent. A bridged call keeps two call legs open for its whole length, so use it only when a person is really needed. |
An action your plan or connected integrations do not allow stays visible with a note saying what is needed, and its switch is off until it is available. Nothing is offered to callers that your plan does not include.
Turning an Action On
1. Open Channels, IVR, and go to the Transfer step, or open your bot's Channel Overrides.
2. Find the action card. If it says Available, choose On in its switch.
3. If more than one provider can do it (for example Velaro ticketing and a connected CRM), pick Where it goes, or leave Best available.
4. For Email a department, add the default address and any departments with their own addresses.
5. Press Test on the card. Email sends one clearly marked test message to the address it would really use. The other actions do a dry run and tell you which provider they would use. A test never creates a customer record.
6. Press Save actions.
Site Default and Per-Channel Overrides
Set an action once under "Actions (site default for every channel)" and every channel inherits it. On a single channel, change only what differs: choose On or Off in that channel's switch. "Follow site default" means the channel uses the site setting.
Choosing Actions: What to Recommend
- Start a bot for the phone line, or copy an existing bot for it, rather than turning the bot off. The IVR can inherit your site defaults and only override what is different from your web chat.
- When a web bot and other channels already exist, keep the site defaults and change only what differs on the phone channel.
- Recommend the actions the customer's plan and connected integrations allow, and say what is needed for the rest. Never quote prices or limits; say "see your plan under Billing, Usage Overview".
- For "I want callers to reach billing or sales", recommend Email a department with one address per department, plus Take a message as the fallback.
- For "book a demo", recommend Book a demo or appointment with Outlook Calendar for one organizer or Microsoft Bookings for a team.
- Recommend Transfer only when a person is needed, because a bridged call holds two call legs open.
Callers Can Answer Naturally
When the bot reads or shows choices, callers do not have to say the exact words. "The third one", "number 3", "option three" and "I want billing" all pick the right choice, on the web, by text and on the phone. If the answer fits more than one choice or none, the bot asks once more and repeats the choices.
Email
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