How to Build an IVR Call Flow in LeadLocate

Design what a caller hears on your tracking number: a greeting, a menu, and a step behind every option.

1. Open the Call Flow section

   Sign in as a Master Administrator. Open Billing & Admin, then Account Settings, then Phone & IVR and IVR Settings. Scroll to Call Flow. While the flow is off, your number keeps standard handling: the Forward Calls To list rings and the Company Voicemail takes messages.

2. Set the store's hours first

   Tick Open 24 hours or use Edit Hours to enter the real schedule. A business hours step in the flow branches on these hours, and the team calendar and anything that answers the phone for you follow the same schedule, so set them once here.

3. Turn on your own call flow and add the greeting

   Switch the section from standard handling to your own flow. Add the greeting as the first step: type it as text and the system speaks it, or press Upload Greeting to use a recording in your own voice. Keep it short and end with the options.

4. Add the menu and a step behind each option

   Add a menu step and map each key a caller can press to what happens next: ring a group of phones, take a voicemail, play a message, check business hours, pause, or end the call. Steps chain, so sales can ring three phones and then fall to voicemail while service plays a message and transfers.

5. Save the flow

   Save with the bar at the bottom of the page. Every save is kept under Earlier versions, so you can read what the menu said last month and go back to it. A flow is live only when it is saved, switched on and complete; anything else stays on standard handling.

6. Test every option by phone

   Call the tracking number from a cell phone that is not on the ring list. Listen to the greeting, press each key in turn and confirm where it lands. Each call shows on the Calls page with its recording, and on the mobile app under Call Logs.

You need a Master Administrator login, because the Call Flow section of IVR Settings is read only for everyone else. You need the store's real hours, the phone numbers each option should ring, and a sketch on paper of the menu: which key goes to sales, which to service, and what a caller hears after close. Most stores fit on one page.

Nothing needs to be bought. The builder is part of LeadLocate CRM on every plan and a new account starts without a menu, with the tracking number ringing the Forward Calls To list through plain forwarding. A flow answers calls only once you switch it on, so you can build it over several sittings and every caller keeps hearing the way your store answers today. A ring step inside the flow uses the same dialing, the same press 5 confirmation under Call Handling and the same recording as a plain forwarded call.

On the next call to the tracking number the caller hears your greeting instead of ringing straight through. Pressing a key does what the menu says: the sales option rings the phones you listed, the service option plays its message or transfers, and after close the business hours step takes a message with the Company Voicemail greeting. A step with nothing after it, a caller who presses a wrong key too many times, and a ring group nobody answers all land on voicemail, so a caller who does what the menu asks is never left in silence.

The Calls page logs each call with its recording and the path the caller took, and the lead's timeline carries it in order with the texts and emails around it. Earlier versions lists every revision you saved, which is how the argument about what the menu used to say gets settled by reading it rather than remembering it.

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Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.

Callers still ring straight through with no greeting. The flow is switched off, or it is incomplete: a menu with no options, or an option pointing at a step that no longer exists. Reopen Call Flow, fix the loose end, confirm the switch is on and save. Until then standard handling runs on purpose.

An option goes to voicemail instead of ringing anyone. The ring step has no numbers, or the numbers are not phones a person answers. Enter the mobiles from User Management, and if the press 5 confirmation under Call Handling is on, make sure none of those numbers is a phone tree.

Phones ring at night. There is no business hours step in front of the menu, or Open 24 hours is ticked. Clear it, set Edit Hours, and add the hours step ahead of the menu so late callers hear a message and leave one. If a change made things worse, open Earlier versions and go back to the revision that worked, or press Back to standard handling to switch the flow off while you fix it.

The builder decides where a caller goes; the pieces it sends them to are their own features. The IVR call flow builder feature page explains the steps and the revision rule in full. A ring step uses the list covered on call forwarding and ring lists, and each line the menu answers is one of your tracking phone numbers.

A store that would rather have a caller greeted and asked what they need than offered a numbered menu should turn on the virtual receptionist, which sits on the same page and can be placed behind a menu option. The automotive phone system page frames the menu as one part of the store's whole phone setup. The rest of the guides are on the help center.

Two options beat six. A shopper who dialed the number on an ad wants sales; a coupon holder wants service. Give each a key and send everyone else to a person. Keep the greeting under fifteen seconds and put the most common option first, because callers press before the list ends.

Type the greeting as text while you are still changing it, and record it in your own voice once it has survived a week. Describe the menu you want and our team builds it for you, and a menu that differs by tracking number is available on request, and our team puts it in production for your dealership. Ask through contact us.

What happens if I save a flow that is not finished?

Nothing changes for callers. A flow is live only when it is saved, switched on and complete. An unfinished flow, or any step that leads nowhere, falls back to standard handling automatically.

Can I go back to a previous version of the menu?

Yes. Every save is kept under Earlier versions on the Call Flow section, so you can read a past revision and restore it, or switch the flow off with Back to standard handling while you edit.

Do I have to record the audio myself?

No. Type the greeting or any message as text and the system speaks it. When you want your own voice, upload a recording with Upload Greeting.

Does the menu replace our main switchboard?

No. The flow governs the tracking numbers a shopper dials from an ad or listing. Reception, parts and the main published number keep whatever system they use, and many stores run both side by side.

Sketch the options you want and send it over. Our team builds the flow, records the audio if you like, and tests it with you before it goes live.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.