Free IVR Scripts & Greeting Examples
Below are copy-paste IVR script and greeting examples for a main menu, hold message, voicemail, and after-hours notice, followed by the exact steps to turn any IVR script into a phone-ready audio file with free text-to-speech. No studio booking, no re-recording every time a line changes.
IVR greeting script examples
Swap in your own business name, hours, and menu options. Keep each line under about 30 seconds when spoken — callers lose track of options in a long menu.
Main menu greeting
"Thank you for calling [Business Name]. For sales, press 1. For customer support, press 2. For billing, press 3. To repeat this menu, press 9. Or stay on the line and a team member will be with you shortly."
Hold message
"All of our representatives are currently helping other customers. Your call is important to us and will be answered in the order it was received. Thank you for your patience."
Voicemail greeting
"You've reached [Business Name]. We're unable to take your call right now. Please leave your name, number, and a brief message after the tone, and we'll return your call as soon as possible."
After-hours / closed message
"Thank you for calling [Business Name]. Our office is currently closed. Our regular hours are Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM. Please call back during business hours, or leave a message after the tone."
How to turn an IVR script into audio, step by step
- Write each IVR script as its own short block of text — main menu, each submenu option, hold message, voicemail greeting, closing message — rather than one long script.
- Open the text-to-speech tool and paste the first script in.
- Pick one voice from the voice library and use that same voice for every prompt in the set, so the phone system sounds consistent.
- Generate and download the WAV file, then repeat for each remaining script.
- Name each file by its purpose (e.g.
main-menu.wav,hold-message.wav) and upload the set to your phone system.
Why text to speech fits IVR better than most narration
An audiobook narrator needs range across an entire book. An IVR script needs to say the same handful of lines identically for months or years, and needs updating on short notice when a menu option or business hours change. Re-recording a human voice for one changed line in a phone tree is disproportionate effort; regenerating one text-to-speech clip takes a few seconds.
Keeping your IVR greeting consistent over time
Note which specific voice you used the first time you build the set. When hours change or a new department gets added, regenerating just that one prompt with the same voice keeps the whole system sounding uniform, with no noticeable seam between the original recordings and the update. If you'd rather have prompts in a recognizable, cloned voice instead of a stock one, voice cloning works the same way — generate once, regenerate any single line later.