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Control how long a menu waits for a digit, how many times it re-prompts, and where the call goes if the caller never presses anything valid.

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Before you start

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Steps

1

Open the menu

In the IVR builder, open the menu you want to adjust.
2

Set the timeout

Enter Timeout (seconds) — how long the menu waits after the greeting finishes before treating it as no input. Defaults to 5 seconds if left blank.
3

Set the retry count

Enter Max retries — how many times the menu re-prompts after silence or an unmapped digit before giving up. Defaults to 3.
4

Set the fallback destination

Set Timeout action type and Timeout action target — where the call goes once retries are exhausted: a queue, an extension, another menu, or hang up.
5

Save

Select Save.

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Verify

Test the menu and let it time out without pressing anything — it reaches your fallback destination after the number of retries you set.

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Common problems

  • The menu hangs up instead of falling back where you expected. Confirm Timeout action type is set — an unset fallback hangs up rather than doing nothing.
  • Callers get re-prompted more or fewer times than expected. Each invalid or silent attempt counts toward Max retries, not just silence.

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Next steps

Build an IVR menu

Nested and conditional menus