Amharic IVR system: voice menus you build yourself
A voice menu should greet callers in their own language and send them to the right team. Halo's Amharic IVR system lets your admin build those menus from your own recordings, then publish a change or roll it back in one click.
IVR and Amharic voice menus
What you get
The IVR builder is where your admin decides what callers hear and where each key press takes them. Menus are built from simple steps, and nothing reaches callers until it is published.
Menus built from simple steps
Put together play, menu, time check, queue, transfer, callback offer, VIP and block check, and voicemail steps. Each step does one job, so a menu stays easy to read.
Your voice, in Amharic
Voice prompts are your own recordings, in Amharic or any language. Callers hear a voice from your company, not a generic one.
Common audio files
Upload prompts as MP3, WAV, OGG or M4A, up to 20 MB and 10 minutes each. Built-in queue sounds can be replaced with your own recordings too.
Draft, publish, roll back
Work on a menu as a draft and publish it when it is ready. If a change sounds wrong, one click rolls back to the previous version.
Ethiopian holidays in the calendar
An Ethiopian holiday calendar plays holiday greetings on the right days. Dates that move each year are confirmed by your admin.
One-switch emergency message
When something unexpected happens, one switch turns on an emergency message for your callers.
How it works on a busy day
In late December, Liya Mekonnen, the admin, opens the IVR builder. She records a short Genna greeting in Amharic, uploads it as an MP3 and adds it to the holiday calendar for 7 January. She also adds a time check, so calls after 18:00 go to voicemail. She saves the menu as a draft, listens to it once more and publishes it.
On 7 January callers hear the Genna greeting, then the menu: 1 for “Orders”, 2 for “Support”, 3 for “Vendors”. Callers marked as VIP skip the menu and go straight to “Support”.
In the afternoon a new prompt Liya uploaded turns out to be too quiet. She rolls back to the previous version in one click and records the prompt again the next morning.
Facts
| Menu steps | Play, menu, time check, queue, transfer, callback offer, VIP and block check, voicemail |
|---|---|
| Changes | Draft, publish and one-click rollback |
| Prompt language | Your own recordings, in Amharic or any language |
| Audio files | MP3, WAV, OGG or M4A, up to 20 MB and 10 minutes |
| Holidays | Ethiopian holiday calendar with greetings; moving dates confirmed by your admin |
| Emergency message | On or off with one switch |
Questions about Amharic voice menus
Can the voice menu speak Amharic?
Yes. Every prompt in Halo is your own recording, so your menu can be in Amharic, English or any other language your callers use. Your admin records the prompts, uploads them and adds them to the menu steps. Our guide on how to record IVR prompts in Amharic covers the recording itself.
Which audio files can we upload?
Halo accepts MP3, WAV, OGG and M4A files, up to 20 MB and 10 minutes each. Built-in queue sounds can also be replaced with your own files.
How does Halo handle Ethiopian holidays?
Halo has an Ethiopian holiday calendar, so the menu can play a holiday greeting on days such as Genna, Timket and Adwa. Holidays whose dates move each year are confirmed by your admin.
What if we publish a mistake?
Every change starts as a draft, so you can check it before callers hear it. If a published menu still needs to change, one click rolls back to the previous version while you fix the draft.
What do callers hear after hours?
Whatever you build. A time check step sends calls outside your opening hours down their own path, for example to a short closed message and then to voicemail. Voicemails become callback tasks, and if you switch it on, after-hours calls become callback tasks for the morning team.
Related features
Where this matters most: Government and public. See how Halo is priced on the pricing page.