Engage Voice | Using the Play Audio node

One of the tools you’ll encounter when building a basic IVR is the Play Audio node. This node allows you to play one or more audio recordings to callers. Depending on the purpose of your IVR, you can add as many Play Audio nodes to your call flow as you need. 

 

The Play Audio node will often be placed directly after the Answer node. This is because in most cases you will need to begin a call with a greeting or message. 

 

However, you might also want to begin an IVR with a prompt such as a choice between English and Spanish. In this case, you probably don’t want to begin with the Play Audio node because your IVR will need to receive input from callers. A better option would be to begin with the Get Input node, which can both play a recording and accept input. 

 

In addition to playing messages, the Play Audio node is useful for creating a moment of silence. For example, you might want to include a brief silence between the Answer node and the first message callers hear. This helps ensure a more consistent call flow.

 

If you choose to include a silent pause, you can select the quarter_second_silence file from the global audio library. Although the time may seem short, it can make a big difference in your call flow. If you want to learn more about configuring your audio files, read Configuring an audio file.

 

Keep in mind that a single Play Audio node can include multiple recordings that play one after another. This can be particularly convenient because you can create one seemingly unified message by combining shorter recordings.