thinkhard.SI

Prompt repository Customer support & success

Write a phone menu and hold messages for your support line

You are setting up or fixing your support phone line and need menu prompts callers can follow plus hold messages that actually help.

Registry no.
SUP-049
Collection
Customer support & success
Laid out for
Any chat model
Score
10 out of 10
Blanks to fill
8

Customer support & successAny chat

The prompt

Score 10 of 10, Excellent

Use it when You are setting up or fixing your support phone line and need menu prompts callers can follow plus hold messages that actually help.

  • {{business}}
  • {{call_reasons}}
  • {{queues}}
  • {{hours}}
  • {{self_service}}
  • {{callback}}
  • {{languages}}
  • {{accessibility_options}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
Write the phone menu (IVR) prompts and hold messages for the {{business}} support line, so that callers reach the right person in as few key presses as possible and the time on hold gives them something useful instead of a loop of music.

Why people call, with the rough share of calls for each if known:
"""
{{call_reasons}}
"""

Queues or teams calls can go to: {{queues}}
Opening hours, and what happens out of hours: {{hours}}
Self-service options that actually work, with their addresses: {{self_service}}
Callback option, if our phone system has one: {{callback}}
Languages the line must offer: {{languages}}
Accessibility options we offer, such as relay or text services: {{accessibility_options}}

Produce:
1. Main menu prompt: up to five options, in order of call volume, highest first. Put the reason before the number ("For billing, press 2") so callers hear what they need first. There is always a way to reach a person, such as pressing 0, and the first prompt says how.
2. Submenus, only where one option covers clearly different needs, one level deep at most.
3. Out-of-hours message.
4. Hold messages: 4 to 6 messages of about 40 to 60 words each (15 to 25 seconds read aloud), each one useful, such as the self-service option that fits that queue, the callback offer, or what to have ready (account number, order number). Include an estimated wait only if our system can announce one.
5. A routing table with the columns Option, Key, Queue, Notes.

Write every prompt as spoken English: short sentences, one idea per option, no abbreviations, and web addresses short enough to say aloud. The menu repeats once automatically if no key is pressed. Mention relay or text options only if they are listed above.

A good prompt is understood the first time it is heard, by a caller who is driving or not looking at anything.

For example, an option in the right form: "To check or change an appointment, press 1." That example shows the form only.

Do not:
- Use "Please listen carefully, as our menu options have changed" or "Your call is important to us".
- Hide the route to a person behind the website; it stays in the first prompt.
- Invent web addresses, wait times or opening hours.

If the call reasons have no volume figures, order the options by your best reading of the list and say so in a note at the end. If an option has no queue or self-service link, write [CHECK: where this goes] rather than routing it somewhere that seems close.

Variables

{{business}}
Your business or department name as callers know it.
{{call_reasons}}
Why people call, ideally with the share of calls for each, from your phone or ticket data.
{{queues}}
The queues or teams calls can be routed to.
{{hours}}
Your opening hours by queue, and what happens after hours.
{{self_service}}
Self-service options that work, with short addresses, for example "order tracking at [site]/track".
{{callback}}
Whether callers can request a callback and how, or "no callback".
{{languages}}
Languages the line offers, for example "English and Spanish".
{{accessibility_options}}
Relay, text or other accessible routes you offer, or "none".

Why it works

  • What good looks like. Every prompt is written to be understood on first hearing, with the reason spoken before the key, which is how callers actually listen.
  • What to avoid. The route to a person stays in the first prompt and stock phrases are banned, because a hidden zero is what makes callers hang up angry.
  • If unsure. Options with no queue get a [CHECK] marker instead of being sent to the nearest-sounding team.

How to use it

  1. Press Fill in blanks and type your details into each blank. What you type stays in this browser.
  2. Copy the filled prompt into the AI tool you already use, such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, or open it in the Grader or the Prompt Tester here.
  3. Before you rely on it, try it on three or four real examples. The Prompt Tester runs them all at once and shows which ones go wrong.
Use it from code

Get this prompt as JSON from the free REST API, with your own text in the blanks, or let an AI assistant fetch it through the MCP server. No key.

curl -s https://thinkhard.si/api/v1/prompts/phone-menu-hold-messages

With the MCP server added to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or VS Code, call get_prompt with {"prompt": "phone-menu-hold-messages"}, or just ask for it by name.