This topic describes features such as publishing IVR (interactive voice response) flows, binding phone numbers, and importing and exporting IVR flows.
Access the feature
Log on to the Cloud Contact Center console. In the navigation pane on the left, choose Instances > V2. Click the endpoint of a specific instance to open its console.
Click the menu button in the upper-right corner of the page and select Voice Services to open the Voice Services console. In the navigation pane on the left, choose Flow Management > IVR Flows. The IVR flow list appears.
Status descriptions
Unpublished: A newly created IVR flow shows this status until it is published.
Publishing: This status appears when you click Publish or Save and Publish on the canvas.
Published: The flow was published successfully. However, you must bind a phone number before callers can enter the flow.
Editing: Someone is editing this IVR flow. Only one person can edit an IVR flow at a time. After editing, click Save or Cancel. Otherwise, the status remains Editing.
Updated but unpublished: The IVR flow was published successfully but has been edited since then. After confirming your edits are complete, republish the flow.
Publish failed: This status appears when publishing fails. Common causes include missing exits in certain modules or incorrect connectors.
When the status is Publishing, the action area is empty and no operations are allowed. Click Refresh to update the list.
When the status is Editing, only the current editor can make changes. If another administrator is editing—or edited but did not save or cancel—you cannot edit the flow. A message shows which administrator is editing it. To edit the flow, contact that administrator to save or cancel their session.
Publish an IVR flow
After building an IVR flow, publish it. You can publish only flows with one of these statuses: Unpublished, Updated but unpublished, or Publish failed.
After completing your IVR flow, click Save and Publish below the flow to publish it.
Bind an IVR flow to a phone number
When an IVR flow’s status is Published, bind it to a phone number so the flow takes effect for incoming calls.
In the Voice Services console, choose Number Management in the navigation pane on the left to open the Number Management page.
Click Edit in the Actions column for the number you want to bind.
In the panel on the right, bind the number to an IVR flow. Select a Usage. Only published main IVR flows appear in the list.
After successful binding, incoming calls to this number enter the selected IVR flow.
Clone an IVR flow
On the IVR flow list page, click Clone in the Actions column for an existing IVR flow to create a copy. On the new IVR creation page, modify settings such as Flow Name and Version Type, then save or publish. This method is efficient when creating multiple similar flows.
Delete an IVR flow
On the IVR list page, click Delete in the Actions column for the corresponding IVR, and confirm again to delete it.
If you delete an IVR flow, any phone numbers bound to it lose their IVR configuration. Proceed with caution.
Export an IVR flow
On the IVR flow list page, click Export in the Actions column for the target IVR flow. In the IVR Flow Export dialog box, click Copy to export the IVR flow as JSON data.
Import an IVR flow
On the IVR flow list page, click Import. In the IVR Flow Import dialog box, paste the JSON string exported from another IVR flow and click Import.
You can import or export IVR flows across different Alibaba Cloud accounts. There is no restriction to using data only within the same account.
Edit an IVR flow
On the IVR flow list page, click Edit in the Actions column for the target IVR flow to open the editing page. You can modify the version description and flow modules, but not the flow name or version type. For details about modules, see IVR module overview.
After making changes, click Save and Publish or Save Only.
Save and Publish: Saves your changes and publishes the flow immediately, enabling phone number binding.
Save Only: Saves your changes without publishing. The flow status becomes Unpublished, and bound numbers continue using the previous configuration.
IVR Previous versions
From the IVR flow list, view historical versions. You can see version descriptions, update times, configuration details, version IDs, and perform rollbacks.
Filter IVR flows
To find a specific IVR flow in the list, use a fuzzy query by entering a name or associated number.