Interactive voice response, or IVR, is a computerized phone system that enables a person, typically a telephone caller, to make a selection from a voice menu. The selection is made using touch-phone keypad entries or voice responses. The phone system plays pre-recorded voice prompts and the person typically presses a number on a telephone keypad to select the option associated with the voice prompt. This interaction allows the individual to communicate with the phone system and thus the computer system to either obtain information or to process a transaction.

In addition to interacting with a caller in a personalized, customized manner through sophisticated branching that models an expert clinician, IVR systems have many optional features: transfer to live operator; outbound paging; immediate faxing or E-mailing of custom information following the call; report generation; and interactive scripts written in multiple languages and presented in both genders. IVR systems offer several advantages for clinical care.