Short answer: a press-1 campaign calls your list, plays your message, and asks people to press 1 if they're interested. Those who press 1 are forwarded straight to your sales phone on the same call. On Edesy you build the call as a flow in IVR Studio (message → keypad menu → email alert → transfer), then run it as a campaign with the type Interactive (run an IVR flow). Every contact's keypress shows up in the results.
Broadcast, press-1 campaign or AI calling?
| Plain voice broadcast | Press-1 campaign (IVR campaign) | AI voice agent calls | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the person hears | One message | Your message, then a keypad menu | A conversation |
| What they can do | Listen | Press 1 to talk to sales, 2 for a callback, 9 to stop calls | Ask questions, book, qualify |
| Who handles interest | Nobody on the call | Your team, live, after the transfer | The agent, then your team |
| Best for | Announcements, reminders | Promotions where a human closes | High-volume qualification |
A press-1 campaign is the middle option. It is as simple to set up as a broadcast, but interested people reach a human while the offer is still in their ear. For a comparison of all three, see AI voice agent vs IVR vs voice broadcast.
What you need
- An Edesy account (new accounts get Rs 20 free credit, no card).
- A phone number to call from. For promotional calls in India, a number registered for promotional calling.
- A list of numbers as a CSV, with names if you want to personalise the message.
- A phone your team will answer during the calling hours.
Step 1: Build the flow
In IVR Studio, create a flow and add these nodes:
Start
→ Config language (Hindi, English…)
→ Say your offer
→ Menu "For details, press 1"
├─ 1 → Email alert → Transfer to your sales number
├─ 9 → HTTP Request (add to Do Not Call) → Hangup
└─ timeout → Hangup "Thank you, goodbye"| Node | What to set |
|---|---|
| Config | Voice & speech language, e.g. Hindi |
| Say | Your message. {{var.contact_name}} speaks the name from your list |
| Menu | Prompt "For details, press 1", timeout 6 to 8 seconds, key 1 labelled "Interested" |
| Email (on key 1) | Subject Hot lead: {{var.lead_phone}}, so you have the number even if the transfer isn't answered |
| Transfer (after the email) | Your sales number, announcement "Connecting you to our team", ring timeout 30 seconds |
| Hangup (on timeout) | A goodbye in the caller's language |
Prefer a voice artist? Use a Play Audio node with your recording (mp3, wav, m4a or ogg, up to 5 MB) instead of Say. Then test-call the flow, press 1, check the transfer rings, and publish. The full node-by-node guide is in the docs: press 1 to connect a caller.
Step 2: Create the campaign
In the voice app (voice-app.edesy.in), open Campaigns → Create Campaign:
- Campaign Name and Caller ID (From Number). Optionally a backup caller ID.
- Campaign Type: Interactive (run an IVR flow), then pick your flow.
- Call Settings: Max Concurrent Calls, Retry Attempts and Ring Timeout.
- Dialing Hours: keep Only dial between set hours on (09:00 to 21:00).
- Upload Contacts: a CSV of
phone_number,name. Your Do Not Call list and duplicates are removed. - Review & Launch: use Hear it before you launch to call your own phone, check the Estimated Cost, and start now or at a set time.
Developers can do the same with POST /v1/campaigns and ivr_flow_id. See
run a flow as a campaign.
Step 3: Follow up the people who pressed 1
| Where | What you see |
|---|---|
| Your inbox | One email per person who pressed 1, the moment they press it |
| Campaign page | A Keys Pressed column for every contact |
| Results CSV | An ivr_digits column. Filter for 1 |
| Your CRM | Anything you send with an HTTP Request node on key 1 |
More on this in results and hot leads.
Script examples
English: "Hello {{var.contact_name}}, this is [Company]. [Your offer in one sentence], until [date]. To talk to our team now, press 1. Again, press 1 to talk to our team."
Hindi: "Namaste {{var.contact_name}}, [Company] ki taraf se. [Offer], [date] tak. Hamari team se abhi baat karne ke liye 1 dabaiye. Dobara, baat karne ke liye 1 dabaiye."
Rules that keep the press rate up:
- Say who you are and why you're calling in the first five seconds.
- Ask for the key within 15 seconds, and repeat it once.
- One offer per call. If you need a second option, make it key 2 ("for a callback tomorrow, press 2").
- Write numbers the way they should be spoken ("pachaas lakh", not "50,00,000").
For more scripts by industry, see 10 IVR campaign use cases with scripts. For Tamil, Bengali, Marathi and other languages, see IVR campaign scripts in Indian languages.
Things to get right
- The transfer has no "no answer" path. If your sales phone doesn't pick up within the ring timeout, the call ends. That's why the email (or CRM request) goes before the transfer.
- Size the campaign to your team. A forwarded call keeps two lines busy. If three people can take calls, don't run 50 at a time; start with a Max Concurrent Calls your team can absorb.
- Connect the timeout path. Otherwise the menu repeats and ends with an English "We didn't receive any input. Goodbye." even on a Hindi call.
- Who sees which number. Your sales team sees the campaign's caller ID on the forwarded call. Tell them, so they don't treat it as spam.
- Start small. Run 100 to 200 numbers, look at the Keys Pressed column and your email alerts, adjust the script, then scale.
- Answering machines. Turn on Detect answering machines to report voicemail pickups; see answering machine detection for voice broadcast.
Compliance in India
Promotional calls must go out between 09:00 and 21:00, from a number registered for promotional calling, and respect people's do-not-disturb choices. On Edesy:
- Dialing hours default to 09:00 to 21:00.
- Your workspace's Do Not Call list is applied to every upload. Add a "press 9 to stop calls" option that adds the number to it (the docs show the exact HTTP Request).
- Upload
consent_sourceandconsent_timestampcolumns to keep a consent record in your export.
Your telemarketing registration is your responsibility; check it before your first promotional campaign.
What it costs
Answered calls are billed per minute from your prepaid INR wallet; unanswered calls are not charged. The campaign wizard shows an Estimated Cost for your list before you launch. See estimate a voice broadcast's cost before launch.
FAQ
What is a press-1 voice broadcast?
An outbound calling campaign where each answered call plays your message and then waits for a keypress. People who press 1 are forwarded to your sales or support number on the same call.
What happens if nobody answers the transfer?
The call ends after the ring timeout. Put an email alert or a request to your CRM before the transfer, so every person who pressed 1 is captured.
Can I run a press-1 campaign in Tamil or Gujarati?
Yes. Tamil, Bengali, Telugu and Marathi can use text to speech with the Google voice provider; Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam and any other language use recorded prompts.
How do I know who pressed 1?
The Keys Pressed column on the campaign, the ivr_digits column in the results CSV, and an email on
key 1 if you add one.
What time can promotional calls go out in India?
Between 09:00 and 21:00. Edesy campaigns dial only inside your dialing hours.
Build your press-1 flow free: ivr.edesy.in, Rs 20 free credit, no card. Product overview: IVR campaigns.