Home / Docs / IVR & Phone Menus / Multi-Level Menus and Timeouts
A phone menu doesn't have to be a single flat list of options — any option on a menu can link to an entirely different menu, which is what makes multi-level menus possible.
How linking works in practice. For example, "Press 2 for Support" doesn't have to forward directly to a person — it can instead lead into its own sub-menu, like "Press 1 for Billing, Press 2 for Technical Issues," which then has its own set of destinations. There's no fixed limit baked into the concept of how many levels deep this can go; it's built from the same simple building block (an option pointing to another menu) repeated as many times as your call flow actually needs.
Handling a caller who doesn't respond. Every menu has a configurable timeout — how long TelBuddy waits for a caller to press something before deciding they aren't going to. What happens after that timeout is also something you configure, rather than the call simply hanging or disconnecting silently.
Handling an invalid entry. Similarly, if a caller presses a digit that isn't a valid option on that menu, you control what message plays back to them — so a mistaken keypress leads to a clear "that wasn't a valid option, please try again" instead of dead air or an abrupt failure.
Why both settings matter. Without a configured timeout and invalid-entry message, a caller who hesitates or misdials is left with a noticeably worse experience than one who moves through the menu correctly on the first try — these two settings are what make a menu feel complete rather than merely functional.