Five9 IVR · reference
A Five9 IVR script is a graph of modules. Here is what the modules that do most of the work are for, in Five9's own words, what to watch for, and how to check each one before callers reach it.
Five9's descriptions are from its IVR Administrator's Guide (April 2026 edition), with page numbers. Each module is an XML element of the same name in a
.five9ivr export — reading a Five9 export by hand shows the format.
incomingCall In Five9: In the guide's words, “the first module of all IVR scripts.” It is already on the canvas when you create a script and cannot be removed or given properties. (p. 100)
In ivrloom: Every reachability check starts here: a module no path from Incoming Call reaches is flagged as unreachable in the Issues panel.
play In Five9: Plays “prompts and greetings anywhere in the script.” (p. 204)
In ivrloom: A simulated call lists every prompt the caller hears, and the editor plays a prompt's recording from your bundle. ivrloom also models an announcement module, which the first post below compares with Play.
getDigits In Five9: Routes the call “by using digits entered by the caller into a variable”; the result can go to a string or an integer variable. (p. 135)
In ivrloom: In step mode you type the caller's digits or choose “No input”, and you can make the module fail with one of the error codes Five9 lists for it.
menu In Five9: One exit branch per option, chosen by the caller. It “supports DTMF and speech input” (p. 187), and once Max Attempts is exceeded the caller leaves by the No Match branch. (p. 185)
In ivrloom: Step mode offers one button per option plus “No input”, and path coverage shows which of the menu's exits no saved scenario has taken.
ifElse In Five9: Two branches: If when the condition is true, Else when it is false. “If you need more than two branches, use the Case module.” (p. 143)
In ivrloom: Conditions are edited in the property panel, dates, times and yes/no values included, and saved as the same kind of value Five9 uses. A branch the simulator cannot decide is flagged in the trace.
case In Five9: “As many branches as you need”, one per possible value, plus No Match for everything else — the guide's example routes a Get Digits result to Sales or Support. (p. 111)
In ivrloom: The simulator takes the matching branch and says so in the trace; a value that matches no branch, with no No Match to catch it, ends the simulated call as a dead end.
setVariable In Five9: Assigns values to variables, typically for a later If/Else, Case, web request or routing decision. Script variables hold up to 1M characters, call variables 2,040. (p. 238)
In ivrloom: The simulator evaluates the assignments it can, in order. The script's own JavaScript functions and RANDOM are never run: in step mode it asks you for the value instead.
query In Five9: Query obtains data “from an external Web site”, a third-party web service or another source of contact data. Lookup Contact Record (p. 178) reads the caller's contact record. (p. 214)
In ivrloom: The simulator never calls the service. The values it would return are the ones you set before the run (unset, they are empty), and you can make the module fail with one of Five9's error codes to walk its error branch.
skillTransfer In Five9: Transfers the call to one or more skills and configures the queue; “after the call transfers to an agent, the IVR script is complete.” (p. 250)
In ivrloom: The simulator offers the outcomes the module's settings allow — an agent answers, a queue callback, voicemail, a queue timeout, a transfer error — and the Issues panel flags a transfer with nowhere to go if it fails.
foreignScript In Five9: Runs another IVR script from this one and returns its variables — “you can use the same search script in multiple scripts.” (p. 132)
In ivrloom: When the called script is in the bundle you imported, the simulator steps into it and comes back; otherwise the trace says the sub-script was skipped.
hangup In Five9: Disconnects the call and ends the script — or, “if the script was started from another IVR script,” returns the call to it. Start on Hangup (p. 102) starts another process when a caller hangs up before the script ends. (p. 100)
In ivrloom: The modules that run on hangup are a second flow in the export; the reachability check knows about it, so they are not reported as orphans.
ivrloom's simulator runs a Five9 script in your browser: you supply what the file cannot know — the caller's digits, the clock, what a transfer or lookup returned — and saved scenarios re-check the paths after every edit. Testing a Five9 IVR without placing a call shows how, and the comparison with Five9's IVR Script Designer shows the editor. ivrloom is an independent product, not affiliated with Five9, Inc.