Avoid playing music and the long message greeting. People don't have the time nor the patients to sit through a storybook greeting. They simply want you to return their call as soon as possible.
Humor also leaves a lot of room for misinterpretation—which subsequently weakens sincerity and authority. A caller can be very turned off by merely misinterpreting your joke. Why take this risk? Additionally, this could even cause callers to question your character. Say, for example, the president of a company’s mobile phone voicemail greeting was funny. What’s to happen if the caller didn’t like or get the joke? What if they found it offensive? Another scenario is that a caller is reaching out to you for the first time—i.e. they have no idea regarding your personality. What next? The point is, with this type of greeting, humor is bound to be more divisive so just avoid it altogether. c. Poorly Pacing Your Message and Bad Time Management: Don’t speed through your message. Speak clearly so callers know what to include in their message and when to leave the message. At the same time, don’t drag your message out. No one wants to sit through a diatribe. Just get to the point clearly.

Virtual Receptionist allows all calls to be answered automatically - 24/7/365. Set up a customizable greetings that can route your callers to specific departments or extensions, and you can even give your Virtual Receptionist its own office hours with time-of-day scheduling, ensuring your customers hear the right greeting at the right time. Combine with other advanced features like rollover hunting and call queue with hold music that makes the wait enjoyable to ensure you never miss a call again.
10. "Hello, you've reached [X company]. We can't take your call right now, but please leave your name, contact information, and reason for reaching out, and one of our team members will be in touch within 24 hours."