Home > Phone Systems > Corporate Voicemail Greetings - Bloopers and Best Practices Corporate Voicemail Greetings - Bloopers and Best Practices Want to make the most of your business phone system? Make sure that your greeting to callers is effective. The way any phone system greets callers is critical to the image and presentation of your business. From the initial phone greeting to all callers, through whatever phone menu your system uses - or if you have a live receptionist - through to the voicemail greeting on personal phones, every step sends a message about your company and about you. It is pretty easy to get it wrong - and not an awful lot harder to get it right. "You have reached the Sales Department. Leave a message." This might not seem so bad but think about it in terms of missed opportunities. The chances are that they know they reached the sales department. And they expect to reach a sales person. If your sales team is really so busy thay can't get to calls then at least make it personal. Have messages go to a department assistan who is named. That way a person is involved and the caller has some expectation of personal contact. Tell them good times to call and what information YOU need from them - at very least a reminder to leave their own number! Not too surprisingly, there aren't a lot of real examples floating around on the internet of bad phone systems - but here are a few real and not so real.... Any good voicemail message needs to do a few things: Say who you are very briefly to confirm that the caller reached the right number. Say that you aren't available as briefly as possible. Remind the caller to leave a contact number and identifying information. Ask them to state the issue they are calling about as simply and clearly as possible. Saying who you are is obvious - whether it is the company or a personal message on your extension. While it isn't totally obvious that you should say you aren't available, it is polite and you can include additional information without going too far. If you are going to be gone at another office for a month then you can say that and leave a forwarding number if needed using whatever vacation message function your system may have. But if you are literally just out for a moment then a standard, "I am not available," is all that is needed. Obviously you need to tailor the greeting for the situation. If you are recording a greeting for a common line that is shared then don't leave personal information as the identifier. And don't if you have legitimate concerns about identity. But in reality, most of the time it is better to include who you are. Other optional information that is nice to include is information about when they can expect a call back, email contact info as an alternative and even an answer to an overwhelmingly common query. But those are optional. It is more important to be clear and brief so that the most important information gets across. Once you have a message you like, double check by calling the number to see what the experience is like. It is easy to forget that many voicemail systems include automated instructions that can take up a lot of time BEFORE the caller even gets your greeting. if the automated information is too long, work with your phone system tech to get it changed to somethign useful and appropriate. Adjust your message if needed so you don't repeat anything they already heard. "Hi. This is Joe Smith at Acme Co. I can't take your call right now, so please leave me a detailed message after the tone. Please include your number and your name. Thank you." Brief, to the point and doesn't waste anyone's time. "Hello, this is the Acme Company. We can't take your call in person at the moment. Please leave us a detailed message including your name, phone number and the reason you are calling. We will call you back as soon as possible." "Hi, this is Joe Smith at the Acme Co. I am working in the New York office during July and August. You can reach me there on 212-555-1111 or leave a message here stating your name, number and the reason you called. I will return the call as soon as possible." Hopefully these warning examples and tips on how to do it right will help you improve the way you present yourself and your company to the world.
If your business is off for a holiday, it's a common courtesy to update your voicemail to acknowledge the closure. Mention the closure in the beginning of the message, convey when your business is reopening, and don't forget to wish the callers a happy holiday if the occasion calls for it. If you're away from your office, check your voicemail remotely to keep up with incoming messages if necessary. Or get voicemail to email capabilities set up on your phone system. Thank you for calling Merlow Plumbing. We are closed for Christmas from December 24th, 2015, until January 2nd, 2016. Our normal business hours are Monday through Thursday, 8 am - 6 pm. Please leave your message after the tone. Have a happy holiday, and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year. 5. Emergency Situation Voicemail Greeting
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Editor’s Note: The article is part of the blog series Grow Your Business brought to you by the marketing team at UniTel Voice, the virtual phone system priced and designed for startups and small business owners.
With all of these things to think about for a short 20-second voicemail, you might be feeling a little bit overwhelmed. We promise it’s actually is much simpler than it sounds.
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2. Hello you’ve reached Matt Grech, I’ll be out of the office for the next few days due to the holidays. Feel free to leave a message, or you can shoot me an email at Matt@GetVoIP if something urgent pops up. I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as I return to the office. Happy holidays!
The way all your words and sentences come together gives your script a distinct written tone. Combine that with a specific speaking tone to create an on-hold message that reinforces your brand and product set. Selecting the correct tones will ensure your intended message is communicated effectively. If your target market is the younger generation, then a tone which embodies fun and excitement would be most suitable.
Company phone greetings are important, and it should be the only truly scripted part of a customer service call. Here at PATLive, we develop greetings with our clients to ensure that we’re representing them well during every call our agents take on their behalf. Our agents use these customized, branded greetings to guarantee they’re getting the same care they would if you were the one to answer the phone call personally. Services Message On Hold Pay As You Go Bundles Telephone Voice Prompts Commercial Recording Bilingual Voice Over Client Login 1-888-886-6247 About Us Introduction Our Team Our Voice Talent Our Studio Our Partners Help FAQ Help Toggle navigation Home About Us Introduction Our Team Our Voice Talent Our Studio Our Partners Services Message On Hold Pay As You Go Bundles VOIP Phone Prompts Commercial Recording Localization & Translation Help FAQ Help Blog Contact Giving Business A Voice Professional Online Voice Recordings For Phone Systems Message On Hold, IVR Phone Prompts, Auto Attendant, Voice Over, voip system greetings Services Providing Top Service and Quality Recordings since 1992. Order online
Fax messaging allows a user to receive direct inbound faxes from their voicemail service. Before you begin
4. Liam Neeson Threatens and Delights Your Callers. Liam Neeson has been acting for decades but it was his recent role in the hit movie Taken that caught the attention of a younger audience.
If you choose Selectively Forward Calls, you'll need to have at least one rule for forwarding applied for call forwarding to be active.
34. Hello, this is [your name]. I’m currently out of the office celebrating [X holiday]. I’ll be back on [X date], so leave a quick message and I’ll be sure to return your call when I get back. Have a happy [holiday]!
3. Department Wide Voicemail Greeting. This voicemail greeting should list the name of the department, the hours of operation or the whereabouts of your personnel, the protocol for following up with the customer, and another way to get in touch with the department.
These are just a few ideas to get the gears turning. These are simple examples, but don’t be afraid to show a little personality.
If you leave me your name and phone number along with a brief message, I’ll get back to you by the end of the business day.” 4. Seasonal Voicemail Greeting Samples “Happy Holidays from [Company Name]! Please note that we will be out of the office on holiday break from [date] to [date]. If you are hearing this message, we are either with
Today Team Voxist is proud to announce that our app now has its own patented automated personalized greetings technology that lets you write your greeting script and personalizes the greeting for you!What?!? How can Voxist personalize greetings for me?
Now, we’ve covered the topic a bit at length in the past, with sure-fire ways to engage callers with your business voicemail greeting. Still a solid basis for constructing your new voicemail greeting, we’ll cover a quick recap of the most important aspects of a voicemail greeting for those that are unfamiliar.