People get frustrated when you don’t pick up the phone. They also get frustrated when the person who picks up the phone can’t help them, or if they have to wait a long time to talk to someone who can. A phone answering service like a virtual receptionist or call center can help reduce wait times and prevent missed calls, but if they can’t help a caller, your customers will feel like they’re just being passed from one person to another—and most people clearly don’t like that experience.
Hello! You’ve reached [Luke on the Customer Success Team at LinkedPhone]. Our office is currently closed but rest assured your call is very important to me. Please leave your name and number and let me know how I could be of service to you. I’ll return your call on the next business day. Thank you!

-Hi. I’m probably home. I’m just avoiding someone I don’t like. Leave me a message, and if I don’t call back, it’s you.
Back in the day, voicemail was one of the most reliable ways to leave a message when you couldn’t get a hold of someone over the phone. But the way we use phones has changed dramatically over the last couple of decades, and voicemail has largely stayed the same.