e. Never Assume Anything: Phrases like “You Know What To Do,” “Sing Your Song at the Beep,” and others mentioned above are awful to leave in your greeting. For the sake of universality and comprehensiveness, NEVER assume the caller knows what to do. Lay it out clearly. f. Leave a Message: This phrase, by itself, will not do. It’s imperative for users to identify themselves in their greetings. Callers need to know they’ve reached the right person. g. Disregard Lethargy: If you’re not excited about your greeting, why would anyone else be? Never display a lack of enthusiasm in your greeting as it could turn callers off to both you and your business. h. Speak Clearly and Never Slur: Callers need to understand your every word; therefore, mumbling, slurring, and all other detractions of speech should never be recorded. d. Be Creative Without Sacrificing Quality: Callers know how voicemails work–i.e. leave a number, message, etc. While you want to be clear, it’s important not to be contrive or redundant with your message. Creativity can help users to differentiate themselves, as well as intrigue callers. While users should avoid the tropes of creativity listed above, it’s definitely good to think outside the box. That being said, scripting and practice can help users to experiment more with their greeting–ultimately allowing for more unique and creative approach. e. Speak With Diction: It’s important to present one’s self as an authority without alienating callers. As such, it’s crucial to articulate and speak with clear diction. “ if your voice recording has you stumbling over words and speaking haltingly, it does not convey confidence and competence,” states Ron Sellers of Grey Matter Research & Consulting. Remember, this greeting represents you; therefore, you want to appear collected and professional, as well as welcoming. To do this, one must carry themselves well through their recorded message. f. Account for Timeliness: Your message should be concise. No caller wants to be sitting through a rant/diatribe of redundant statements. Your greeting should flow without dragging. Inversely, one doesn’t want to be terse, either. Engage callers with a simplified approach laden with creativity. h. Account for Quality: Aside from speaking clearly, users want to eliminate any noise in the surrounding environment. The quality of the greeting is just as important as what’s being said in the greeting itself. As such, one doesn’t want to undermine a great message with poor quality. i. Courtesy, Tastefulness, & Tact: This is pretty self-explanatory and straight forward–NEVER be rude. Being light-hearted and humorous is very different from being obnoxious and/or abrasive. Again, these tools can be helpful if utilized properly, but not everyone perceives humor the same way. So play it safe. The last thing your voicemail greeting should do is offend a caller. k. Provide Options: if you’re part of a bigger company, it might be good to offer caller options. For example, allow a menu to defer callers to a colleague or co-worker in your absence. This can help show callers you care about their well being. Another option might be offering different modes of communication–i.e. email, fax, etc. In offering users diversity, contact may be much easier to maintain.
Does your organization have a witty catchphrase or slogan? If so, use that to your advantage. Here is one that could be tailored towards a custom software company:
.
Your customers might need you on the holidays. If you’re a business owner, you know this already. 🙂 Manage customer expectations and let them know how to get assistance.
3. "Hey, this is [your name]. If you're calling for [X reason], please [contact so-and-so] or [go to our website, send me an email]. For all other inquiries, leave your name and a brief message and I'll call you back within [one, two, three] business day[s]."
1. Hello, you’ve reached [your name]. I’m currently unavailable, but leave your name and number and I’ll return your call as soon as I can.
This video on English Voicemail Greeting Sample covers the key areas of English pronunciation such as double / diphthong vowels, long vowels, word stress and word endings and more.
Another great thing you can do in your voicemail messages is to leave a few spaces for your prospects to record their message, most of the prospects will do it because they know they will be reached out sooner given the situation of their need.
You can access listen to your voicemail messages from Microsoft Teams apps or phones, Skype for Business apps or phones, or Outlook apps.
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
You don’t have to spell out every single thing that you think they might want to know. Have some faith that your callers will be able to figure things out on their own. Be natural but informative.
“Hello! You’ve reached the voicemail of [your name], [your job title]. I’m currently either away from my desk or on the other line. Please leave your name, telephone number, and a short message after the beep, and I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as I’m available.”
You need to modify some settings of Skype for Business before you set up devices for an on-premises Skype for Business deployment. Ensure that you complete the following tasks: • Set the server log levels to capture only low-level events. For information on setting logging levels, see Set-CsUCPhoneConfiguration on Microsoft Docs.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Chances are, that voicemail that you’ve recorded and deleted thirty times has been just fine. Your main goal is not to get in the way of the caller leaving a message, which is exactly what can happen if you overthink it or drone on too long.
Aline is a cloud-based, VoIP phone system that makes your business more efficient and easier to manage. Click here for a free quote from Aline!
Say that your prospects want to speak to the sales department and so when they realize that they have reached the right department and hear the voicemail messages, they will be compelled to leave their contact details so that the sales team can reach out to them later. They will be relieved.
Cox Business has implemented a feature temporarily that allows you to log into your new voice mailbox and listen to saved messages. This feature is available 30 days after migration during which time you can access your voice mailbox. Press “5” from the main menu to access old voice messages. After a user presses “5”, the system will pause for 3-5 seconds and connect you to your previous mailbox. A user can enter the older PIN to listen to the older messages. After 30 days, Cox Business will remove this temporary access feature. Improvements include enhanced performance and reliability, as well as some new features like Readable Voice Mail.
You can play a voice message at different speeds and pause/resume the message, using desktop client visual voicemail, or by dialing into their voicemail. Pressing a certain key on your phone controls how you can hear the voicemail: Read your voicemail transcription