When you create a professional voicemail greeting, it can be a good idea to think about what your callers might want to know. After doing so, you can make a list of points to cover in your voice message; it might also be a good idea to write out the entire greeting on a piece of paper. The ideal message should be somewhere between 10 and 20 seconds, so you may want to time yourself repeating your message before you record it. After composing your telephone message, it can be a good idea to get a second opinion of this greeting so you can make sure it sounds professional. Writing down a voicemail greeting helps prevent mistakes when recording it.
In certain situations, it’s a good idea to let a call go to voicemail. If you’re in a loud area, unable to spend 10-15 minutes talking, or are otherwise distracted, don’t answer. Recruiters who cold-call candidates will understand that you’re simply unavailable – but make sure to return calls in a timely manner. If possible, call back during regular business hours.

If you’re working remotely now, but your mobile number isn’t on your business cards, add your mobile number to your business line’s voicemail message! If you’re worried that people will start calling your cellphone at all hours of the night – they won’t. They’ll treat it just with just as much respect as your business line.
Once I listened to my original recording, I knew it was time for an upgrade. I asked around for some tips about writing and recording voicemail greetings. Here's my process: What's wrong with this voicemail message? "Hey, What's Up?" isn't going to make a good impression for business calls. "Umm..." never makes you seem confident or professional, either. "I'll get back to you whenever I can" really means, "I'm probably screening your call and I won't call you back." "BEEP!" My message was cut off, and for six years, I didn't know and no one told me. Ouch. How I fixed it: 2. Then, I wrote down what I wanted to say and read it out loud a few times until I was satisfied with the flow. 3. I rehearsed and recorded my voicemail script a few times to hear how I sounded. (I tend to talk relatively quickly, so I wanted to make sure the message didn't sound rushed.) 4. For the final recording I recorded my message while smiling so I sounded happy and approachable. 5. I checked my final recording by listening to my voicemail message from both a cell phone and a landline, and also asked a friend to listen for a second opinion.