Business professionals are also encouraged to keep their voicemail organized. Delete any messages from the office phone that are no longer necessary after calls are returned, and write down any phone numbers that are needed at the time the message is listened to. If modern voicemail service is utilized, such as that supplied by Voicemail Office, in which voicemail and fax messages are received in a staff member’s email inbox, the individual should write a short explanation in the body of the email if forwarding any voicemail messages to other staff members.
Hello, you have reached the dental office of Dr. X. We are busy assisting a patient now, but will call you back as soon as possible. Please leave your name, reason for calling, and your number. If this is an urgent enquiry, please call 911. In this case, the dentist is giving a reason for not being available and they’re providing a way to prioritize the patients who need the most help. They’re also leaving an emergency number for the most severe of situations.

"If I'm honest, I mean, we do tell our clients that we don't have voice mail," Blanchard says. "But our clients forgot and they said, 'Have you gone out of business? What's happening? What's going wrong?' "
Often times knowing the purpose of their calls allows me to respond to their messages by sending them emails. As an example, when people have a question, often times I can send them an email answering their question. Knowing the purpose of the call also allows me to continue the communication through their voicemail if we end up playing phone tag.