The simple truth is that you need to be more aware of what you’re leaving for other people to hear. Sure, this doesn’t always register as a priority for users, but it’s never too late to reassess your greeting. a. Reading/Speaking in the Imperfect Tone: Tone is absolutely everything. Users don’t want to come off as being too nice, as it sounds insincere, or being too terse, as it can be interpreted as being rude. That being said, striking the right balance is absolutely essential. Your greeting exists as its own entity, and therefore, it should NOT rely on callers’ familiarity with you. Instead, it needs to appeal to the masses. As such, your inflection, i.e. the way you state your name and directions, needs to be both welcoming and firm. b. Injecting Humor & Insincerity: While humor/light heartedness can be welcoming, it can also convey a sense of informality, insincerity, and ultimately unprofessionalism. Why, because you’re not there to lend your humor or to contextualize. Instead, you’re assuming the caller has a working knowledge of your personality to ground the message. Though this might not sound like it’s all that terrible—it can be detrimental. As stated above, one should NEVER rely on a caller’s familiarity with you. Instead, aim to appeal to the masses. Humor is ultimately subjective, meaning not everyone has the same tastes; therefore, someone is bound to be turned off by a quirky or off-color remark. While implementing a light-hearted or even tongue and cheek tone can work, it’s just a really bad idea.
“Good morning. You’ve reached the voicemail of [your name]. Today is [date]. Please leave me a message with your name and contact information. Oh, and here’s my motivational quote of the day: [read quote].”

Get voicemail service with your choice of 1-800 number or local phone number and make calls with your business number as caller ID. CloudNumber is a professional voicemail phone service easily managed through your smartphone. Personalize a greeting for your business to answer and send your business calls to you, your team, or simply take a message.
VirtualPBX provides every extension owner in your company with custom routing. If the employee isn’t available, the call will go to the personalized business voicemail account for that employee as a result. In this way, each employee can have a business greeting for callers. Similarly, you can set up voicemail boxes for departments or your company as a whole. Even if the call goes to a phone that already has personal voicemail, we can make sure your business calls only go to your business voicemail system. People that call the employee’s number directly get personal greetings, those that go through VirtualPBX get a business greeting.