By default beginning April 2017, voicemail transcription is available for all Phone System in Microsoft 365 users. When you receive a voicemail, the message will be transcribed in the body of the voicemail email you receive in your mailbox. If you do not want to have transcription for your messages, ask your admin to disable it for you.
Record a personalized greeting, up to 3 minutes long. A common template you can follow is: "You've reached [name]. We can't get to the phone right now, but if you leave a message, we'll call you back."
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When you create a voicemail message, the next thing you need to ensure is that your prospects are aware that they have reached the right person so no confusion takes place.
15. “Hello, you’ve reached the Sales Department at [Company name]. All of our representatives are currently helping clients [insert goal such as, ‘achieve 40% growth through streamlining HR’] and are unable to take your call. Instead of putting you on hold and taking up your valuable time, please leave your name, company, and phone number and we’ll give you a call back ASAP. Thank you!”
Thank you for calling [LinkedPhone – The Work From Anywhere Business Phone System]. Our office is closed until [Monday, January 25th for the holiday weekend]. If your call is urgent, please contact [Anya at 212-555-1212 or [email protected]]. Otherwise, please leave a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as we return. We value your call. Thank you from everyone at [LinkedPhone].
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.
Practice your spiel so you can speak with authority. This lets the caller know how confident, qualified, and prepared you are. The goal is to sound like you’ve been doing this for years, not a few minutes.
Turn this feature on via the account center to hide your name and number on all calls you make. You can also hide your number on a per-call basis by dialing *6 7 before making a call.
5. Be Brief. The best after hours greetings are brief, direct, and punctual. Do not waste the customer's time and give them a reason to hang up by adding in unnecessary details.
You should script out your greetings, rehearse, and find a tone of voice that is reflective of your professionalism and your company’s personality. If applicable, your tone and your message should take into account that certain industries and companies are more conservative than others.
Allows you to specify the name that will appear for your number when you make an outbound call. The person you are calling must have a Caller ID compatible telephone or display device.
You may think your voicemail message is professional. But when you listen back it could sound rushed or shaky. Listen to it regularly to see if changes are needed.
As mentioned above, it is extremely important to have a voicemail message that is easy to understand. However, there is also the matter of word choice. You must ensure to give attention to what your words are in your voicemail greetings. There can be certain words used that may trigger your customers. Though you did not mean what they understood, it will still bring a bad name to your company’s reputation. Your choice of words can affect significantly, so make you give close attention to your words.
Just like the importance of conducting yourself professionally in person and over email, you want to make sure that if an employer is trying to contact you, that they receive a professional greeting, even if you aren’t able to answer the phone right away.
Don’t leave customers and colleagues on edge. If you say you’re going to call them back, follow up. If you tend to fall behind in this area, encourage them to email you or reach out in another way. Better yet, learn how to forward voicemail to email so you can access the message anywhere.
7. "Hello, this is [your name] at [company]. Thanks for calling. Please leave your name, number, and the reason you'd like to chat, and I'll get back to you ASAP."
In this article, we’ll discuss why a voicemail greeting is important for your business and show you how to set one up with just a few simple steps.