If you are recording a voicemail message for business, be sure you include your name and your company's name, so people know who they are calling and were they are reaching them. If you do not include the business name, they may think they have mistakenly called you at your personal number. You will also want to make sure to give callers the option to speak to someone who is currently available, an operator or other representative, by pressing a certain key (check with IT personnel to see what this might be).
Remember to watch out for ambient noise on your end of the call as well. Train signals, traffic, or even outside conversations can be very distracting to your callers and project an unprofessional image. Don’t forget the beep. Every millisecond – yes, millisecond – between the end of your greeting and the beep is time callers could potentially drop the call. That’s why the anticipated beep should sound the moment your greeting is finished. Leaving lengthy, silent gaps may cause your customers to wonder if they’ve been disconnected. Don’t give them the opportunity to hang up waiting to hear that affirmative tone. Check and then recheck your greeting. After you complete your outgoing voicemail message, play it back to verify you’ve said everything you intended to say. Then take it a step further and dial in to experience the greeting for yourself, and be mindful to contemplate the greeting from the customer’s perspective.

Coming up with a good business voicemail greeting can be trickier than coming up with a personal voicemail greeting. Take some cues from the below to ensure callers leave a voicemail message after listening to your greeting. Additionally, consider writing a voicemail script to ensure you don’t leave out anything when recording.
* Automatically forward unread messages to a partner, spouse or any email so important phone calls aren't ignored.