So I understand the challenge and temptation to lean on this technology to cover us when we are busy.
This message is for Ms. Smith. This Laura from Dr. Tracy’s office calling about your last appointment. We’d like to share some details regarding your visit with you. You can return my call at 444-444-4444 anytime, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Have a good day.
.
Good day. You’ve reached the residence of the O’Meara family on 5th and Oak. We regret not being able to attend to your call. However, if you choose to, you may leave your contact information at the tone, and we shall be most happy to return your call as soon as we are able. Thank you for your call. Include the name of the individual, family or business State you are sorry you cannot get to the phone Ask them to leave their contact information behind Thank them for their call Informal Voicemail Greetings
Hey Jake, if I wanted to email you, I would’ve emailed you. It’s not like I forgot email existed until I heard your voice mail greeting and thought “Holy crap! TOTALLY forgot about that whole email thing! Let me hang up on this phone call and waste another 5 minutes sending you an email that would have taken me 20 seconds to speak.”
1. Call your number. It's that simple. Use any landline or cell phone to dial your mobile or landline number. Dial the full number. Make sure someone doesn't actually answer the phone you are calling when it rings, though. Make sure you dial the area code with the number.
e. Never Assume Anything: Phrases like “You Know What To Do,” “Sing Your Song at the Beep,” and others mentioned above are awful to leave in your greeting. For the sake of universality and comprehensiveness, NEVER assume the caller knows what to do. Lay it out clearly. f. Leave a Message: This phrase, by itself, will not do. It’s imperative for users to identify themselves in their greetings. Callers need to know they’ve reached the right person. g. Disregard Lethargy: If you’re not excited about your greeting, why would anyone else be? Never display a lack of enthusiasm in your greeting as it could turn callers off to both you and your business. h. Speak Clearly and Never Slur: Callers need to understand your every word; therefore, mumbling, slurring, and all other detractions of speech should never be recorded. d. Be Creative Without Sacrificing Quality: Callers know how voicemails work–i.e. leave a number, message, etc. While you want to be clear, it’s important not to be contrive or redundant with your message. Creativity can help users to differentiate themselves, as well as intrigue callers. While users should avoid the tropes of creativity listed above, it’s definitely good to think outside the box. That being said, scripting and practice can help users to experiment more with their greeting–ultimately allowing for more unique and creative approach. e. Speak With Diction: It’s important to present one’s self as an authority without alienating callers. As such, it’s crucial to articulate and speak with clear diction. “ if your voice recording has you stumbling over words and speaking haltingly, it does not convey confidence and competence,” states Ron Sellers of Grey Matter Research & Consulting. Remember, this greeting represents you; therefore, you want to appear collected and professional, as well as welcoming. To do this, one must carry themselves well through their recorded message. f. Account for Timeliness: Your message should be concise. No caller wants to be sitting through a rant/diatribe of redundant statements. Your greeting should flow without dragging. Inversely, one doesn’t want to be terse, either. Engage callers with a simplified approach laden with creativity. h. Account for Quality: Aside from speaking clearly, users want to eliminate any noise in the surrounding environment. The quality of the greeting is just as important as what’s being said in the greeting itself. As such, one doesn’t want to undermine a great message with poor quality. i. Courtesy, Tastefulness, & Tact: This is pretty self-explanatory and straight forward–NEVER be rude. Being light-hearted and humorous is very different from being obnoxious and/or abrasive. Again, these tools can be helpful if utilized properly, but not everyone perceives humor the same way. So play it safe. The last thing your voicemail greeting should do is offend a caller. k. Provide Options: if you’re part of a bigger company, it might be good to offer caller options. For example, allow a menu to defer callers to a colleague or co-worker in your absence. This can help show callers you care about their well being. Another option might be offering different modes of communication–i.e. email, fax, etc. In offering users diversity, contact may be much easier to maintain.
Visual voicemail on a Skype for Business desktop phone, Skype for Business app, or the Lync client for Mac.
English scriptFrench Canadian scriptSpanish scriptBilingual English & French Canadian scriptBilingual English & Spanish script
“Good morning, this is Tuesday, March 30th. Thank you for calling the accounting office at ABC Community Church. This is Kathy and I am sorry I missed your call. I will be in meetings until 3:00 today and will be responding to voicemail after that. If this is a matter that needs immediate attention please contact Stacy at extension 4354. Thank you for calling.” Voice-mail messages should be updated whenever you will be out of the office for an extended period of time.There should be a service standard that all voice-mail are responded to by the end of the business day.
12. Hi, this is [your name]. I’m away from my phone at the moment, but leave a message after the tone so I can get back in touch later today.
Your voicemail greeting on your business telephone system is the very first thing your business associates and clients will hear when calling your company. For the first time callers, probably your potential customers, you only got a chance to provide a great first impression that will be provided by your voicemail greeting message. For the ones who frequently call your company, you would want to make your voicemail greeting prompts as efficient as possible in order for you not to waste your client’s precious time in listening to your whole voicemail greetings every time they make a call.
Mine says "Please don't leave a voicemail because I probably won't be able to understand it. Email or text me instead." It seems to mostly work, in concert with telling people that my handset can't do voice calls (which is true).
Humor also leaves a lot of room for misinterpretation—which subsequently weakens sincerity and authority. A caller can be very turned off by merely misinterpreting your joke. Why take this risk? Additionally, this could even cause callers to question your character. Say, for example, the president of a company’s mobile phone voicemail greeting was funny. What’s to happen if the caller didn’t like or get the joke? What if they found it offensive? Another scenario is that a caller is reaching out to you for the first time—i.e. they have no idea regarding your personality. What next? The point is, with this type of greeting, humor is bound to be more divisive so just avoid it altogether. c. Poorly Pacing Your Message and Bad Time Management: Don’t speed through your message. Speak clearly so callers know what to include in their message and when to leave the message. At the same time, don’t drag your message out. No one wants to sit through a diatribe. Just get to the point clearly.
Your callers should get a different phone prompt greeting when they call outside of business hours. This will let them know that you are closed, when you’re open again and give them some options to act upon now, so they don’t feel like they’re totally wasting their time. For example, you can send them to your website where they can find information they’re looking for or allow them to leave a voicemail message to someone specific within the company.
If you’re not going to apologize or sound regretful about it, chances are you will lose on potential prospects. Mean it to your prospects how you are really sorry you can’t assist them at the moment.
When you want callers to leave a message, make sure your voicemail greeting indicates that. Be sure to keep your greeting short and direct, and include the info you want to capture.
There are plenty of options for business voicemail messages, including professional greetings, casual messages, and even funny ones. Consider your brand voice and target audience to choose the tone. And include directions for those who call.