You’ve reached [Company Name], the [company’s slogan]. Please choose from the following menu options: To speak with the operator, press 0. For customer support, press 1. For troubleshooting questions, press 2. For accounting questions, press 3. For a list of our staff members, press 4. To leave us a message, press 5. To repeat these options, press 6. After-Hours Greetings
10.) Buongiorno, e benvenuti alla John Doe. Per motivi tecnici, non possiamo rispondere personalmente alla vostra chiamata. Ringraziamo per la vostra comprensione. Stiamo lavorando sodo per trovare una soluzione. Se volete, potete lasciare un messaggio sulla nostra homepage: www.johndoe.de – Grazie e arrivederci.

Think through what you are going to say before you place the call. When men hear the beep, they often freeze up and forget what they wanted to say. If you want to be the go-to guy at work, then you have to exhibit competence on all levels. Don’t spoil your confident image by hemming and hawing and filling your messages with “uhhhhs,” and “ummmms.” If it’s a really important call, consider writing out what you want to say beforehand. If the person picks up, great, you now have some notes to remember what you wanted to talk about. If they don’t answer, you can leave a clear and concise message.
Having said all of this, I do admit that I too use voicemail and have been guilty of switching my phone to the out-of-office assistant while I was sitting at my desk because I was in a conversation with someone or was in the middle of a project.