“Hello, you’ve reached [X company]. We can’t take your call right now, but please leave your name, contact information, and reason for reaching out, and one of our team members will be in touch within 24 hours.” “Hi, you’ve reached [company]. Unfortunately, we’re currently unavailable. But we want to talk to you — so please leave your name and number, as well as your reason for calling, and someone will call back ASAP.” “Hi, you’ve reached [company]. We’re available by phone from [hour] to [hour] [time zone] Monday through Friday [optional: and from hour to hour on the weekends]. You can also contact us by going to our website, [URL], and live-chatting or emailing us. If you’d like us to call you back, please leave your name and number after the beep.” “Hello, you’ve reached [company]. If you’re looking for information on [X], please check out our [Facebook page, company website, etc.] If you want to know more about [Y], take a look at [Z page on our site, our YouTube channel, etc.] Still have more questions, or just want to hear our lovely voices? Leave your name and number, and we’ll return your call straight away.”
It is important that the voicemail greeting be brief but also action oriented. Do you want your caller to leave you a message? Or perhaps they should call another extension to reach an assistant or office manager in your absence? Get to know the business phone system that you are using and take advantage of its features. Some phone systems allow the caller to press a digit, such as 0 to transfer to another extension rather than having to end the call and dial another extension. This type of function can be extremely useful, especially if other people in the office can handle the calls that are incoming to your phone while you are away from your desk, or out of the office.
