Thank you for your message. I am away from the office leading a workshop Dec. 1–4. I will be checking email throughout the day and will try to respond to messages promptly (please flag urgent messages as high importance). However, if you need immediate assistance, please contact Johnny Woo at [email protected] or 465-555-1098.
Not many might consider it, but your business voicemail greeting is probably more important than you think. Now, we probably all hate recording those generic voicemail greetings at home or on our cell phones. But when it comes to our business – a generic, lifeless robotic greeting probably just won’t cut it. And thanks to the software that comes with your business VoIP solution, it is easier than ever to change your greetings on the fly.

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.
This is a true story: my friend's voicemail says, "Hi, you've reached Dave, I'm screening your call." My friend is a recent college graduate, currently searching for a job. While your best friends might think it's funny, anyone else will see a message like this for what it is: unnecessarily rude.