As more people are vaccinated and free to live a more normal life again, vacation plans, trip pictures and conference hashtags will flood social media sites. Phone calls and emails to colleagues will be met with out of office (OOO) messages. You might feel happy for that person, or maybe a little jealous that they are getting away. You should also feel concerned for their security well-being.
I had a coworker whose former employer required them to update their voicemail message every day. “Hello, you’ve reached MaryMary. Today is Thursday, June 3rd. I am in the office all day but may be away from my desk for meetings. Please leave a message and I will return your call as soon as possible.” She got in the habit and still updated her VM everyday. Occasionally I run into someone elsewhere in our industry with a daily VM message and know they used to work at the same place.
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Hi, Happy holidays! I am currently out of the office, with no email access. I’ll be returning on [date] and will get back to you as soon as I can. Happy holidays!
Doesn’t work when phone is off or out of range, does it? I’m a small business owner but I am often driving in out of range areas and will be traveling for a week with no signal most of the time. Considering leaving my phone plugged in at home just so it can send the auto replies. Still no fix though for the hours spent outside sms land every week.
That’s the simple structure of a voicemail greeting. Overall, your greeting should be professional, but the wording can vary depending on the situation. Check out a sample below.
Don’t let my absence keep you from missing out on the latest updates. Follow us on *Facebook / *Twitter/ *LinkedIn / *Instagram. You will love our GIFs on Twitter, trust me.
Not a translator, but I do work in a field where bilingual offices are pretty common, and I have not done my OOO in our second language–mostly because it is a non-Latin alphabet, and I do not have the secondary keyboard installed. I’m pretty sure my voicemail is in both languages, though.
7) If you’re reading this, Doc Brown was unable to make lightning strike the clock tower, and I’m stuck in 1985. I won’t be able to respond to emails or voicemail until 9ish on mm/dd, or until email is invented — whatever comes first.
Anybody that might need me that quickly should have access to my calendar and can see I’m in a meeting. Anybody that can’t see my calendar shouldn’t expect a reply in an hour unless I’d said I’d be available or something.
I’m away from my desk overseeing online learning. Read: I’m trying to relearn long division so I can help my fourth grader finish this worksheet and reminding my first grader how to mute his Zoom. I’ll be back online this afternoon at 4 PM to read your message.
From March 30th 2018 until April 02nd 2018 our office will be closed due to the holidays. From April 03rd 2018 we are back as usual for you and answer your requests as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, feel free to get familiar with our newest article on [ARTICLE NAME AND LINK]. I’m sure you will find the content useful.
If you want to learn how to set up your OOO message with a self-hosted email, you can follow our quick guide called How to Create Email AutoResponder in cPanel.
I have a colleague who directs people to email an alternative email alias when she’s on leave. This alternative email alias? Yup goes to her. Don’t know why she does it. She’s also set a rule in her team that they have to answer each others’ phones of someone is away from their desk. Inevitably, the person answering the phone can’t help and tells the caller to send an email. It drives me up the wall.
What to include in your out-of-office message. A good out-of-office email reply incorporates the following elements: The exact dates of your time off — If you are simply reactivating the message you used during your last time away, make sure you change the dates, and double-check to ensure they’re right.; The reason for your absence — Colleagues might still attempt …
The ability to schedule your OOO replies was literally the best feature ever to come to Outlook, and it took way too long.
If you need immediate assistance during my absence, please contact (Contacts Name) at (Contacts Email Address). Otherwise, I will respond to your emails as soon as possible upon my return.