Setting Up a Holiday Schedule Log in to 8x8 Admin Console. Click Auto Attendants. Create a new Auto Attendant profile or click Edit (pencil icon) to the right of the Auto Attendant you wish to edit. Go to Business hours and select Create new schedule. Enter the Date and the Name of the holiday. If your business will remain Open, click Add business hours. Enter the Date and the Name. Select Status. Enter the hours of operation. You can create a custom greeting for your Holiday Open Hours Menu or Holiday Closed Hours Menu. Also, you can skip the Auto Attendant greeting by clicking Skip Playing Prompt in the Holiday Open Hours or Holiday Closed Hours menus. This can be used to route callers directly to your voicemail or another number. Log in to 8x8 Admin Console. Click Auto Attendants. Click Edit (pencil icon) to the right of the Auto Attendant you wish to edit. Go to the Call Handling Menus section and select the Holiday Open Hours Menu or Holiday Closed Hours Menu. Note: You need to select a Site for your Auto Attendant before you can view the Call Handling Menus. Select Play Audio. Click Select File. Select Call a phone number to record. Enter the Name and the Phone Number or Extension you wish to record your initial greeting on. Click Call Now and follow the instructions. Click Save.
First, here’s the out-of-message for people who don’t like watching video (although the person in the video is funny and really brings the message to life):
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I have a deep paranoia about out of office messages ever since a previous (bad) job. Every year I worked on a huge project that took nine months, and three separate weeks (or more) of that involved correcting, editing, and reviewing a dense 300 page document.
She may want to talk to her IT folks to see if they can help her switch this around.
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Dear all, I am out of the office until 4, February. If you need immediate assistance please send me a message on my cell phone: +111 1111. Otherwise, I will respond to your emails as soon as possible. Thanks, (YOUR NAME)
As a person who hates voicemail, I applaud this. Send me an email. Give me a paper trail.
I’ve only seen it used for certain roles – usually admin-type ones – where people are fielding a significant amount of requests, so the potential vacation backlog could become prohibative and discourage people from taking time off.
It’s my favorite time of year, which means I’m currently out of the office chugging mugs of cocoa, stuffing my face with cookies, and attempting to fulfill my life-long goal of memorizing every single line of [your favorite holiday movie].
I take advantage of the ability to send different OOO messages to internal or external addresses. Internal addresses get a couple of people to contact if it’s urgent, usually my direct report and my backup person, since between them they can cover pretty much everything I do, or at least they’ll know who can. External addresses get a more general notice: “I am temporarily out of the office. If your message is regarding the Llama Care project and requires a prompt response from our Llama Grooming Team, please make sure that [email protected] is one of the recipients of your message.” Probably not the most elegant phrasing, but we have a distribution list for this very reason. Even requests that they know only I handle are supposed to go to the LG list.
Same. I also have a version that is customer facing/external and one that is internal. My coworkers get a little more info.
In case of maternity leave, make sure that you set up a long-term out of office message.
People often forget the power of an out of office message. One could even start their own language, as shown below:
Depending on what provider you use for your text marketing software, the step-by-step instructions for setting up an away message varies. You can find ours here.
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.
We're talking about engagement here. Do you have a webinar clients can watch in case they miss your face or want to hear your voice? Do you have a special going for new clients or referrals? Do you have a hot new blog post you wrote just before stepping out? Tell your people to click on that!
This information will help the person reaching out to you gauge whether their message can wait for your response or if they need to contact someone else instead.