Sometimes teams need the extra nudge to disconnect...here are our tips for getting your team to unplug from email over the holidays.
Unfortunately, I can’t answer your email (even though my office is three feet away). I’ll get back to you once I’m back from my long-awaited trip to the fridge. Bought tickets on TripAdvisor and everything.
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Yes, I do like that option. I can either redirect off the cuff, or if the message isn’t urgent, delay delivery so they get it after they get back.
An out of office message is a compact text that conveys the most important facts:
I’ll be back at my desk on [date] and will respond to your message immediately. In case you need urgent assistance, please forward an email to [contact name] at [contact email] so that Santa’s little helpers at our shop may look into it.
My project is entirely phone based and we don’t have voicemail, either for the project line or individual staff lines. We used to, but we found we spent so much time returning voicemails and getting people’s voicemails that it led to us missing calls and going in an infinite loop.
Also known as “autoresponder emails,” out-of-office messages run the gamut. From funny, to clever, to snarky, this message can both show your personality and let senders know that, well, you’re out of office.
Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged $5.99 for the first ten words and $1.99 for each additional word in your message. This message is automated because until [DATE] because I’m moving to [LOCATION]. That’s right. A cross country road trip from [CITY] to [CITY]. I’ll get back to you when we pull into the driveway.
A. You should not. Office access will be restricted and operations limited to help reduce utility costs and other related expenses. Unless you are pre-approved by your department leadership to be on campus because your work cannot be interrupted by winter break – for instance, because you have research that would be adversely impacted – you should not be on campus during winter break. This break was established to promote health and well-being, so please take advantage of it.
Q. If there’s a snowstorm during winter break, will sidewalks and parking lots be cleared?
In the Misc section, you can instruct eDesk to change the status of the message to Waiting or Closed once it has auto-responded, or not to change the status at all. This does not change the status on the marketplace; once the auto-response is sent, the marketplace status will update as normal. Note: The AI Settings tab is not applicable to OOO templates - you can ignore it. All done! The new template is added to the list in Settings → Smart Tools → Templates, and will be sent by eDesk during the specified date/time periods (step 7) for tickets that match the Usage Conditions (step 6). To find out how to create auto-responders for messages that arrive outside office hours, click here. Recent posts Document Hub
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If you’re taking a few days off and want to respond only to urgent emails, this template would be a great fit.
Such emails are crucial, especially when you have long-lasting relationships with customers that need a prompt response. It would be very unprofessional to leave without explaining why you aren’t answering. It’s like if you are having a conversation with someone, you decide to just take off without saying goodbye, while they went to the bathroom. Rude!
If your request is urgent, there’s no use sitting idly in my inbox. So, please send your request to [contact name] at [contact email].
Hello, our office will remain closed for during the Christmas period. We assure you that all your emails will be responded to as soon as we return to the office. Merry Christmas! Regards, [Name/Company name]
But what if you’re only taking off one day? Sometimes, it might seem silly to bother with an out-of-office for such a short amount of time–especially if it’s a day that a lot of other people are taking off (such as a national holiday). If people do need you to get back to them urgently, they’ll think they’re being ignored. (Even if you define “urgently” differently.) And if there’s a chance of an emergency landing in your inbox, it’ll be that much harder for you to unplug because you’ll just keep “checking in.”