Ha – I didn’t watch the video but still definitely get the condescension! It’s a LOT of extra explaining and direction when something like, “if you need immediate assistance, please contact Fergus at…” will do. In my opinion, cutesy stuff like this is mildly entertaining at the beginning but gets dumb/annoying shortly thereafter. Not just with OOO messages, but other instances where companies try to make being “cool/funny/laid back” parts of their brand in really obvious ways.
The example above (which comes from NY Times) may not take advantage of some of the tips we mentioned, but it’s great because it’s so short. Due to its absent-minded straightforwardness, such a message can be perceived as a real, non-automated reply — as if you were so busy that you only carved out a few seconds to type these five words.
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Hi, I’ll be out of the office until [MM/DD]. I will probably see your message because I don’t know how to relax. I will likely respond if I feel that I need to help in any way.
She, if I recall, had a few comments from people when she got back regarding her words (she was on annual leave on holiday, it wasn’t a family emergency or anything that might excuse the tone). It rubbed quite a few people up the wrong way (most of them parents themselves!). Don’t recall more of an outcome though, I wasn’t at that firm long.
Our office VM sends an audio file to our email. I love it, because I can apply all the filing and prioritization functions of my email inbox to the voice messages. It’s the only way I ever check my VM. I don’t even remember how to listen to messages on my phone.
One of the first things you want to take care of when going out of the office is to Set an Autoresponder – Auto Reply to Missed Calls & Text in addition to Email Out of Office Message How You Can Incorporate Out Of Office Auto-Replies For Missed Calls and Incoming Texts.
Giving the option to contact an email address containing "interruptyourvacation" provides two things — 1) A dose of humor, and 2) discouragement from actually doing what the name suggests. Plus, he prefaces it with a request for empathy, by explaining that he promised quality time to his family.
To make sure your email doesn’t get lost in a sea of messages please resend it on September 20th. If your message is urgent you can contact [contact’s name] on [contact’s email].
If you need assistance during this time, one of my team members will be able to help. They can be contacted at [phone number] Monday-Friday from 8-5.
Dear Customer, Thank you for your email, but our company is out of office, celebrating [HOLIDAY]. Unfortunately, it means we will not be able to send you any reply until [DATE]. We apologize for the delay but wish you a wonderful holiday season. Best regards.
How about warning people of what’s to come? Take a look at an example you can use below.
Education Details: You can always have templates ready at hand to use for varied occasions which cater to different sets of people. These will save a lot of time as well. Sample Out-of-the-office (OOTO) Automated Responses For Email. Thank you for your message. I will be out of the office …
Education Details: Example 3. Hello, I'd like to thank you in advance as I am currently out of the office for the holiday weekend. You can expect a reply from me on Jan. 14, 2020, at the earliest. If you do not hear back from me by Jan. 20, please send a follow-up email, and I …
Dear Customer, Please note that on [day], [date], is [holiday name]. The store will be closed all day and will open again at [time] on [Day]. Enjoy the holiday. Regards [Company name]
My favorite thing is setting my OOO to only run for a specific amount of time. I will absolutely forget to turn it off if I have to do it manually, but we can just set a date/time range for it to start/stop. So I usually start it around 4 pm the day before and end it at 7 or 8pm the night before I return.
Note: Sending automatic replies to anyone outside my organization will send your automatic reply to every email, including newsletters, advertisements, and potentially, junk email. If you want to send automatic replies to those outside your organization, we recommend choosing My contacts only.
The hours in your signature is a great idea! I’m about to have a non-standard work schedule to accommodate medical appointments. Totally stealing this idea!