I am not able to set OOO messages at all. Most of the people who are contacting me do so through custom aliases that then come to our team, who each handles specifics. Even if I’m out someone else is available, but I can’t know who is supposed to handle that specific email to be able to redirect without naming everyone, and then confusing things more when Client A gets the same reply as Client B but one needs to go to teammate C and the other to teammates D & E. Then to make just that bit more complicated, there are the clients who think that going around the system to email the teammates directly at our personal email addresses is better but pitch a hissy when we’re OOO but they didn’t get a notice? I just set rules to forward those.
Protocol for when you should use an out-of-office message will vary by job and industry, but generally, you should set an OOO message when you’ll be out for two or more days.
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Don’t be afraid to use a pop cultural reference that the audience would recognize. Instead of bemoaning your absence, they’ll have something fun and familiar to laugh at.
My old job was like that! It was so, so annoying. I understood requiring us to update our voicemails if we were out of the office that day, but it was just a waste of a few minutes every single morning.
Such a system sends automatic replies to text messages and calls that you miss when not available in the office. A fully-functional app like Calls and SMS Auto Reply gives you a simple, convenient way to respond automatically to people trying to contact you when you are out of the office.
A separate after-hours attendant menu can inform callers that your office is closed, state your business’ operating hours, and provide options that callers can immediately act upon. For example, you can direct them to your website for FAQs. If your business provides an account login page, remind your customers that they can login at any time to get general account information. In this situation, be proactive.
If you are going on a vacation, try to surprise your customers with an Out of office message that appears on your behalf and tension free and enjoy the vacation.
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!
[Your Name] said he/she will be back on [date]. I’m sure he/she will respond to your message as soon as he/she’s back. But if your concern is urgent, please send an email to [contact name] at [contact email]. He/She is not an autoresponder, I promise. He/She will take care of your needs. Good luck when you return next year. You will have plenty of emails to respond to! But for the meantime, be merry and have fun during the ho-ho-holidays! Recent Posts Sysgen – The End of An Era… Sysgen RPO – The Start of A Legacy Treat Your Recruitment Email Like A Marketing Strategy Sysgen names Rockstar Recruiter and Rookie of the Year at Annual Awards Celebrating 27 Years of Recruiting Excellence Sysgen Celebrates 27 Years of Tech Recruiting Excellence SmartCompany Plus Smart50 Awards Business Advice Retail Startups Webinars Five options for your Christmas out-of-office message you probably shouldn’t use
Have you ever called a company’s support line just to be confronted with an unsympathetic and confusing attendant menu? Or tried to reach a representative, but pressing the “0” key does nothing?
I accidentally left my slightly-more-than-professionally-testy “I am out of the office due to a lapse in government funding” voicemail greeting up for a couple months after funding was restored, oops.
To my mind, it’s just a really bad idea to mass delete stuff that comes in while you’re out. You never know if those emails contain important (though non-actionable) information that you’ll need. You really can’t expect people to resend information like that once you’re back, especially if you were cc’d on something.
When you have to be away from work even for a day, you have to add an out of office message so the person who is looking for you will know that you will delay with your answer or to know who else can contact you.
For non-urgent inquiries during my absence, you can contact [Name] at [email] or [phone number], and they will be happy to assist.
Feel free to stop by at [location], where I will be speaking about [topic]. Here’s a link to
If you are unavailable and a client needs contact, a colleague’s contact information can be included. The text should also indicate when it’s appropriate to contact the alternate. Some people will indicate that the contact is for urgent matters while others may offer for consistent client care.
Here is an auto reply message example that provides an alternative email contact option to assist customers during the absent period. Thus, helping customers not to make impromptu decisions and understand the next course of the move.