Wherever you go on holiday, you’ll probably have access to the internet at some point. You might want to acknowledge this in your O.O.O. – but it’s also worth forcing the sender to question if it’s really worth interrupting your holiday by setting up a very blunt alternative inbox... I know I’m supposed to say that I’ll have limited access to email and won’t be able to respond until I return, but that’s not true. My iPhone will be with me and I can respond if I need to. And I recognise that I’ll probably need to interrupt my vacation from time to time to deal with something urgent. That said, I promised my wife that I am going to try to disconnect, get away and enjoy our vacation as much as possible. So, I’m going to experiment with something new. I’m going to leave the decision in your hands: • If your email truly is urgent and you need a response while I’m on vacation, please resend it to [email protected] and I’ll try to respond to it promptly. • If you think someone else at First Round Capital might be able to help you, feel free to email my assistant, Fiona, and she’ll try to point you in the right direction.
If you’re reading this, the train wasn’t able to push the DeLorean up to 88 miles per hour, and I’m stuck in 1885. I won’t be able to respond to emails until exactly 8:30 a.m. EST on [DAY OF WEEK], [DATE]. If there’s an emergency, good luck. Try to get ahold of Doc.
.
Website: https://blog.exclaimer.com/announce-your-christmas-opening-hours-in-your-email-signature/
o [name] good morning! All our support agents are busy right now. Your estimated queue time is 6 mins. Thank you for reaching out to us. Hey [name] Very good morning to you! I am sorry that you need to wait for [time] as all our support executives are busy. We appreciate your patience. Thank you!4. Out of office automated reply messages
However, some people may have inboxes that require a week to manage after vacation. Others do not read all the emails sent in this period. In these special cases, indicate when the reader should actually expect a response or request they re-send their email on the return date.
Literally just “Please note that (date) is a public holiday in (country). I will not be checking my inbox until (next working day).”
Note: If you don’t see Automatic Replies, use Rules and Alerts to set up your out-of-office message.
Happy Holidays and thank you for your email! I’m currently out of the office and will return on [insert date].
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m really tired of the ones that are basically “I’m in a meeting for an hour and I’ll check my messages when I return.”
Two to three sentences is usually enough to tell recipients everything they need to know.
You got this email immediately (classic autoresponder behavior), which means I’m out of office on vacation.
To comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Capital, please head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.
I’d just stick with “I will be OOO without access to phone or email from XX/YY to XX/YY, returning on XX/YY.” And then whatever directions for directing to your support/backup while you are out. I find that specifically saying ‘without access to phone or email’ sets a good expectation of non-response.
Should the matter be important, please contact Jim Ross ([email protected]) in my absence. Kind regards.
This is the perfect way to reduce the sheer email volume that you’ll return to, with a little anarchy involved…
Confirm your greeting is set for each day you are closed to play the “holiday” or “closed” greeting. Check your on-call option is working properly, when applicable.
21. "Hello, you've reached [your name, the office of X company]. The team is currently out of the office, but we'll be back on [date] stuffed with good food and eager to speak with you. Leave your name, number, and — if you're so inclined — your favorite [holiday dish, Thanksgiving tradition, etc.]"