Before we further discuss some of the examples of a good out of office message, decide for yourself what you want to get from it and what tone are you going to use.
(Aside: at my job, when you open a new browser window, a random picture of employee pets pops up. It changes every time. I could just refresh all day long.)
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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.
8) I am currently out of the office. I have a cell phone, but I will not be giving the number out. If you can guess the number, however, I will take your call.
You don’t need to turn off the “Driving” mode to make outgoing calls. And you can still access emails and messages as usual. The auto-reply will work as long as your phone in driving mode.
Out of office messages can also make your workload easier when you return to the office. Colleagues and clients who know you are on vacation or at a conference might be less likely to fill your inbox with messages. If someone does need immediate help on a project, they can know who to contact in your absence to make sure it gets handled on time.
Automated reply messages can keep customers informed with the right responses that show your care towards them. With modern applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI), there are new avenues to automate your customer communication and handle customer requests more efficiently.
Be aware of your tone. Keep it clean and simple. Sullivan says: “Even if you work in a casual office environment, the people emailing you may not. It's fine to have a light tone in your communications, especially when you're in an email conversation with someone directly, but your OOO is more of a blast message—including a cat meme or silly quote could backfire if your OOO goes to, say, a new client prospect or the sales director at a company you've been trying to engage.”
Thanks for your email. I’m currently on holiday with my family for the first time in what seems like forever. For urgent matters, [NAME] will help you. She doesn’t have a cape, but she is basically Superwoman. See you real soon. (Source: Futureofworking.com)
16) I am currently out of the office and probably out-of-my-mind drunk. Enjoy your workweek.
Holiday messages are short quotes, where people wish happiness or luck upon others. Employees generally issue these messages before certain festivities as a courtesy or to let recipients know that you care about them. Depending on who the recipient is, your holiday message may be more formal or casual in tone.
I am on leave and will be back on X date and answer your query shortly after that point. If it is more urgent please contact Wakeen at [email protected] for issues related to llama and Lucinda at [email protected] for issues related to teapots.
Automatic responses to calls and text messages do a lot for your business. When you have a good out of office replies in place, your customers feel valued and connected. Such a feature is highly significant for business relationships and customer experience.
You should avoid technical jargons Avoid complex vocabulary that creates confusion Maintain a friendly tone
Seriously, literally, anything but a voicemail. I’d take “sharpie on a dirty napkin delivered by carrier pigeon to my island vacation” over voicemails. I can’t flag voicemails for later. And also, we have this cool new feature where you can see missed calls. I do not need a voicemail just saying “Hey its Bob, call me back.”
A Day in the Life of an Autoresponder. Digital marketing guru Ann Handley has become legendary for her humorous out of office responses. Getting an auto-reply is by definition impersonal, but Ann turns a cold response into a friendly conversation through some clever personification, while also promoting the event she’s attending.
There ought to be a word - and perhaps there is, in German - for the mix of feelings that accompanies composing and activating a holiday out-of-office message. There's smugness, of course, and a gratifying sense of laying down one's virtual tools after a horribly long shift. But for many of us, these nice feelings are tempered by the knowledge that in two weeks, refreshed but depressed, we will have to trawl through hundreds of emails, many of which will be conference room notifications for meetings about crises that have passed.