I have a deep paranoia about out of office messages ever since a previous (bad) job. Every year I worked on a huge project that took nine months, and three separate weeks (or more) of that involved correcting, editing, and reviewing a dense 300 page document.
If you’re looking for a classic OOO message, this one is for you. Perhaps you work an industry that values directness and getting straight to the point, and playfulness may be off-brand. This response covers all of the most important bits of information every OOO needs: the date you will return to the office, when they can expect a response back, and who to contact in the meantime. That’s it!
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Yup. Well, I do specify I will have “sporadic/intermittent” access to email or “no” access to email, because there is a difference. But short and sweet is the way to go.
2) Hi. I’m thinking about what you’ve just sent me. Please wait by your PC for my response.
Because I used to get phone calls that defaulted to, “I need the director”, I had my out of office mail set to:
There is simply no better way to engage your clients about different aspects of your brand other than using an auto-text to sufficiently keep them on the know.
Then there was the occasional one who would do what Alison mentioned with the sickness excuses, and create a tale that read like a police report: “I must miss my deadline because, on the night of August 12, my 45-year-old sister was alone in her house when an intruder entered. He was a 6’1″ caucasian male wearing a black balaclava and carrying a candlestick. As my sister approached him, with the dog barking around her heels, she heard a distant car crash which led her to have a fatal … etc.” (This is not an actual excuse I received, just similar in detail to some of those that were submitted.) These ones I was pretty sure were a writing exercise, requiring time and effort that could have been put to better use on the actual assignment they had been given.
3.) Herzlich willkommen bei der Mustermann AG. Unsere Büros in Berlin sind heute wegen einem Feiertag geschlossen. Sie erreichen uns an Werktagen jeweils von Montag bis Freitag von 9 bis 12 und von 13 bis 18 Uhr. Für allgemeine Anfragen können Sie uns auch eine E-Mail an [email protected] senden. Besten Dank. Wir wünschen Ihnen einen schönen Tag – ihre Mustermann AG.
Out of office messages are important because they let people know you are away from your regular work duties. These messages help businesses and projects run smoothly when a member of their team is away. They let people know you received their message and will respond by a certain date. This helps prevent confusion and frustration if someone is trying to communicate with you by email but not getting an answer.
I had a coworker for the first 6 months or so of the pandemic set an out of office status on Teams that he was working from home and could be contacted at x number. Dude. We’re all working from home, and those stupid status messages are distracting!
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.
Good lord. I would develop an irrational need to reply to the OoO with like, are you okay? It’s been 14.8 minutes.
“We went to New Zealand and I informed everyone in my [out of office] that I was ‘bungee jumping in Queenstown’, which seemed like what I should do in Queenstown,” the reader said.
COMPLETELY agree. Every time I see an OOO for a two-hour doctor’s appointment I have to fight the urge to reply with “How much are you paid?” because I know there is no scenario in which I would have to explain myself if I don’t answer an email for a few hours and if you are that important you better make a LOT more than I do.
No matter what you’re using your SMS autoresponder for, there are a few pieces of best practice you should keep in mind when crafting an automated text message.
You’ve been busy planning out your tasks, tying up loose ends, and working ahead to ensure you can disconnect, recharge, and relax over your holiday break.
Anticipating some downtime on your site due to maintenance? Get ahead of any frustrated “is your site down” messages with an auto-text. Thanks for reaching out! Please note that we currently have some site delays due to the ongoing upgrade of our network. Delays should cease at 8 am tomorrow.