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25. "Hello! Thanks for reaching out to [company]. We're closed today for the holiday, and will reopen tomorrow. If you leave your name, number, and a brief message, we'll give you a call when we're back in the office. Thanks again, and have a great day."
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We were playing a family game once everyone was vaccinated, and a thing came up about “people who reply to a text message with a phone call” and my daughter and niece turned and glared at me…
I received one from a coworker in middle management that said something to the effect of “I’m working on a large-scale project and will be unable to answer email until X date. Please contact [direct report’s email] with any questions.” This went on for well over a month.
I have a coworker that purposely leaves them on the first day that she’s back in the office (even though it said she would be back today) because she thinks it signals that she’s still unavailable (while she needs some time to catch up.) I think it’s a bit confusing. I personally would feel weird doing it because it seems like I just never came back from vacation.
An easy win here is to be specific about your out-of-office dates, or to be upbeat about why you are out of office.
Website: https://community.cisco.com/t5/ip-telephony-and-phones/activating-closed-or-holiday-greetings-during-business-hours/td-p/2460502
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.
The kicker is that they all get back on August 1st and are mad that their projects haven’t moved forward.
Auto-reply email sample: Hi [first_name], Thanks so much for reaching out! This auto-reply is just to let you know… We received your email and will get back to you with a (human) response as soon as possible. During [business_hours] that’s usually within a couple of hours. Evenings and weekends may take us a little bit longer.
Hello, Happy holidays! Thank you for your email; we are currently closed for the Easter holidays. It won’t be possible to respond to our email as I have limited access to the internet. But once I am back I will respond as quickly as usual. Kind Regards,
If you’re out sick or caring for a loved one, you may not feel comfortable sharing the details. You can simply use words like “family situation” or “family matters,” which Smith says automatically garner some goodwill.
I am currently on annual leave and I return to the office on Monday 21st September. I will reply to your email as soon as possible.
Go a long way to set up an out of office message in a plain and funny way. Use a little humor to build the rappo with the clients and develop the relationship between the customers and employees and direct the eyes of the clients.
Thank you for emailing me. I am currently out of the office, with no email access. I will be returning on [DATE]. If you need immediate assistance before then, you may reach me at my mobile [PHONE]. Kind Regards.
“Hi, Sorry I missed your call/text. I’m currently out of the office and will not be back until Feb 2. My colleague [name] has agreed to respond on my behalf, so feel free to forward the message to [phone] if it is urgent. You can otherwise expect a response from me once I return. Thanks for understanding.”
8. Remote working (COVID-19) out of office replies. Remote working has become more prevalent due to the COVID-19 pandemic, therefore increasing the need for specific out of office replies.