An out of office message is an automatic response to work communications when you are away from the office. Using your email or messaging service, you can set up an automatic response to anyone who is trying to contact you. An out of office message should tell the sender: That you are not in the officeThe dates you will be goneWho they can contact while you are awayWhen to expect a response from you Why is an out of office message important?
Including even a passing reference stating that your customer’s email is important to you shows your appreciation for the message that you are currently unable to respond to.
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Was required to do this at my last job and our script was to say “I’m working from home today. If you need to reach me urgently, call me at (personal/home/cell number).”
Check out how easy it is to set up this essential process with your email account in this video I’ve posted to my YouTube channel.
In most cases, the voice of your out of office message should be similar to the voice you’re using while communicating with clients. If you’re usually formal, replying with a joke could be jarring — and vice versa. Your mileage may vary, but keep that in mind before setting up an automatic reply.
My new job provided a template OOO as part of the onboarding brand templates package! I’m sure it might seem like overkill to some, but I’ve had tons of nervous first-job employees ask me what theirs should say, so I loved that they just gave a sample to go from. Also goes a long way in communicating that unique office culture stuff that is usually unspoken/not formalized.
So I thought I had a solution, but when I tested, I realized I don’t have access to my phone at all unless I turn off DND. UGH! Defeats the purpose. Is till want access to my maps, apps, safari and social media while on vacation.
Is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa. That’s where I’ll be for the next couple of days, giving my last out of town keynote of the year (yay!). I don’t know if there really is a Field of Dreams, but I’ll be in search of it in between checking emails and getting back to you as quickly as I can. If you need something while I’m stuck in a corn field, you can send a note to my assistant and she will be happy to help you.
Thanks for your email. I’m currently out of the office, returning on [date]. I’ll respond to your message then.
Most awkward/painful one I ever saw was a former co-worker. ~10 years ago when he left on paternity leave, he said as much in his out of office. The baby was stillborn. It stayed up for the month or so until he returned. Those of us in the same office of course knew the situation, but we regularly communicated directly with multiple offices in different states and countries. The very first time I saw it I was overcome with dread about how many congratulations he would receive and have to tell the story to. I was much younger and afraid to rock the boat then, but I think now I would push his manager and IT to use their ability to access his account and change it.
If you receive a high volume of customer service texts, you may want an auto-response in place that acknowledges a customer query has been received. This can help buy you some time while attempting to reach as many people as you can. Hello! We received your inquiry and our support team is on it. We’ll get back to you in 20-30 minutes. Thank you for your patience!
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I’ll be out of the office on vacation for the next week. I will probably see your message because I don’t know how to relax and will likely respond if I feel that I need to help in any way. Otherwise, I’ll get back to you when I return. Thanks!
With a slightly modified email address to mirror yours, they can easily impersonate you using the personal information provided in the OOO message and exploit your absence. Knowing where you are and how long you may be gone can lead to an attempt to initiate a transfer of funds or access confidential data. They might even go the extra step and reference how great their “trip” is going just to make the message appear genuine.
When I worked in a federally-regulated industry that required drug testing, we always tended to say “our drug program” when we should have been saying, “drug abatement program.”
We do OOO messages, but also send an email to the department and other relevant people, so that part doesn’t sound odd to me. I want to know if someone is going to be away next week, because then I can plan accordingly instead of sending them an email about something important Monday morning and find out I’m SOL until the following week.
Every business is unique. There’s no one single best way to tell your clients that you’re not going to be around for the next few days (weeks or months). But there’s also no denying that whatever out of office message you use right now, you could always improve it.