I have a colleague that does this with their voicemail. Almost always forgets to change the message once they’re back in so if you call, say, on Thursday, June 3, and you get their voicemail, you will hear how the person is out of the office from May 24 to 26 and who to call while the person is away.
This. I’m surprised more people dont havent mentioned this, but this has always been my back to work routine – and sometimes if vacations overlapped, I’d find a summary email of “While you were away, X,Y,Z happened, I covered A, but you might want to check on B and C” which was always very helpful.
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Please note that you have already sent me one email. I’ll be 1 percent connected while on vacation so I’m not 100 percent panicked on return.
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Amanda works at HubSpot, and she came with a unique auto respondent that asked her contacts to guess where she is. To give background, she flew down to Boston to attend a Red Sox training game in the spring with her father. She chose to ask her contacts whether where they think she might be, and also this played some wonderful use of litotes here:
Apologies, but I’m currently knee-deep in sushi and shrines on the other side of the world in Japan. I will be back to the usual tea and crumpets when I return to the office on Tuesday 30th May.
Research shows that vacations are beneficial to our physical and mental health, work performance, and productivity. To replicate this research, I’m conducting a participant observation study until DATE, and will be out of the office. In the interim, if you have an urgent request, please reach out to EMPLOYEE. Otherwise, I’ll be in touch upon my return.
Automated email messages generate a 70.5% higher open rate and a 152% higher click-through rate than standard marketing messages. Briefing what would be the next step of action gives customers transparent information.
I deal with this all day. I feel like some property management companies make their managers announce when they’re going to use the bathroom via auto-reply.
In the Settings panel, select “Automatic replies,” then click “Turn on automatic replies.”
An out of office message shows your professionalism by informing others of your unavailability. Such messages generally include an apology for the inconvenience, a reason for not replying right away, the time the receiver can expect a response and an alternative person they can contact if there is something urgent.
Hi, I’m out of the office. Thank you for getting in touch. We’ll get back to you within 8 business hours.
“I’m offline and have sporadic access to email until X date. For urgent matters contact Colleagues A and B. For true work related emergencies you can call me at Cell Number”
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The majority of your out-of-office emails will go to recipients with whom you communicate regularly. If you are sure that there’s a certain level of familiarity with all of the people that get your auto-reply messages, consider writing something about yourself, a funny note, or a joke. That allows them to develop a more personal relationship with you.
My husband’s voice mails says “…if you need immediate assistance call Mary at ####…”, only Mary retired something like eight years ago. I mention this to him every once in a while. It hasn’t changed.
Hi Thanks for your email. I’ll be away from the office until [MM/DD] and will respond as soon as I can. For all support requests/needs, please reach out to [email] and one of my colleagues will be happy to assist you.