Brad, You can manually turn on DND to activate Auto Reply, explained in the article.
This is the perfect way to reduce the sheer email volume that you’ll return to, with a little anarchy involved…
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Many in the MIT community will be taking vacation around the holidays and new year. If you’re in that group, you’ll want to set up automatic replies for your email and MITvoip phone. You can do this at work or at home. Read on for basic information and tips about auto-replies. Step-by-step instructions are available through the links provided.
Not an out of office, but I had a sign I used to put on my closed door whenever I was head down on something and didn’t want to be disturbed:
I will be out of the office starting (Starting Date) through (End Date) returning(Date of Return).
I’d be happier getting this than one of the out-of-office messages that provides waayyy too much detail — “I’m at home nursing an unhappy stomach, hope to be in tomorrow, but meanwhile am resting and checking email in between bathroom runs,” etc.
If you need any help, I'm sure that contacting anyone else in the company will also be a waste of time.
That’s why it’s a good idea to direct your recipients to your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram where they can get in touch with you.
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Hi, This is an automated reply because I am currently out of the office until [MM/DD]. Did you email me to know more about [product/sale/service/etc]. If you did, take a look at this [ebook/brochure/infographic/etc]. I’ll be sure to answer any questions you may have about it upon my return.
The attendant menu for your main contact number may be the first form of contact that a customer has with your business. Make sure your greeting is clearly articulated. Provide an option to speak with an operator if the caller has a question that is not addressed by the menu options.
Provide customers with some quick information to help them get started with your brand or business. Howdy! Thanks for requesting more info on Hank’s Ranch Membership. Here are some articles that should help get you started! https://txt.st/PQB
Use your auto-response as an opportunity to connect your customers with a sales opportunity! Hey there, thanks for shopping Patagonia! We’ll respond to your message ASAP. While you wait, have you checked out or semi-annual sale? https://txt.st/PQBLPE
2. Include a GIF to make your auto-response more fun. Everyone can appreciate the excitement of pushing work aside to go on vacation. Bring this to life by linking to a GIF in your vacation responder message. Here’s an example out of office reply: Shoot, you just missed me.
I say “I am out of the office without access to email” to avoid the expectation that I’ll check on vacation. With a contact for anything urgent given.
This is very useful in situations where you are changing jobs (as an employee) or a former employee has left your company (as an employer or HR manager). Permanent out-of-office emails help to guide correspondents appropriately.
Not an out of office reply but a voicemail greeting: at a previous job I called someone and her voicemail greeting said that she would be out of the office from Day – Day and that her voicemail wasn’t accepting messages during that time, click! The time in question was six months prior. Plenty of people she worked with and for could have called her on it and apparently had not, so she just … didn’t get voicemails. Like, that was not a way you could communicate with her.