I can’t remember if this was just an outgoing voice message before routing you to an individual, or for a voicemail, but I remember a fun December phone message from a small company (I think an insurance agency) sung to the tune of a Christmas carol–something like Jingle Bells. The content was something like: you’ve reached our office during this holiday season, hope your holidays are happy, please 1) leave a message or 2) press X for who you want. Other than the tune, it wasn’t overly holiday-centric (for those who don’t celebrate the holidays) and it was cute.
I’ve only seen it used for certain roles – usually admin-type ones – where people are fielding a significant amount of requests, so the potential vacation backlog could become prohibative and discourage people from taking time off.
.
I want to be clear that I don’t think OOO responders are the solution to the larger problems of worker inequality or the broad American cultural attitudes that celebrate and encourage overwork. That would be silly. The big remedies for what ails modern work will likely require workers organizing and employers recognizing and granting protections. Large companies will have to stop prioritizing shareholder at the expense of their workers. I’m aware how unlikely this feels in practice and how a thoughtful auto reply email feels like applying a band-aid on a gunshot wound. I get it.
Ugh, I wouldn’t mind changing daily if I could have a couple of prepared responses for normal circumstances (i.e.: “I’ve left for the day, but I’ll be back in the office tomorrow morning to return your call”) to select from, but having to create a new message for Tuesday night when the info for Monday night is the same? Rage inducing. Email is asynchronous, you KNOW you’re not going to get an instant reply and sometimes you email knowing fully well that it won’t be seen until the next morning/week/whatever. Why on earth mandate an auto-reply for that?
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year [or any variation on these salutations].
While the sender waits for your response to their email, take the sting out of your absence by involving them in a holiday survey, like the one below.
An autoresponder email message is a notification that you receive when the person you are trying to reach is out of the office. These messages …
These work voicemail greetings are for the work phone that you and only you use. They’re highly effective because they help you establish a relationship straight from the voicemail. Or they help you share an important update in a simple, straightforward way.
Q. If I must be on Main Campus and have been pre-approved by leadership to work during winter break, will there be lights and heating in my building?
I once worked with a guy whose out of office reply stated that he was out at an interview, and whether or not he returned depended on how the interview went. He returned, so I guess it didn’t go THAT well.
After all, your goal is always to keep your business associates happy. For that reason, you should have a backup co-worker who will cover some of your work while you are not available. Not only is this the professional way to go, but it will also leave your customer satisfied with the company’s service.
Holiday wishes to the offices are sent for wishing them a good holiday season. The offices regularly have holiday breaks to the employees to go on recreational holidays with their friends and family. During this period, the holiday wishes are sent to the offices to make the employees and the staff of the office feels good. The holiday wishes can be sent through cards or office mails to the offices. Sending the holiday wishes to the office through fax and text messages to the office numbers as well as to the employees is also a good gifting option. One can also send them through holiday wishes video clips on a DVD sent to the offices marked to the office staff. Following are some of the holiday wishes to office examples sent in different ways:
This message is automated because I won’t be in the office until [DATE]. I will get back to you as soon as possible when I’m back at the office.
I’ve named the conference I was attending a couple of times in my out of office. That particular conference is a big enough deal in my field that some of the people emailing me were probably also in attendance, which made it worth specifying, in addition to setting expectations about email response times and overall availability.
Hello! I’m going to be out of the office until [date]. If you need something before then, please contact [colleague] at [email] or [phone number] to receive assistance.Hello! Thank you for your email. I am out of the office right now but get back to you ASAP. You can expect a reply by [day] latest. For anything you need right away, you can contact [alternative contact option].
I will be out of the office from Nov 3rd to Nov 10th with no access to my emails.
You probably received a number of these emails, and thus you should be familiar with the information out-of-office emails provide.