Something about it gets my goat up! Like she’s working and emailing me about things she wants me to work on, but her OOO is telling me to buzz off coz she’s too busy to get to my emails. Also she still has it set up and we’ve been in lockdown for over a week. How long does she intend to have her OOO triaging everything and making excuses for delays? We all know there’s a lockdown, that’s why everyone is scrambling for their events to be rescheduled – it just comes across as very self-important at a time where everyone is under stress. No one else in the organisation has this so it seems very bizarre to have an OOO while still working!
Having a professional automated message when you are busy enough to answer customer queries right away can set the right tone for your business and inform customers when they can expect to receive the response.
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So what makes a good automated response that will give you the reassurance you need to keep your work email under control so that you can truly enjoy your holiday?
World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”
Josh Kopelman’s vacation email is a classic example of taking a blunt approach at OOO messages.
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9. Auto Reply Example with Alternative Contact Phone and Email. [Your Greeting] Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, I am out of the office until (Return Date).
We do this. It’s horrible. Especially if someone is termed. They should forward the mail to someone. Nope, it just goes *poof*
Hello, All our stores will be closed until the end of the week for [Christmas]. We will respond to all your inquiries once we are back on [date]. Merry Christmas! Regards [Name/signature]
Plus the world of technology has moved on from answering machines (which is all voice mail is) so… nice vintage projector you got there
Thank you for your email. I am out of the office and will be back on Nov 10th. During this period, I will have limited access to my email.
Leaving an email without a responder can appear unprofessional, lose potential business and, worst of all, make you look like Scrooge!
Note: You can also set different automatic out of office replies for different people. Just click the Rules… button in the bottom-left corner and add a rule for each person or email subject.
Hi, I’m out of the office with no access to email until [MM/DD]. If your request is urgent, you can contact [email] for assistance. Otherwise, I’ll get back to you as quickly as possible when I return. While you wait, subscribe to our fantastic newsletter[link]. Get actionable tips once per week geared toward helping you grow your business.
I’ve honestly considered changing my OOO message/voicemail to “You’ve reached Lisa. I’m overwhelmed right now, so I’ll get back to you eventually.”
There’s nothing worse than dreading a return from being away from the desk. After all, you’re likely to have an overflowing email inbox left untended while you were on vacation. Sending out this one email before you go anywhere for an extended period of time will help lessen that feeling.