Here’s one example out in the world, which jumpstarted me thinking about this topic:
As a “don’t try this at home” anecdote, last week we had an all staff retreat, and we were asked to put up away messages. I put a perfectly professional one up for outside email, but in a fit of whimsy, the internal mail triggered an away message that said “Why are you emailing? We are supposed to be paying attention to the retreat!” I figured, we were all at the retreat, so nobody would ever know. Of course, someone did email me 30 minutes before everything started, and triggered the message. Fortunately, he figured out it was an away message and thought it was funny.
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Here's an auto-reply I created for my support account having some fun. But also throwing out an extra lifeline on the off chance I'm eaten by a bear. If the boss doesn't notice I'm missing, surely people emailing me will, right?
For non-urgent inquiries, I will return your message as soon as I get back in the office.
That’s my practice, too, though I only use it for times I’ll be out for a day or more. Some of the work I do and support can be very time sensitive and it’s really the most efficient use of *everyone’s* time if I spend two minutes before I leave setting up OOO so that they are quickly directed to the right person instead of having to go check my calendar, see I’m out for a week, try to remember who it is that’s my backup, etc.
The call handling menus will operate according to the opening and closing hours of your business as well as the hours specified in any holidays or exceptions you have added to your schedule. You can create multiple schedules, so make sure the one you choose or create has the correct time zone and holidays listed before you proceed.
I don’t usually read the messages anyway, I just take it as information that the recipient won’t see my message right away. If that will cause issues, I’ll contact someone else.
You Need A Better Out Of Office MessageWe don't need professional politeness. We need honesty.
A separate after-hours attendant menu can inform callers that your office is closed, state your business’ operating hours, and provide options that callers can immediately act upon. For example, you can direct them to your website for FAQs. If your business provides an account login page, remind your customers that they can login at any time to get general account information. In this situation, be proactive.
My outgoing voicemail message says “Please don’t leave me a voicemail, send me an email instead”
303-735-6245Voicemail system number: 5-6245 (5-MAIL) on-campus or 303-735-6245 off-campus. At the Main menu, press “4” for Setup Options, then press “1” for Greetings. Voicemail plays your current greeting. You can press # to skip hearing it. Follow the prompts to select the greeting that you want to change, then to make changes.
A literary agent I follow told the story of a long argument her autoreply had with a would-be author. She’d set up the outbound email while out of town and apparently an author who queried her with his book took offense to it. He replied back in frustration that he didn’t get a personal response. Her autoreply sent back another automated message, which he then in increasing anger kept responding to.
5.) Уважаемые клиенты, наш офис будет закрыт с 24 декабря по 2 января. Вы можете связаться с нами, как обычно, в понедельник, 5 января. Мы желаем вам и вашей семье счастливого Рождества и счастливого и успешного Нового года.
Meanwhile, feel free to get familiar with our newest article on [ARTICLE NAME AND LINK]. I’m sure you will find the content useful.
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My boss does not understand OOO and thinks I saw his email and sent the reply personally and does not understand why I didn’t answer the actual question.
In the Message and Language section, select the language and enter text, images, and hyperlinks into the Message field. For instructions on language and the use of snippets, click here. Pro Tip: Within the message body, we recommend that you don't use phrases such as: "We are currently out of the office" or "Our office hours are....." Instead, use generic phrases such as "We have received your message and will be in touch." This approach protects your SLA in marketplaces that use detectors to discourage automated responses, which look for these key phrases and may not approve the message as a valid response to reset the SLA.