My favorite OOO to set is something like this: “I’m at sea from X to Y with very limited bandwidth. I’ll reply to urgent emails as soon as possible (but there may be a delay); if you don’t hear back from me by Z, please resend you message.”
I physically recoiled at the thought of my face appearing on a new browser tab. UGH. The pets do say who their humans are (usually just first name) and what the pet’s favourite things are. My phone is now filled with memes and photos of my monitor as I send pet photos to friends.
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Voicemail is also horrible for non-native speakers. I’m reasonably fluent in German but have to listen to voicemails at least 3 times to get everything. Why people can’t just type a text message is beyond me.
I apologize in advance for any inconvenience that this may cause you, and I want you to know that I can help you rectify this if you contact me on the email or phone number below.
And while we all have grace for friends and family who seem to take forever to get back to our messages, customers generally expect this degree of promptness when they text a business.
I had a coworker that (pre-covid) had an out of office set up any time she worked from home. She didn’t operate any differently than when she was in the office, and there wasn’t any information in the message, just “FYI I’m wfh today”. It was weird to keep getting those messages, since her working from home had zero effect on your correspondence with her.
Happy Holidays is used only around Christmas in the USA. Traditionally, it was meant to include both Christmas and New Year's Day. We don't usually say "Happy Holiday" at other times, although there's nothing wrong with saying it.
With a slightly modified email address to mirror yours, they can easily impersonate you using the personal information provided in the OOO message and exploit your absence. Knowing where you are and how long you may be gone can lead to an attempt to initiate a transfer of funds or access confidential data. They might even go the extra step and reference how great their “trip” is going just to make the message appear genuine.
When the office remains closed for any holiday, the messages informing the employees about the holidays and wishing them on the holidays are sent through cards or text messages to the staff. One can also send the wishes through mails to all the office staff.
Note that the poaching email does not have any other contact details other than the leaver's - this is to try and funnel all enquiries to the leaver as part of the poaching plan! More tips here.
The people who never change their holiday OOO message or only include half the information, if you’re lucky. I had one sent to me once that was along the lines of “I’m on holiday until August 12th and then again from August 24th.”
This template comes handy if you don’t prefer checking your inbox during the holiday but want to provide your mobile number for urgent inquiry.
If you know that you’re going to be out of office for a long time, it’s worth thinking about redirecting your clients to your colleague. Mention their name, explain what position they occupy and how they can help your client. Include a way to contact them in the form of an email address or a phone number. Just try to warn a colleague that you want to redirect your clients to them before going on a vacation.
Thank you for your message. I am currently out of the store on holidays, with no access to email. I will be returning on (insert date).
I had to explain to her that the email was still there, just like a voicemail, they’d get it on their return.
Is it possible to turn off the “reply “urgent”” message so they can break through the DND?
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