We have an office with a phone number and 4 people that work in it to specifically answer these inquiries.
You can include the range of dates that you will be away, but ultimately the sender wants to know when they can reach you again.
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Yeah, I have to agree. It’s a lot of explaining of things that are likely to be obvious to many people, as though they haven’t considered these options, but that they have to sit through anyway in order to get the information they need about who to contact. And the people who most need to listen to it probably won’t.
Proof that some people just Don’t Get It: in response to my out of office voicemail message directing callers to contact my co-worker for anything urgent, a woman left the following message on MY voicemail: “Co-worker, I am having this issue, blah, blah, blah. Please call me at X.” Yeah, I–not co-worker–got the message a week later when I returned.
When one of my colleagues went on vacation, he sent an out-of-office message that was both clever and smart. First, he sent the recipient on an imaginary scavenger hunt to "the highest peak of the tallest mountain." He used humorous absurdity to make it clear that he would not be checking email while he was away.
Education Details: When you need to step away from the office and won’t be in touch with your email correspondents, or if you are going on vacation and don’t plan on checking your email messages very often, you’ll probably want to create an out-of-office/email autoresponder email message to let your colleagues, friends, clients, and family know that you are currently unavailable but will be back soon.
Website: https://futureofworking.com/10-good-vacation-auto-reply-message-sample/
She, if I recall, had a few comments from people when she got back regarding her words (she was on annual leave on holiday, it wasn’t a family emergency or anything that might excuse the tone). It rubbed quite a few people up the wrong way (most of them parents themselves!). Don’t recall more of an outcome though, I wasn’t at that firm long.
Use the time away with no employees working to restart equipment such as computers, laptops, etc. Restarts are necessary to keep updates installed and the machines running smoothly.
Website: https://www.eou.edu/coronavirus/2020/03/24/march-24-2020-voicemail-and-phone-instructions-when-working-from-home/
“I’ve been whisked away by angry looking men in suits and taken to a small room with one light, a little water and a laptop. I’ve been told to write. I think these men are from my publisher. I’m hoping to be released on Thursday so I can start to responding to emails again.”
1. Out of Office Template #1 For the Person Who Works at a Traditional Company. Hello, Thank you for your email, I’m currently offline until [date]. I’ll reply to your message promptly when I return.
Our senior leadership has admitted to not checking voicemails since we started working remotely…almost 15 months ago. It made me feel so good. I hate voicemail.
Website: https://purelovemessages.com/out-of-office-message-examples-for-holidays/
Setting your out of office may be different depending on the email provider you use. But whether you’re on Outlook, Gmail, or another platform, it should be a relatively straightforward process.
Thank you for you email. I am out of the office from [insert date] until [insert date]. If you have an urgent request, please contact [insert name] at [insert email].
Having someone who can fill in for you while you’re away is critical, says Misner. “If you don’t have an assistant, have a coworker back you up,” he says. “It’s an effective technique if you support one another.”