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Was required to do this at my last job and our script was to say “I’m working from home today. If you need to reach me urgently, call me at (personal/home/cell number).”
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Because of this, typical out-of-office replies will often split the difference between our hopes and fears and say something like: “I’m out of the office and can be reached but if you need assistance right away, please contact x person.”
The subject line. This is the very first thing your customer will see, before they even open your email. The opener. The first line is what greets the customer as soon as they open your email. The “thank you” The body. The email signature.
So, professionals are expected to use out-of-office email autoresponders whenever they will be out of reach for a fairly long time.
You’ve been busy planning out your tasks, tying up loose ends, and working ahead to ensure you can actually disconnect, recharge, and relax over your holiday break.
As a person who hates voicemail, I applaud this. Send me an email. Give me a paper trail.
I’ve had people inform me that my OOO is up during a period that I was still away. Yea I’m aware my systems are set to send an OOO message, it’s doing its job if you got it.
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.
Not every vacation you take is going to leave you completely unreachable. For those days when you’re out of the office but are still checking and responding to email or phone calls, make sure your message explicitly states that people will still be able to reach you, and how:
I thought this was great. It addressed the fact that when people call, it might be something that doesn’t need immediate attention, it could be important, or it could be critical. And it did it in a humorous way.
Website: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-to-close-the-office-for-the-holidays-2533737
Thank you for your message. I am currently out of the office, with no email access. I will be returning on (Date of Return).
In your case it’s actually related to your work! WHOMST would not like a cute pet picture, what a bonus?!
PHONE PLUS Holiday Greetings. Adding the Holiday Greeting messages to your PHONE PLUS system will enable you to inform callers immediately when you are closed during holidays. For a one-time investment of only $299, we’ll load all your messages in advance into your system & you can select which MAIN greeting you want playing.
“I am out of the office until X date. Your email has been deleted unread. If it is still important, please resend it after my return.”
I used to hire a lot (hundreds) of freelance writers who would each be given a deadline by which their particular project was due. As these were large projects, they typically would have several months to complete them. I soon discovered that a significant number of freelancers (at least 25% if I’m remembering correctly) would email a couple of days before their assignment was due to report the sad news that they would be missing their deadline because “someone close to [them] had just died”.