16. "Hmm. Gryffindor … No, Ravenclaw. Yes, you definitely belong in Ravenclaw. *Pause.* Okay, you haven't reached the Sorting Hat — it's the voicemail of [your name]. Please leave your name and number (and just for fun, the Harry Potter house you think you belong in) and I'll return your call as soon as possible."
Anything worded like Option 1 would never fly at my workplace, exactly because of this. I have colleagues who complain to upper management if their non-urgent tech support questions (that a whole troubleshooting website already answers) don’t get an answer from me or my boss within half a day. And oh, did I mention our job is not actually tech support?
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I didn’t actually put that in my maternity leave out-of-office, but it is what I did when I got back.
It is important to understand that your auto-response message can go to anybody, even your top management people. Try to avoid any embarrassment by taking the time to proofread the message.
Hello! Thanks for getting in touch. I’m out of the office until [DATE] with limited access to email. But never fear! I’ve left you with some helpful writing tips to read and share.
“For example, if a hacker knows that the chief financial officer of a company is OOO, thanks to the information in the auto-reply message, an attacker could impersonate the CFO on email and target another individual in the company’s finance team asking them to make a payment or update bank details for them while they are offline,” says Sadler.
Let them know that while you’re not technically OOO, you aren’t operating at typical capacity.
Give yourself some slack when promising people to keep up with their messages. If your vacation ends on January 18, but you know that you won’t be able to check up on old emails for the next couple of days, mention that in your reply.
“Through this mail, I send holiday greetings for the Symantec office and the employees of the office for a superb holiday season. I wish you all have much fun filled moments and adventures during the holiday period. Have a happy holiday.”
However, I will be taking periodic breaks from binge-watching everything I’ve missed to check my email [once per day/every evening/occasionally] while I’m away.
I still hate that lady. She made one of my coworkers cry until she had to leave work because it turned into an unstoppable panic attack. I later had one too.
Sample voicemail for individual’s work phone: “You have reached the voicemail for (name) at The University of Toledo. The University is closed for winter break. Please leave your name, number and a brief message after the tone, and I will return your call after New Year's Day. Thank you and happy holidays.”
I recently described myself as being “out of the virtual office.” Away from the virtual office” would probably have been even more precise. I think whatever you say, people will understand what you mean.
2.) Herzlich willkommen bei Mustermann GmbH. Aufgrund unseres Betriebsurlaubes sind unsere Servicemitarbeiter erst wieder ab Montag, den 04.07.2016 für Sie erreichbar. Der Versand der Bestellungen wird ab dem 11.01.2016 wieder starten. Gerne können Sie uns aber in der Zwischenzeit Ihr Anliegen per Email an [email protected] oder über unser Kontaktformular zukommen lassen. Vielen Dank!
Yes! I would roll my eyes *a*lot* at that message – it comes across as someone taking themselves way too seriously.
Out of office messages provide an excellent chance for you to produce leads and enjoy your vacation in the best way.
Please note that I will be completely disconnected from email and will not be checking messages until I return. So, if you need urgent assistance, please send an email to [Contact Name] at [contact email].