Hey, Thanks for your email. I’m not in the office and am on a family vacation. I assure you that all your emails will be answered as soon as I return to the office on [date]. Kind regards.
She continues: “However, there should be a way for whoever is emailing you to have an urgent request handled, and that should be included as part of your OOO as well as being known to your work team (supervisor and colleagues). That might look like including a coworker's email on your OOO or it might simply involve setting a forwarding rule for while you're away, so that your email goes to the colleague who's covering.”
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Or, in the case of Samarah Miel, owner of Amarillo Travel Network, her out of office message is a fabulous mix of sales/bonding with others in the industry/promoting her expertise to clients. Bonus points for including a video!
2. Out of Office Template #2 For the Person Who Likes to Keep it Friendly, But Professional. Hello, Thank you for your email. I’m currently offline until [date] to celebrate the holiday with my loved ones—without my phone in front of my face.
It's August, so it's the time of the year when many workers' holidays come around and the time of year when setting up an out of office automatic reply is vital to ensuring you can enjoy your summer break in peace.
I don’t set my voicemail message, either. If you have the number, you know me. I think my last voicemail message on my personal cellular phone years ago was not even in English. Again, if you knew me, you’d more than half expect it.
The one that gave a personal cellphone number (they didn’t have a company phone or were required to use it for work) while out on vacation, with a comment like “I’m out on vacation from date x to date y and in my absence please contact Jane Smith but if you don’t get any joy please call my personal number if it’s urgent”.
Use your auto-reply to promote your expertise—you're going to a well-known industry conference, after all. You multitask and use your out of office to connect with colleagues/clients who are also attending the conference or event.
Check this for How to set an Out Of Office reply messages in Outlook[Tutorial/Step by Step Guide]
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m really tired of the ones that are basically “I’m in a meeting for an hour and I’ll check my messages when I return.”
Hi. Our office will remain closed for Christmas. We assure you that all your emails will be answered as soon as we return to the office. Merry Christmas!
An out of office message could become an opportunity to connect with your client on a more personal level. Consider sharing something about yourself that they might not have known about while working with you.
This is hilarious. I always read those kinds of efficiency hacks and think “wow, I wish I had the kind of job that let me set hard, weird boundaries for myself that inconvenience everyone else,” and now I learn that I apparently could have just asserted it without it being appropriate at all.
(Email Signature) 3. Memorial Day Closed Email. Our office will be closed on Monday, May 31st in observance of Memorial Day. We will reopen on Tuesday, June 1st at 8:00 a.m. Our sincere gratitude to those brave men and woman who have served our country and paid the ultimate sacrifice. Best regards, (Email Signature) Overview: Your Memorial Day
That’s so weird! Email is the correct way to reach a teleworking person, that’s the worst place for an OOO message. Stick an OOO sign on your physical office door, by all means!
Unfortunately, I can’t answer your email (even though my office is three feet away). I’ll get back to you once I’m back from my long-awaited trip to the fridge. Bought tickets on TripAdvisor and everything.
When I started at my old job, they gave me a phone number in the directory but forgot to actually issue me a phone for several years! It was great.