› Url: https://academy.getjobber.com/resources/articles/out-of-office-messages/ Go Now
Hijacking this with a question- what do you do when you no longer have an co-workers to serve as an out of office contact? I find myself putting up the OOO less and less, because there’s no one left to respond to anything in my absence (beyond my supervisor who has no knowledge of how to do the tasks of my job).
.
Once I got an auto reply from a stakeholder on a project that said something to the effect of “Thanks for contacting me. Due to the large volume of email I receive, I don’t read them all. If I haven’t responded within 3 business days, please try again.”
Every time I read it, it just gets funnier. On r/talesfromtechsupport, filter by top posts of all time, it’s on the first page. The punch line is … *chef kiss.
Yup pretty sure. I remember stuff like they’re going to visit Mickey, they miss him, they haven’t seen him in a long time…honestly it read to me like someone under the influence of something when they wrote it.
My European colleagues get an extended summer holiday all at the same time, which means we get OOO notes like this:
Home Our Apps Calls/ SMS Auto Reply Keyword SMS Marketing AutoResponder Auto Reply for WhatsApp Why Use Our Apps Real Estate SMS Marketing Apps Why Use Auto Reply Bundle 50 Uses of SMS Auto Reply Video Explainer Auto Reply Bot for Customer Service Multiple Marketing Channels Free Use of Safety Keywords Docs Call / SMS Auto Reply Tutorials FAQ Keyword based SMS Auto Reply FAQ Troubleshooting Import Auto Replies Auto Reply for WhatsApp FAQ How to Transfer Files from Android to PC Contact Cart My account Menu
And if you suspect that you won’t look through all those emails that cluttered up your inbox while you were on a vacation at all? Be honest about it and tell your prospects to contact you again at a certain date.
To set an automatic reply for contacts outside your company, select Outside My Organization > Auto-reply to people outside my organization, type in a message, and select OK.
Dear all, I am out of the office until 4, February. If you need immediate assistance please send me a message on my cell phone: +111 1111. Otherwise, I will respond to your emails as soon as possible. Thanks, (YOUR NAME)
HomeEmployersHire BetterHow We Get Things DonePeople We RecruitIndustries ServedReady to Hire?
I’m out of the office from 11/11 to 11/17 and I will not be checking my emails. It’s likely your note will be swallowed in a sea of inbox banality, never to be seen again. If you require a response, please resend your email after 11/18. For urgent editorial issues, please contact the channel or features editor responsible for that content. If you are Barack Obama, text me bro. We need to talk.
New York JobsSan Francisco JobsSeattle JobsEngineering JobsMarketing JobsInformation Technology Jobs
To my mind, it’s just a really bad idea to mass delete stuff that comes in while you’re out. You never know if those emails contain important (though non-actionable) information that you’ll need. You really can’t expect people to resend information like that once you’re back, especially if you were cc’d on something.
This person decided that setting their out-of-office message was a prime time to settle an ongoing office argument about which Die Hard film is the best, complete with an integrated poll to add a little festive cheer to the auto-reply.
Thank you for calling [Company Name]; we are currently closed in observance of [holiday name]. We will return on [Date] at 8 AM Eastern Time. If you would like to reach our Dial by Name Directory, please press 1. To leave a voicemail, please press 2. A representative will contact you upon our return. To repeat this menu, please press the # key. [If no response after a few seconds] Goodbye. Voicemail Greeting
But I’ve also seen this tactic used for a week’s vacation, which seems… aggressive.