I was recently on the receiving end of a very perplexing out of office message. It simply said, “I am currently out of the office.” No indication of when they would be back or who to contact in the meantime. Fortunately in my case this was someone I cc’ed on an email as an FYI and did not need any response from, but still–who does that? IMO a good out of office message says how long you’re out and who to contact in the interim if things can’t wait, no more and no less.
Come Christmas time, there’s nothing quite like tidying up your desk, shamefully closing your 50 Chrome tabs, and switching on your out-of-office responder for the holidays.
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Under the customization option, you can configure the pre-chat form to create personalized offline messages. You can clearly mention the business hours and ask customers to fill up the form with the relevant sales or support query. Inform them that your support representative will be connecting with them at the earliest to sort out the issue.
Hi, Thanks for your email. You can expect a response when I return on [MM/DD]. Please contact [name] at [email] or [phone] for anything urgent. While you’re waiting, here’s something I made for you: [blogpost, ebook, brochure, checklist, etc.] I hope [name of thing] makes your day a little easier.
I accidentally left my slightly-more-than-professionally-testy “I am out of the office due to a lapse in government funding” voicemail greeting up for a couple months after funding was restored, oops.
Give complete details of the person they can contact if there is an urgency. If you are in charge of multiple departments, you can add more people along with their expertise area so that customers know who they should reach.
Several of my coworkers still have page-long “Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, our department will be…” auto-replies set up 24/7, even though the basic function of our office has barely changed. I’m currently working odd part time hours right now, and if there weren’t so many of these annoying emails going around, I’d have one that clarifies my email timelines, but I don’t want to be another spammer.
My parents ran a furniture refinishing shop when I was in school. There are workshops and conferences for this trade. I attended a private high school that was primarily a boarding school. Once, when my parents needed to attend a middle-of-the-week event, they arranged for me to stay overnight in the school dorms. Upon being asked by the house mother where my parents were, I said they was at a stripping convention.
I’ll be back at my desk on [date] and will respond to your message immediately. In case you need urgent assistance, please forward an email to [contact name] at [contact email] so that Santa’s little helpers at our shop may look into it.
It was very inefficient but I was making $3 above minimum wage and it was air conditioned. So no argument from me. They took me back for the winter break and would have had me every other summer except I did internships, so I guess I didn’t do too badly.
Hello, We are currently closed for the holiday. If it’s something urgent you can email [name] at [email]. Kind regards. [Name/signature]
A. International House’s front desk will be open for students 24 hours each day throughout winter break, except on the holidays – Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. However, there will be professional staff on call 24 hours a day throughout the break to adequately serve students. The Front Desk may be contacted at 419.530.1600; this phone will be answered 24/7, even when the desk is closed on both holidays.
Education Details: If you are planning to head out on vacation or step away from your office for a few days- creating an out of office autoresponder email message is … out of the office email template
The science fiction writer John Scalzi says “The failure mode of clever is asshole,” which seems to apply here.
An out-of-office message is an effective way to inform people why you are not responding to their calls or messages and when they can expect a response. This information saves them from getting frustrated and avoids any negative impression from the inability to respond. If you have long-term relationships with your customers, such an auto-response system is highly significant as it avoids any inconvenience.
I much prefer a team calendar that I can check rather than loads of Free invitations at the top of my calendar taking up space. My previous team did the former and I tried to get my current team to change to it but it didn’t stick unfortunately.
Whether it’s a fully-blown holiday, or just a few days away that’s at the forefront of your mind – tying up loose ends at work should never be overlooked. Aside from delegating your workload while you’re away, this also means setting up an out of office email.