From the familiar to the more unexpected, peruse some of the different uses for automated text replies.
This entails informing your loyal customers about the holiday closure of your business in a clear, informative and (optionally) festive manner. Knowing that holidays can be a busy time of the year, we provide you with several pre-drafted email templates that you can use for announcing the holiday closure for your business.
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My favorite OOO to set is something like this: “I’m at sea from X to Y with very limited bandwidth. I’ll reply to urgent emails as soon as possible (but there may be a delay); if you don’t hear back from me by Z, please resend you message.”
Here is a good example of setting a queue message when all your support agents are busy.
If you have a job opening it can be difficult to get in touch with everyone who applies. To help you stay organized and let candidates know their application was received, consider a staffing automatic text reply. Thanks for your interest in joining the ABC team. You can check your application status on our employee portal anytime https://txt.st/PQB
Hi, Thanks for your email. I am out of the office right now and will not return until [MM/DD]. Fortunately for you, our resources never take time off and we’ve got this awesome [ebook/brochure/infographic/etc] that I think you would enjoy. I’ll reply to you as soon as I get back into the office.
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.”
But what should you do to keep the message informative, engaged and maybe a little festive?
I’m currently out of the office between [DATES], as I’m attending the yearly WordCamp. Perhaps you will also be there, and we can meet in person.
Hello, All our stores will be closed until the end of the week for [Christmas]. We will respond to all your inquiries once we are back on [date]. Merry Christmas! Regards [Name/signature]
A weekly dose of all your favorite [COMPANY] content sent right to your inbox. To ensure you don’t miss out on all the good stuff, sign up for our newsletter here. I’ll be sure to get back to you when I return on [MM/DD]. Thanks.
A. Facilities and maintenance operations will be very limited on Main Campus during winter break. Therefore, if there is a reason why your work area must remain heated, maintain a certain level of humidity, etc., be sure your department leadership has made arrangements with Facilities ([email protected]) well in advance of winter break so these needs can be met.
Setting a proper out-of-office email also puts pressure off you when you have limited time to respond to emails outside the office. We will look at a few examples together here:
Remember to change the dates, and double-check to make sure they’re correct if you’re resuming the same message you used the last time.
Click the File tab at the top-left corner of the Outlook display. Click the box to Automatic Replies box to the immediate left of the Automatic Replies (Out of Office) text. In the Automatic Replies box that appears, click the circle to the left of the Send automatic replies option.
I'm out of the office enjoying the holidays until [date]. I'll respond as quickly as I can when the festivities are over and I'm back at my desk. If your request is urgent, please reach out to my colleague, [name], at [email], for assistance.
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.