In my office, most of the phone lines just didn’t even have voicemail, because we already got enough abuse in regular phone calls (university parking office). When we switched to VOIP, that went away, but at least now they get *badly* transcribed into our email boxes…
Even the most blunt Out Of Office responders can still offer some levity or can at least entertain. If you’re looking to spice up your OOO, try this wonderful Wikipedia OOO generator that Melody Joy Kramer and Alex Hollender built. It auto-generates an OOO response with either a link or a quote pulled from Wikipedia. It’s a cool little project and a nice starter template for you when you decide to tell everyone to buzz off and leave you alone for a bit.
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One thing that happens when you regularly send a newsletter out to tens of thousands of people is that you see a lot of automatic Out Of Office (OOO) email responses. The most common one I receive goes something like this: Hi, I’m out of the office until __ and may be slow to respond to email. If it’s an emergency, you can reach me at __ or please contact __. Thanks!
Honestly, what drives me crazy is after someone has emailed me, gets the out of office, then *does* email someone else instead of waiting for me to get back. Yet said someone doesn’t email me back to say “see you’re out, person X got it taken care of, you can disregard my email”. So then I waste time seeing the initial request and following up. Has anyone found a good wording / other solution to know if the request was completed by someone else?
I’m currently out of the office for the holidays. While you are reading this response, I am probably: Trying not to laugh at my [relative’s] corny jokes Trying not to get pissed at my [relative] asking me why I still don’t have a boy/girlfriend Attempting to explain my career to my [relative] for the 800th time Trying not to get hungry (I’m probably busy stuffing my face with cookies)
Unfortunately, I will not be able/ delayed in answering your e-mail till 23rd Nov.
Brad, You can manually turn on DND to activate Auto Reply, explained in the article.
I didn’t actually put that in my maternity leave out-of-office, but it is what I did when I got back.
So what makes a good automated response that will give you the reassurance you need to keep your work email under control so that you can truly enjoy your holiday?
› Url: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/send-automatic-out-of-office-replies-from-outlook-9742f476-5348-4f9f-997f-5e208513bd67 Go Now
Keeping It Real. I am currently out of the office on vacation. I know I’m supposed to say that I’ll have limited access to email and won’t be able to respond until I return, but that’s not true.
You should use your out of office email whenever you’re going to be away from the office – whether it’s for a day, a week, or even longer.
The example above (which comes from NY Times) may not take advantage of some of the tips we mentioned, but it’s great because it’s so short. Due to its absent-minded straightforwardness, such a message can be perceived as a real, non-automated reply — as if you were so busy that you only carved out a few seconds to type these five words.
Thanks for your email. Right now I am camping in the countryside with my family which means I will be completely switching off from all technology for a few days (gasp!).
If you're unable to respond to emails because you are taking time off, attending a work event or away from your computer for any other reason, it's important to set up an out of office message. Setting up an out of office message helps keep people informed and prepares them for how to proceed in your absence. What do you write in a vacation responder?
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