If they have to leave an OOO message for being out for an hour for a meeting, clearly it is A Big Deal in that office :(
It’s my favorite time of year, which means I’m currently away from my inbox chugging mugs of cocoa, stuffing my face with cookies, and attempting to fulfill my life-long goal of memorizing every single line of [your favorite holiday movie].
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Automatic replies help to stay connected to customers even if the particular channel is not available at that moment. When you are out of the office or busy, it is extremely helpful to provide personalized messages as it gives satisfaction and positive brand experience.
Dear Customer, Our office is closed and you can expect to hear back from me by [date]. Have a great holiday! Regards [Name/signature]
Check out how easy it is to set up this essential process with your email account in this video I’ve posted to my YouTube channel.
But despite these (fantastic) suggestions, the number one rule for choosing your out of office is that it reflects who you are as a person. Don’t change for anyone, especially not your auto-responder.
I don’t think it’s rude to do the deletion, but it’s pretty rude to not give some sort of Plan B besides “Wait until I decide I am ready to deal with you.” I’m sure it feels lovely to set up if you’ve usually got a lot of annoying people clamoring for your time on matters that aren’t nearly as urgent as they think, but to not even offer a “in case this is urgent, contact X” fig leaf just shows you don’t care.
But I also believe there’s meaningful power in the mundane cultural norms we set and practice. Email, for better or worse, makes up a large chunk of how knowledge workers communicate. So much of this communication is muddled by broken email habits and larger anxieties around performing productivity. We’re constantly nervous about asking too much of others or doing too little on behalf of our coworkers. But we’re also stuck in work patterns that force us to communicate constantly and normalize working and demanding things from colleagues at all hours.
Hello, I’m out of the office until [DATE]. However, I will be taking periodic breaks from binge-watching everything I’ve missed to check my email [once per day/every evening/occasionally] while I’m away. If this matter isn’t time-sensitive, rest assured that I’ll respond when I’m back in the office. But, if this is an urgent request, please resend any messages that require my immediate attention with a subject line of “URGENT: [Original Subject]”. All the best.
Read our guide to setting up email on a Mac, iPhone and iPad here. Plus how to send email attachments in Mail on iPhone.
Note: If you don't see Automatic Replies, use Rules and Alerts to set up your out-of-office message.
I’d side-eye if an OOO for a couple of days off said that, unless someone was in an unusually time-sensitive role. But if someone’s out for long enough that there’s an alternate contact provided, that’s long enough for them not to be wading through missed emails when they get back.
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No matter what you’re using your SMS autoresponder for, there are a few pieces of best practice you should keep in mind when crafting an automated text message.
Optionally, if you want eDesk to send the auto-response at a random time, you can also configure the maximum delay field. In this case, if you set a minimum delay of 1 and a maximum delay of 4, then eDesk will auto-respond with this template between 1 and 4 minutes after it received the message.
When the holidays roll around, many companies decide to hold holiday parties to celebrate with employees. However, announcing such a party requires releasing pertinent information, such as when, where, and additional details, such as dress code and expected activities. Doing so helps employees understand the event and manage their expectations.
Careful. Holiday revelry and debauchery ahead. Proceed with caution (if you dare).