Also referred to as a virtual receptionist, auto-receptionist, virtual PBX or cloud PBX, your virtual auto attendant greets callers and routes them to the proper extensions, phones, or voicemail. It’s managed completely online.
The above section details types of phrasing to avoid; however, it doesn’t detail what users should NOT say on their greeting. Though this is a bit loaded, as there are hundreds of combinations of things one shouldn’t say, there are some key components users should ALWAYS avoid. a. Forget About Slang: You should strive to be as professional and welcoming as possible in your greeting. While this may steer you towards using slang, in an attempt to make callers comfortable, it’ll most likely work against you. As a professional, your demeanor, tone, and speech should be clear cut and well articulated. Using slang undercuts this and works against you. b. Don’t Even Think About Profanity: This is a no-brainer. Never, under any circumstances, curse in your greeting EVER! c. Keep Your Sentences Clean, Don’t Ramble: Introduce yourself and give your caller specific direction. Avoid long diatribes detailing tangent thoughts. Keep it simple and quick. d. Always Return Your Calls: It’s important for callers to feel they are valued. Nothing dissolves this quicker than a greeting that doesn’t stress this. For example, “I’ll call you when I can,” “If I don’t return your call, please call back”—these phrases are terrible and completely destroy any good will you may have with a caller.

Sure, web enquiries, social media and email have their place, but the telephone still remains the primary point of contact for many customers. Professional telephone etiquette can impact a positive first impression, which more often than not, influences the caller’s behaviour and actions towards your business.
Give everyone on your team their own employee extension and set up department extensions to ring multiple phones in a flexible structure to connect staff working from multiple locations.