It’s important that your voicemail makes a good impression and conveys professionalism to anyone who calls. Here at UniTel Voice, we specialize in helping business owners set up a virtual voicemail system that not only helps them sound professional but also keeps them connected with voicemail-to-email and voicemail transcription (voice-to-text) technology.
To create a professional business voicemail greeting, businesses need to do several things:
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To improve a a business voicemail greeting, keep these eight rules at the forefront of the creative process: Avoid turning customers off with overused and impersonal phrases like “your call is very important to us..." Avoid leaving customers unsure by not immediately telling them the business, department, and/or person they’ve reached. Avoid leaving customers confused with too many details and complications; just keep it simple. Avoid messages longer than 25 seconds. Do apologize for being unavailable at the moment. Do invite the caller to leave a message. Do tell the caller when they can expect a return call and actually follow through within that timeframe. Do tell the caller about any applicable alternative options of contact and information- website, live chat, email, social media, or emergency numbers. Voicemail Greetings 101
“Hello, you’ve reached the special agent Bond. James Bond. Okay okay, it’s actually [last name]. I’m currently away saving the world on a top-secret mission but I will get back to you as soon as possible. Please leave your name, contact info, number, and availability and I’ll call back as soon as I’m done helping M16. Have a great day. [last name] out!”
5. Voicemail greetings for holidays. Your customers might need you on the holidays. If you’re a business owner, you know this already. 🙂 Manage customer expectations and let them know how to get assistance.
Hello, you have reached X. I’m going to be out of the office until Y. Please leave your name and number so I can get back to you.
When you speak into your phone, do not speak directly into the mouthpiece. If you do, you will likely create “popping” and “hissing” noises when you pronounce words that have the letters “p” or “s” in them. Be sure to speak across the mouthpiece and not directly into it.
With OpenPhone you can record your own voicemail greetings directly in the app, upload your own voice clips or simply type your voicemail script.
Pro Tip: Avoid using a monotone voice when you record a voicemail greeting for a virtual answering system. You want your customers to be engaged and feel welcomed, not like a burden.
For those with voicemail greetings that get changed about as often as a new president is elected, know that this is doing a serious disservice to the caller-recipient relationship. It signals to callers that the business is anything but an authority, most likely not very detail oriented, and has questionable overall credibility and competency. Those aren’t traits that any business wants to associate itself.
31. Hi, this is [your name] at [your company]. If you are calling for [include reason] please visit our [website, social media handle, etc.], contact [name and title of colleague and phone number] or send me an email at [insert email address]. For other inquiries, leave a brief message and your name and number and I will call you back by [timeframe].
6. Modify your name. If all of those doesn’t work or your actual name is too big for your email username, you can try another simple email address idea which is to modify your same a bit.
When you have new voicemail, the Phone tab in the Skype for Business main window displays the number of your messages. See Contact Card opens the caller's contact card, which lists their phone number, email address, office location, and so on.
the fixed system message, "I'm sorry, the person you're trying to reach is unavailable at this time" followed by the fixed system prompt, "Begin speaking after the tone, then hang-up when you are finished or press any key for further options."
I’m out walking my donkey but as soon as I get my ass back in I’ll call you back. Leave me a message.
Hey, not here right now and not really interested in who this is, I’m out on a wilderness retreat learning about the importance of making connections.
Of course, yours may need more details. But, even if you’re changing your outgoing message every day, it should only be a slight variation from a standard greeting.