Here’s another funny one for those times you really want to lighten the business mood:
Keep your personal voicemail greeting as short and to the point as possible, even if you are injecting a little creativity into it. This is especially important if you expect to receive a lot of long-distance phone calls or calls from those on different cell phone networks, as many phone companies charge by the minute. Think about your personal preferences when you reach someone’s voicemail, and tailor your own greeting towards that.

Even in today's fast-paced world, customers don't like being greeted with an automated message. According to the New York Times, callers of a certain age are put off entirely if they are answered by a voicemail instead of a real person.
There you have it, a basic introduction into how to write the best voicemail greetings. As you have seen, they’re not as easy as you’d think, but once you get comfortable with the type of information required by each, writing and recording your own should be a piece of cake. If you’ve tried to write one yourself and still don’t ‘feel you’ve captured the right essence, then please look at one of our voicemails greeting templates. When it comes to recording it, remember to rehearse your script and speak clearly. If you don’t care for your own voice, then have someone else record it, or hire a professional voice actor. Remember, there are also free audio editing software programs like Audacity, where you can manipulate your recording until you get exactly what you want.