Auto-attendants improve customer calling experiences by letting your clients find information to solve issues or route themselves to the correct extension. Your business needs a professional-sounding auto-attendant script that’ll walk users seamlessly through the calling workflow. Starting from scratch can be intimidating—that’s why we went ahead and created 13 auto-attendant scripts you can use to navigate several business scenarios.
Check out our guide to the best auto-attendant phone systems to find a provider that fits your needs.
General Auto-attendant Greeting Script
Your automated attendant’s greeting is often the very first contact a customer will have with your business—you want to make sure you make a good impression. Consider designing an organized menu of dialing options using a phone tree. This will ensure you cover the right questions first and don’t forget any crucial details.
A great auto-attendant greeting script contains a combination of these elements:
- Short introduction and brief welcome
- Available online self-service options (if applicable)
- Options for reaching departments or extensions (if applicable)
- Normal business hours
- How to reach a live agent if the caller is not sure who should take their call
- Option to speak with an agent in another language (if applicable)
- Details on what will happen if the caller doesn’t press any buttons
Example 1: Welcome & Main Menu
Hello, and thank you for calling [Company Name], [insert company’s mission statement or slogan]. We are located at [address]. Normal business hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. If you already know the extension you wish to reach, you may enter it at any time. Otherwise, please listen carefully to the following menu:
- To continue in Spanish, press one.
- To continue in French, press two.
- To reach the floral department, press three.
- To reach the furniture department, press four.
- For groceries and produce, press five.
- For all other departments or to speak to a live agent, please stay on the line, and the next available agent will be with you shortly.
Auto-attendant Script for After-hours Calls
Most business phone systems let you set working hours. If a call happens outside normal business hours, you can create a specific auto-attendant that’ll handle those calls with an alternative greeting message and menu options.
An auto-attendant is an excellent option for businesses with regular working hours, but you might need a more robust solution if you plan to offer 24-hour service. Consider hiring a live answering service like VoiceNation. The auto-attendant can then be set up to redirect incoming calls to the other service provider.
We have also listed the six best answering services to help you find a provider that will work best for your business.
Example 2: General Voicemail Forwarding
Thank you for calling [Company Name]. We’re sorry—it seems you’ve called outside of our regular business hours, which are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
- To leave a voicemail message, please dial your extension now.
- If you wish to leave a message in our general voicemail box, please stay on the line. Messages left in our general voicemail box are monitored and will be addressed within the next business day. Thank you.
Example 3: Answering Services Script
Thank you for calling [Company Name]. If you hear this message, you are calling outside regular business hours, which are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
- If you require immediate assistance, please stay on the line, and you will be forwarded to our after-hours call center.
- Otherwise, please hang up and call back during regular business hours. Thank you.
Example 4: Emergency Services or Medical Office Script
Example 5: Immediate Customer Support
Thank you for calling [Company Name]. Our office is currently closed. Business hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
- If this is a business emergency, press one.
- If you’d like to leave a voicemail, press two.
- Otherwise, please hang up and call back during regular business hours. Thank you.
Auto-attendant Scripts for Disaster Recovery
Due to unforeseen circumstances, you might not always be able to provide your callers with a lot of information. You might not know when the regular business hours will resume or when you’ll reopen your business. However, provide as many details as you can to help your customers and retain loyalty.
As COVID-19 demonstrated, closures and policies can change quickly. Ensure you update your auto-attendant scripts with the most up-to-date information. You don’t want your social media profiles saying one thing while your business phone system says another—keep them consistent.
Example 6: Disaster Recovery Script
Thank you for calling [Company Name]. Recent flooding in the area [or similar description of the disaster] has temporarily closed our office. However, we are still dedicated to [insert mission statement].
- If your matter is urgent, press one to be routed to our [location] branch.
- Otherwise, please leave a voicemail in our general voicemail box. An agent will return your message as soon as we can. Thank you, and have a great day.
Example 7: Other Resources
Auto-attendant Holiday Script
Record a specific auto-attendant script for calls during the holidays. You might not have agents at the desk, but let your customers know how they can reach you—especially if it’s an emergency. Let them know when regular business hours are returning, so they know when to call back.
Example 8: General Purpose Holiday Hours Script
Thank you for calling [Company Name]. In observance of [holiday], our offices are currently closed. We’ll be back to normal operations on [date].
- Please feel free to leave a message by staying on the line.
- Otherwise, please call back during our regular business hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Thank you and happy holidays.
Example 9: Holiday Help Line
Thank you for calling [Company Name]. In observance of [holiday], our offices are currently closed. We’ll be back to normal operations on [date].
- If this is a business emergency, please press one to be directed to our urgent response team.
- If you’d like to leave a message, press two, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we return to the office.
- Otherwise, please call back during our normal business hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Thank you and happy holidays.
Auto-attendant Scripts for Marketing Campaigns
Sometimes, you’ll want to share the latest promotional campaigns with your callers. This isn’t something you’ll always want to keep on, but it’s a great option to include during the holiday season or high-priority initiatives.
Rather than clutter your general greeting, set an auto-attendant for a campaign-specific phone number. You can assign a unique number to each of your campaigns. Record a voicemail message that helps callers to learn more about your marketing campaign.
Example 10: Learn More Promotional Campaign Script
You’ve reached [Company Name].
- If you’re calling about our current promotion regarding free oil changes for life, please press one.
- To be directed to customer service, press two.
- Otherwise, please stay on the line.
Pro tip: Advanced phone business phone systems offer an automated call routing feature. Call routing can be used to send calls into a queue, which will allow them to be answered in the order in which they were received. This feature can also be used to send calls to specific agents based on the incoming call’s area code or agent availability.
Learn more about advanced call handling features in our article on voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) phone system features.
Auto-attendant Scripts for Individual Extensions
You have the option to set up additional auto-attendant scripts for each of your individual extensions. This is particularly useful for a large, all-encompassing support team. When the general auto-attendant guides a caller, another auto-attendant could help narrow down the options to help callers find the right person sooner.
Additionally, your auto-attendant might guide callers to extensions for specific people. If this extension is unavailable at the moment, you’d want to include a message instead of sending your callers straight to the busy tone.
Example 11: Routine Personal Voicemail Greeting
Example 12: Notice of Short-term Absence
Example 13: Notice of Long-term Absence
7 Tips for Creating Top-notch Auto-attendant Scripts
Auto-attendant scripts are easy to set up, but they’re not always easy to write. You’ll need a clear voice with high-quality sound to give your phone system a touch of professionality.
Consider hiring a professional voice artist for this task. Some voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) systems, like Grasshopper and Nextiva, provide trained voice experts for an additional fee. If you want more options, head over to our list of the best professional voicemail greeting service providers.
If you go the DIY route, here’s what you’ll need to keep in mind:
- Thank the caller: Thanking your caller sets a positive, respectful tone for the call. It’s an easy way to move the interaction forward in the right direction.
- Be concise: Long, seamlessly never-ending auto-attendant menus can be frustrating. Keep it short and sweet to value your caller’s time.
- Allow callers to skip the greeting: Let your customers know how to bypass the greeting and speak to a live agent as soon as possible—don’t make them wait and sit through the whole voice recording to discover this option.
- Offer choices intentionally: Offer your most popular extensions first. If most customers call to contact customer support, ensure that’s your first option on your call menu.
- Don’t offer too many options: Less is more when it comes to automated attendants. Customers generally don’t want to sit through a vast menu of options if they have a particular reason for calling your team.
- Provide self-service information: Let your callers solve as many issues on their own as they can. Give them information and menu options for store hours, addresses, promotions, and even account information. This can save your agents and your customers valuable time.
- Offer a non-interaction route: Don’t force your callers to press any buttons. Let them know (and provide) a workflow that’ll connect them to someone if they don’t select any menu option.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do I set up an auto-attendant?
Most business phone systems make it easy to set up your auto-attendant with drag-and-drop visual editors. You’ll usually see a tree menu and add the associated triggers and responses. Each system is different, so check your provider’s documentation for the step-by-step process.
How do you answer a phone script?
Phone scripts can be answered by button-dialing or voice response. With a button-dialing system, the caller will press one of the number keys to input their response. With an IVR system, callers can speak to the system to initiate commands and submit answers.
Are IVR & auto-attendants the same thing?
An IVR menu is a more sophisticated auto-attendant. Most auto-attendants only include button-dialing options, but an IVR system provides voice response too.
Bottom Line
An auto-attendant is an integral part of any business communications program. Fortunately, setting one up is easy. Use the above auto-attendant scripts for your callers, or use them as inspiration when crafting your own. Regardless of what you do, write a script—it’ll help eliminate mistakes and let your voice flow more naturally.
Not comfortable doing it yourself? Hire an expert to make a professional recording for you. All Nextiva customers on a Professional plan or higher get access to free recorded greetings, and Grasshopper offers professional greetings of up to 250 words for a one-time fee of $75.
