13 Professional Voicemail Greetings With Recording Tips (+ Free Templates)
Corey McCraw is a staff writer covering VoIP and Unified Communications. Corey has over a decade of experience in marketing, tech writing, and corporate communications and has even penned content for the former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative.
Marianne is a staff writer at Fit Small Business who covers business phone services, VoIP, and video conferencing tools.
This article is part of a larger series on VoIP.
Effective professional voicemail greetings not only convey a message to your customers when their call is missed, but should also be short yet informative and aligned with your brand’s image. They should provide relevant instructions that your callers need to know or follow in your absence. Professional voicemail greetings could be used for your personal work phone, main business phone line, holidays, and promotions offers.
Download free voicemail greeting templates and customize them to suit your business needs.
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💡 Quick Tip:
Maintain business connections and establish a great first impression by setting up your voicemail greeting. Business phone providers like RingCentral allow you to configure voicemail rules, record your own greeting, and set up a PIN.
Personal Work Phone Voicemail Greetings
Individual voicemail greetings are created by employees for their assigned number or extension. Some phone systems allow employees to specify a primary greeting and set secondary messages to cover absences or vacations. When creating an individual voicemail greeting, clearly identify yourself, your role, and your company, and let the caller know when you will be able to return their call.
Here are a few voicemail greeting scripts you can use with your personal work phone extension:
Example 1: On Another Call
Hi, this is [Your Name] from [Company Name]. I’m on another call, but please leave your name and phone number, and I’ll call you back as soon as I can. I apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you, and I look forward to speaking with you.
Example 2: Out of the Office
Thank you for calling. This is [Your Name] with [Company Name]. I’m out of the office today and will return on [Date]. Please leave a detailed message with your name and number, and I’ll return your call. Thank you.
Example 3: Out of the Office (Emergency)
Hello. You’ve reached the voicemail of [Your Name] in [Department]. I am out of the office today and will return on [Date]. If you need immediate assistance, please contact [Coworker’s Name] at [phone number and extension]. If it’s not urgent, please leave a detailed message, and I will return your call. Have a great day.
Example 4: After Hours
Hi, this is [Your Name] from [Company Name]. It looks like you’ve made a call after our business hours, which are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. If you need immediate assistance, please dial our customer support center at [phone number and extension]. Otherwise, please leave a message after the tone, and I’ll give you a call back during regular business hours. Thank you.
Example 5: Extended Away
Hi, you’ve reached [Your Name]. I’m out of the office on extended leave until [Date]. If you need assistance before I return, please contact my coworker, [Name], at [phone number and email address]. Otherwise, feel free to leave a message for me or call back after [Date]. Thank you.
Main Business Phone Line Voicemail Greetings
The business phone voicemail greeting is what callers hear when they dial your main business number. Most business phone systems provide an auto-attendant to allow you to redirect callers to the correct extension. However, if that’s not an option, we have other scripts you can use too.
Example 6: Businesses With an Auto-attendant
Thank you for calling [Company Name]. We are unable to take your call right now. For hours of operation, press one. For our address, press two. For information on our upcoming events, press [designated number]. If you‘d like to leave a message, please wait for the tone. Thank you.
Example 7: Businesses Without an Auto-attendant
Hello, you’ve reached [Company Name]. We’re unable to take your call right now. Please visit our website at [website address] for our hours of operation, address, and current promotions. If you‘d like to leave a message, please wait for the tone.
Example 8: Extended Closure
Hello, you’ve reached [Company Name]. Our store is closed for [reason: remodeling, retreat, etc.] from [Date] through [Date]. Although our location is closed, our website remains open to assist you and take orders. Please visit us online at [website address] or leave a message after the tone and we’ll call you back during business hours. Thank you.
Example 9: Adjusted Hours
Thank you for calling [Company Name]. Please note that we have reduced hours during the [season] and will return to our regular hours on [Date]. Our off-season hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday. For information, press [designated number]. Otherwise, please leave a message after the tone, and someone will return your call during business hours.
Example 10: New Office Location
Thank you for calling [Company Name]. We are proud to announce we’ve moved to a new location to better serve our customers. Our new address is [address]. For directions to our new location, press [designated number]. For hours of operation, press [designated number]. To leave a message, press [designated number] or wait for the tone. Thank you.
Holiday Voicemail Greetings
Your customers may call your business even when you’re closed on holidays like July 4th or Thanksgiving. Here are a couple of voicemail greetings you can use if they do:
Example 11: Holiday Greetings
Hello, you’ve reached [Company Name]. We’re currently closed from [Date] to [Date] to celebrate the holidays. Please leave a message after the tone, and we’ll return your call as soon as we can. Thank you.
Example 12: Emergency Holiday Contact
Hello, you’ve reached [Company Name]. Our office is closed from [Date] to [Date] to celebrate the holidays. If this is urgent, please dial [phone number and extension] to reach our 24/7 customer support team. If not, please leave a message after the tone, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you.
Promotional Voicemail Greetings
Tailor your voicemail greetings to share promotional information. For example, if there’s a significant discount or new product being offered, you could briefly mention it. However, make sure this information doesn’t detract from the core information your caller likely needs, like location and hours of operation.
Example 13: Promotional Voicemail
Thank you for calling [Company Name]. We’re offering free shipping with all orders and a free consultation with any order over $100 for a limited time. For more information, or to place an order, press [designated number]. To leave a message, please press [designated number].
Key Elements to Include in Professional Voicemail Greetings
Your voicemail greeting is one of the first contacts a customer has with you or your business. A well-made recording that touches on the right points helps you make a good first impression. You’ll need to change your voicemail greeting from time to time to accommodate different scenarios, but there are a few elements to include in your greeting regardless of the situation:
- Brief introduction
- Thank the person for calling
- Explain why you can’t take their call
- Provide information your caller might want to know
- Invite the caller to leave a message so you can return their call, or let them know when they should call back
Some of the best business phone systems allow you to create multiple voicemail greetings so that you don’t have to constantly re-record your greeting. This is a great feature as it gives you the option to have different voicemail greetings depending on whether a call comes in during or outside of business hours.
You can learn about other ways to make the most out of your phone system by visiting our article on the top business phone features.
5 Tips for Creating a Professional Voicemail
Your voicemail greetings need to hit the most important details to deliver the right message. Otherwise, a confusing message may prompt the caller not to leave a message or call you back. Get it right, and your business could leave a good impression.
Here are a few tips for creating professional voicemail greetings:
- Use a script: Regardless of your brand, it’s best to use a script to ensure you sound professional and touch on everything you need to. Casual voicemail messages may leave a poor impression.
- Keep it short and sweet: Your caller wants to talk to you, and when they start to hear the voicemail greeting, they may feel disappointed. Therefore, skip straight to what they need to know, making the most of their time.
- Provide any helpful information you can: Answer your customers’ top questions. For example, if most customers call about store hours or shipping notifications, provide additional relevant information in your greeting, like promotional offers.
- Give your customers other options: In case your caller doesn’t want to leave a message or call back later, give them other options to resolve issues immediately, such as visiting your website or calling a different number.
- Eliminate distractions: You don’t want background noise or hard-to-understand speakers affecting the quality of your voicemail greeting.
If you can’t find a quiet location to record your recording or want to ensure your greeting is as clear as possible, another option to consider is hiring a professional to record your messages. Some business phone systems, like Grasshopper and Nextiva, offer free or add-on options to hire a professional voice talent to record your message. However, you can also check out our guide on the best professional greeting providers for other options.
Do you want to keep your voicemail messages organized and accessible? Visual voicemail is a telephony feature offered by many business phone providers that organizes your messages in an email-like interface. This enables you to quickly prioritize voicemail messages without spending too much time listening to everyone.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Should you have a funny voicemail greeting?
Funny voicemail greetings are usually not a best practice for business-related professional voicemail greetings. However, if your brand’s image is on the eccentric, non-conventional side, there are instances when funny voicemail greetings could work. If you decide to experiment, check with a small group of customers to get their initial feedback.
How long should a professional voicemail greeting be?
Voicemail greetings should be short and sweet. Try to limit your voicemail greeting to 30 seconds or less to save your customer’s time and patience.
What are temporary voicemail greetings?
Temporary voicemail greetings allow you to set a voicemail to play for a few hours while you’re away for a short period of time. It doesn’t involve recording your usual personal greeting. When the timer runs out, the voicemail automatically switches back to the default greeting.
What is call routing?
Call routing is a call management system that automatically distributes incoming calls based on predefined rules. You can use custom answering rules to have non-urgent calls forwarded directly to your voicemail or office phones.
Bottom Line
Recording a voicemail greeting for your business can be challenging, but these messages are essential for establishing credibility and professionalism. Save time and energy by using one of our scripts as a starting point for crafting your own unique message.
