Sample Voice Mail Scripts: How to Greet Your Callers in a Recording

While everyone seems to have voice mail these days in both their personal and business lives, knowing what to say in your voice mail greeting can still be a bit confusing. The main thing to remember is that you WANT your caller to leave a detailed and useful message!

Phone tag is not fun - or productive. But as much as we complain about the lack of etiquette these days, with folks whipping out phones at lunch and feeling to need to chat or text instead of carrying on real life conversations, the truth is we cannot always answer our incoming calls.

How you greet your caller in your voice mail script can help influence the kind of message they leave for you.

In the office:

Thank you for calling [XYZ Company]. This is [My Name], and for [Today's Date], I am in the office, but currently away from my desk or on another call. Please leave your name, telephone number, and a detailed message, and I will call you back as soon as possible.

Working out of the office:

Thank you for calling [XYZ Company]. This is [My Name], and for [Today's Date], I will be out of the office for [customer appointments]. Please leave your name, telephone number, and a detailed message, and I will call you back in [four] business hours [or state whatever time is feasible, i.e. 2 hours, tomorrow, etc]

Thank you for calling [XYZ Company]. This is [My Name], and for [Today's Date], I will be working from my virtual office. Please leave your name, telephone number, and a detailed message, and I will return your call as soon as possible.

Vacation:

Vacation Alert: Thank you for calling [XYZ Company]. This is [My Name], and for the week of [MM-DD] [or for the period of Day, MM-DD through Day MM-DD], I will be on vacation and will not be checking voice mail. If you need immediate assistance, please press [instructions, such as "press 0" or "press Star T to transfer to extension XXX] to transfer to my back up, [Name] [or call xxx-xxx-xxx for customer support]. Otherwise, please leave your name, telephone number, and a detailed message, and I will call you back on my return to the office, Day, Month-Date.

Sick:

Out of office Alert: This is [My Name], and I am out of the office today due to illness. If you need immediate assistance, please press [instructions] to transfer to my back up, [Name] or call [xxx-xxx-xxx] for customer support. Otherwise, please leave your name, telephone number, and a detailed message, and I will call you back on my return to the office, Day, Month-Date.

Note, many voice mail systems allow you to pre-record various greetings. Record this before you are sick, and then activate when necessary, by simply pressing the correct touch tone buttons. Sounding sick on your greeting is not necessary to convince your callers.

These sample greetings will get you started. Modify them to reflect your personality (in a professional manner, of course). Type or write your script and practice it before you record. Following a few tips for recording your voice mail greetings will minimize the frustration for you and your caller of telephone tag.