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What Should I Say on My Work Voicemail

As stated in our previous blog posts on professional greetings and business voicemail greetings, voicemails are simple, easy, and can leave a positive impression on callers. Even if you are unable to answer a customer's call, they can still be left with a positive impression thanks to the voicemail greeting they receive. A high quality voicemail greeting can help improve your business's credibility and demonstrates your competency, which is often the first step towards developing a successful business relationship. Therefore, it's important to know what to include in your voicemail greeting to keep callers on the line and encourage them to leave a message after the beep.

As remote work continues to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic, having a high quality voicemail greeting is more important than ever. With that in mind, this blog post will list the 5 best voicemail greeting examples that can help you create a positive first impression for you and your business.

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5 Examples of Voicemail Greetings

The effectiveness and importance of a professional voicemail cannot be understated. The best voicemail greetings are between 4 and 8 seconds, anything over 10 seconds can cause the listener to lose interest, especially if they're in a hurry to leave a message. With that in mind, here's 5 of our favourite voicemail greetings that aren't too long and will leave a positive impression on callers.

Example 1

Hi, you've reached [your name]. Thanks for calling. I can't answer your call at the moment, however if you leave your name, number and message, I'll get back to you as soon I can.

There's nothing wrong with this classic style of voicemail greeting. It's short, sharp, and to the point. While it might seem rushed, it states all necessary information the caller needs to include and avoids any irrelevant details the caller doesn't need at that point in time.

Example 2

Hi, you've reached [name]. I can't get to the phone right now, but if you need to speak with someone immediately, contact my assistant, [name] at [number]. Otherwise, leave your name, number and message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Although this example is similar to the first message, it also includes an alternative contact in case the caller has an urgent matter that can't wait for a return call from you. This provides the caller with two different options depending on how quick they need a response from you.

Example 3

Hi, you've reached [name] at [company]. I'm sorry I couldn't take your call at this time, I'm either on another call or away from my desk. Please leave your name, number and reason for calling and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

This greeting includes the name and job title in case the caller isn't familiar with the contact. It also sets up a professional tone, as it explains to the caller that the contact is a busy person, either away from their desk or calling back someone else. This conveys a sense of reliability and also sets an expectation that the caller can expect a reply soon.

Example 4

Hi, you've called [name] at [company]. Thanks for calling. If you need a quick reply, email me at [email address] and I will reply within 24 hours. Otherwise, if it's not urgent, leave me a message with your name and number and I'll get back to you when possible.

This message is useful if you often need to turn your phone off for uninterrupted sessions, particularly if you work on big projects. It's also handy if you often receive calls regarding the same issue/topic that might already be covered in an email you have created a template for. This sets an expectation that you will likely reply over email faster than you would via a call. An email response might also be quicker than covering it over a call, saving you time to work on more important tasks.

Example 5

Hi, you've reached [name] at [company]. I will be out of the office from [date] to [date]. Please leave a brief message and your contact information and I will call you back once I return to the office on [date]. Alternatively, if you need to speak with someone sooner, please contact [colleague's name] at [phone number or email address]. Thank-you for calling.

This provides similar information to the examples above, however is useful for periods of annual leave or work-related travel as it mentions that you will be out of office from a certain date. This sets up a reasonable expectation for your reply and also provides an alternative point of contact if the caller has a pressing matter that needs a faster reply.

Smart Voicemail GreetiWith these examples in mind, you can then implement a smart voicemail greeting system to turn your missed calls into new opportunities. Smart greetings change depending on the parameters you've set, the time of day, who's calling, and more. With a voicemail assistant like Vxt, you can  set up multiple voicemail greetings and save loads of time on managing your missed calls.


With Vxt's contact-based greetings, you can play custom greetings for different contacts that you have selected. You can astound a range of contacts with greetings personalised to them. This means you can save one for your Mum, your partner, or even a top client, allowing you to create a closer relationship with key people in your business and personal lives.The extra time and effort that go towards ensuring your contacts know you value your relationship with them will help you stand out from everyone else.

Meanwhile, business and after-hours greetings let you automatically switch between greetings based on when you are at work. This feature allows you to swap between a default business and after-hour greeting. So, when you're not at work you can say so in your after-hours greeting and set expectations around when you might respond.

With Vxt you can also set temporary greetings. Temporary greetings allow you to easily set a voicemail to play for a few hours while you're on a plane, at an event, or in a meeting and have it automatically switch back to your normal default greeting when the timer runs out. They're extremely useful for short events and small periods of time when you will be unavailable. For more information on how to set a temporary greeting, check out our video tutorial here.

Why Use Vxt For Voicemail Greetings?

Vxt is a simple and convenient way of setting custom greetings for your voicemail and is available on both iOS and Android. This service also includes other helpful features such as automatic voicemail to email forwarding, Vxt Call, and in-app dictation with Vxt Notes. Unlike alternatives, Vxt also offers integration through Vxt Web with other useful tools such as Slack, Pipedrive, Salesforce, and more. Using a voicemail assistant means you can manage your missed calls, increase your responsiveness, and save loads of time. You can visit our set-up guide to see for yourself how easy it is to install and start using Vxt.

Being able to set your own voicemail greeting is essential. Not only does a personalised message let your contacts know they're leaving a voicemail with the right person, it's especially crucial if you use your phone for work. Having a professional voicemail greeting may be the difference between a new opportunity and a missed caller. Therefore, this list will have provided you with several examples that you can use and tweak for your own voicemail greeting. You can also consider using Vxt to manage, change and update your voicemail greetings, helping your voicemail greeting stand out from the crowd.

What Should I Say on My Work Voicemail

Source: https://www.vxt.co.nz/post/5-best-voicemail-greeting-examples