Do you need to record an out-of-office message for your direct phone?
If you work for an international company or if you use English frequently on the phone, make sure you record your 'out-of-office' message in English. In this article we'll give you three simple but professional examples. Please feel free to copy them. Just remember to use your own name and company details!
This message is short and precise. The tone is neutral / informal.
Hi, this is Zack Smith. I'm afraid I'm not able to take your call at the moment. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
The second message is more formal that the first one. It is suitable for almost any sector or type of business.
This is the voice mail of John Jones. I can't get to the phone at the moment, but please leave your name and number and I'll call you back as soon as I can.
Sometimes it's good to give the caller an alternative contact. Perhaps you have a colleague covering for you when you are away, or perhaps you have a secretary or personal assistant. It's often a good idea to tell the caller what to do if they need an answer urgently.
You've reached the voice mail of Josh Smith. Please leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If the issue is urgent, please call my secretary, Sarah on +44 123 456 789. Many Thanks.
I normally think that generic voicemail messages are better because you can just turn them on and off whenever you want to. However, some people like to give more specific information to the people who are calling them and tell them exactly when they're going to be away. Here's an example of an out-of-office voicemail message which contains dates:
Hi, you've reached the voicemail of Chris Bartlett, from Business English 23. I'm afraid that I will be out of the office from June 1st until June the 21st. If you need to get hold of me urgently, please send me an email. I will be checking my email account daily. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you.
You need to make sure that you speak clearly. You also need to remember that you need to speak particularly slowly when you give people's names and also when you give telephone numbers. Sometimes it is even a good idea to repeat names and numbers in the message. Make sure that you listen to your own message at least once or twice. If the recording is bad quality, or if you have spoken too fast, then you should record a new message.
Just remember to check your voice mail frequently! I know that many of my colleagues do not actually check their voicemail! This can be very frustrating, so please don't do it.
Remember that we have another class in this course on Telephone English where we look at how to leave effective messages on someone's voicemail. Check it out!
If you are going to be out of the office for some days then obviously you will also need to create an out-of-office message for your email. Find out how to write an efficient out-of-office email in our section on writing emails in English.