How do you handle your outgoing voice mail message? I change mine daily letting people know they have reached Oakville Admin and when they can expect a call back from me. What do you do? Do you have a standard message that you never change or do you change it daily and let people know that their call will be returned in 2 hours, the next day, etc.?

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Julia

I mainly use my cell phone and I particularly don't like using voice mail.

When I call someone and get their voice mail box, I rarely leave a message. I try to hang up before it reaches their announcement. It irritates me to listen to a long message before I do have the opportunity to leave a message, when I do choose to leave one. Just a quirk of mine though.

I think it is about "time" and I don't want to waste mine listening to announcements. I have called a business and had to listen to a long drawn out announcement stating who I have reached, the date, they are out of the office, how long they will be out, etc. I understand this is a neccessity for some, but I just do not prefer it for myself.

In case someone wants to leave a message for me though, mine just tells my name, short and to the point. I think that if they have seen my advertisement of my business showing my name and number, when they hear my name, they know they have called the correct number.

It would be interesting to see how many on here do use voice mail.

I do not have call waiting on my phone because I think it's rude to ask someone to hold so that I can take another call and when I'm working I don't answer the phone. When I'm working I don't want to stop what I'm doing because it's a waste of time having to go back and figure out where I left off and when I reach a convenient place to stop, I turn of the clock and check voice mail and return calls.

My message isn't long and drawn out, it's short and to the point thanking the caller for calling, telling them who they've reached and when they'll get a call back. I've actually received compliments from callers on the professionalism of my voice mail; one person told me that they thought it was great customer service.

This voice mail protocol is a tip I learned in a time management course.

Everyone has their preferred way of doing things, if we were all the same, the world would be a pretty dull place

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Julia

@ txsunshine, don't you spend more time calling someone over and over trying to get them than you would just leaving a message the first time?

I agree about long messages though. Short and sweet: "Hi this is Amanda. I'm not available at the moment, please leave me a message. Thanks."

If you feel the need to leave a long outgoing message, preface it by saying "press X to bypass this message and go directly to voice mail"

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Amanda Moore
Virtual Assistant
VagabondetteVA Blog

Originally Posted by VagabondetteVA

@ txsunshine, don't you spend more time calling someone over and over trying to get them than you would just leaving a message the first time? I agree about long messages though. Short and sweet: "Hi this is Amanda. I'm not available at the moment, please leave me a message. Thanks." If you feel the need to leave a long outgoing message, preface it by saying "press X to bypass this message and go directly to voice mail"

It actually depends on the nature of my need. If is something crutial, then I leave a message to return my call. If it is just something I have a question about that can wait, I don't call over and over. Most times I figure it out for myself...

JuliaW, personally I like the way you are handling it. From my personal experience of the dreaded voicemail. I like knowing when I can expect to hear back from whoever I am trying to contact! Otherwise I tend not to leave a message.

My message:

Quote:

You have reached Jeanne Bolewitz of NowAssistingYou.com. Please leave a message at the tone and I will return your call as soon as I can.

I don't want to give a specific amount of time because I'd prefer to let them know that I will return the call as soon as I am able rather than accidentally returning a call after the amount of time promised. On my site, I have specific "calling" hours and mention that I typically return calls within four business hours which is an overestimate but it at least offers half a business day and similar to (if not better than) the amount of time in regular offices of business.

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Jeanne
NowAssistingYou.com
Virtual Assistant :: Web/Blog Design & Hosting :: Writer

My business phone is actually my cell phone. I have a standard greeting on there that I will change if I am expected to be out or unavailable for a length of time.

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Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better

I partner with another company to provide call answering services to my clients and I make use of this for my business calls as well. I divert my calls to them if I am busy or don't answer and I send them through details of my diary each week so that they can take messages for me.

It works really well for me as I don't miss any calls.

Emma

Yes I think the message should be short. When you are busying the last thing you want is to listen to a long voice mail message. Pattyben