Company Voicemail Greeting Script

Callers decide within a few seconds whether to leave a message or hang up. Your greeting should answer three questions right away: who did they reach, when will someone respond, and what should they say in their message. Anything else is optional.

Keep the whole greeting under about 25 seconds. Long greetings get skipped or cut off, and callers who reach the beep too late often have to call back and listen again.

• Your business name, said clearly and slowly
• A short thank-you or apology for missing the call
• When the caller can expect a callback, such as the next business day
• What to leave in the message: name, number, and reason for calling
• An alternative, like a website or email, for non-urgent requests
• For emergencies: a clear line about what callers should do instead of waiting

Use this on your primary business number when calls go unanswered during normal hours. Replace every bracketed field before recording and read it out loud once to check the timing.

Hello, you have reached [Business Name]. We are sorry we missed your call. Our office hours are [days and hours, for example Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM]. Please leave your name, your phone number, and a short message about how we can help, and we will return your call [when, for example by the end of the next business day]. If your matter is urgent, please [your chosen urgent instruction, such as call our on-call line at a number you provide]. You can also reach us anytime at [website or email]. Thank you for calling [Business Name].

An after-hours greeting sets expectations so callers do not wait for a callback that will not come until morning. Say the current status, your next open time, and what to do right now.

Thank you for calling [Business Name]. Our office is closed right now. We are open [days and hours]. Please leave your name, number, and a brief message, and we will call you back when we reopen [day and time]. If you need [whatever counts as urgent for your business, such as an emergency repair], please [your instruction, such as call the emergency line at a number you provide]. Otherwise, you can find information and request service at [website]. Thank you.

• Never promise a callback time you cannot meet; say the next business day if that is realistic
• If you have no emergency option, simply leave that line out rather than inventing one
• Update the greeting for holidays so callers know the actual reopening day

If your phone system gives each person an extension, the personal greeting should be shorter and name the person, while still covering the basics.

Hi, this is [Name] at [Business Name]. I am not able to take your call right now. Please leave your name, number, and a short message, and I will get back to you [when, for example within one business day]. If you need immediate help, please press [extension or zero] for our main line. Thank you for calling.

Delivery matters as much as wording. A rushed, muffled greeting makes callers doubt they reached the right business. Record in a quiet room and do a test listen before you save the final version.

Before you record, run through this checklist:

• Write the script out and read it aloud twice so it sounds natural, not read
• Use a quiet room with no echo; a small carpeted room works better than a bare office
• Speak slightly slower than normal conversation, about 10 to 15 percent slower
• Smile while you record; it genuinely changes how your voice sounds
• Say numbers slowly, especially phone numbers and hours
• Listen back on both a phone speaker and a headset before saving
• Set a calendar reminder to rerecord whenever your hours, staff, or callback promise changes

A greeting only works if someone actually listens to the messages and calls back. If you are often on jobs, with clients, or simply away from the phone, unanswered voicemails can pile up. One option is forwarding your business number to an answering service so calls are handled while you work.

AllDayDesk, the service on this site, answers business calls around the clock using information you save about your business. You keep your existing phone number and forward calls to it; setup involves choosing your business or entering its website, checking the details, hearing a personalized sample, and choosing how to set up your phone. When the service takes a message or books a new appointment, you can see the call, transcript, summary, and booking in your dashboard. New appointments go on the built-in AllDayDesk calendar by default once you have configured your services and availability, and an optional Google Calendar connection is available in Settings after you connect and authorize your account. If a caller asks something the service does not know, such as a price that is not saved, it takes a message for you instead of guessing.

If you go that route, your greeting changes role: instead of the caller hearing your voicemail, they hear the service. The same writing rules still apply, and you can find the exact forwarding steps for your carrier in the guides below.