The short version
- A good greeting confirms who they reached, says when you'll call back and tells them what to leave.
- Keep it under 20 seconds. Callers stop listening after that.
- Change it for holidays and closures, and offer an alternative for anything urgent.
A voicemail greeting is often the first thing a new customer hears from your business. It doesn't need to be clever. It needs to tell the caller three things: they reached the right place, what happens next, and what to leave in their message.
Below are fifteen examples you can copy and adapt, grouped by situation, followed by a few practical notes on recording.
What every greeting should include
- Who they reached. Business name, and your name or department if it's a direct line.
- When they'll hear back. "Today," "within one business day," "by tomorrow morning." Be specific and be realistic.
- What to leave. Name, number and a short reason for the call saves you a round of phone tag.
- An alternative for urgent calls. Another number, a website, or an emergency line if your business has one.
What to leave out: "your call is important to us," a list of every service you offer, and long apologies for missing the call. The caller already knows you missed it.
Main business line
1. Standard
"You've reached Lakeside Accounting. We're with clients right now. Leave your name, number and a quick note about what you need, and we'll call you back within one business day."
2. Short and direct
"Thanks for calling Ridgeway Plumbing. Leave a message with your name, address and the problem, and we'll call you back today."
3. With website alternative
"Hi, you've reached Bloom Floral Studio. For orders and delivery times, our website is bloomfloralstudio.com. Otherwise, leave your name and number and we'll get back to you this afternoon."
4. Multiple contact options
"You've reached Granite Property Management. For maintenance emergencies, call 555-0198 any time. For everything else, leave a message or email office@graniteproperty.com and we'll reply within one business day."
After hours
5. Standard after-hours
"You've reached Harbor Street Dental. Our office is closed. We're open Monday to Friday, 8 to 5. Leave your name and number and we'll call you back the next business day. For a dental emergency, call 555-0142."
6. With hours and callback time
"Thanks for calling Summit Auto Repair. We're closed for the day and open again at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Leave a message with your name, vehicle and what's going on, and we'll call you first thing."
7. Service business with on-call coverage
"You've reached Northline Heating and Air. If you have no heat or a gas smell, press 1 to reach our on-call technician. For anything else, leave a message and we'll call you back in the morning."
If you can't offer an on-call option, an AI receptionist or answering service can cover the gap. We compare the options in after-hours call answering, compared.
Holidays and closures
8. Holiday closure
"You've reached Maple Family Clinic. We're closed for the holiday and reopen on Monday, January 2nd. Leave a message and we'll return calls in the order we receive them. If this is a medical emergency, hang up and call 911."
9. Temporary closure
"Thanks for calling Copper Kettle Catering. We're closed this week for a private event and back on Monday. Leave your name, number and event date, and we'll call you as soon as we're back."
10. Office move
"You've reached Crestline Insurance. We're moving offices this week and some calls are being forwarded. Leave a message and we'll call you back within one business day. Our new address is on our website."
Personal work line
11. Professional and simple
"Hi, you've reached Maria Lopez at Westfield Realty. I can't take your call right now. Leave your name, number and the property you're calling about, and I'll call you back today."
12. Out of office
"This is James Patel. I'm out of the office until Wednesday the 14th with limited access to voicemail. For anything urgent, please call my colleague Sarah at 555-0177. Otherwise leave a message and I'll call you when I'm back."
13. In meetings
"Hi, it's Dana from Clearpath Logistics. I'm in meetings most of today. Leave a message, or text this number if it's quicker, and I'll get back to you before the end of the day."
Sales and support teams
14. Sales line
"You've reached the sales team at Brightwave Solar. Leave your name, address and the best time to reach you, and one of our advisors will call you back within the hour during business hours."
Only promise "within the hour" if you can keep it. Speed matters for new leads, which we cover in speed to lead, but a broken promise is worse than a modest one.
15. Support line
"You've reached customer support at Northstar Software. For account and billing questions, the help center at northstar.com/help has answers to most of them. If you still need us, leave your name, email and a short description, and we'll reply within one business day."
How to record a greeting that sounds good
Write it down first. Reading from a script removes the ums and restarts. Read it out loud twice before recording.
Keep it under 20 seconds. Time it. The examples above all come in around 12 to 18 seconds at a natural pace.
Record somewhere quiet and soft. A room with carpet and furniture sounds better than a kitchen or an empty office with hard walls. Hold the phone a few inches from your mouth.
Smile slightly while you speak. It sounds like a cliché, but it changes the tone of your voice in a way callers notice.
Say numbers slowly. Phone numbers and website addresses are where people need to write things down. Slow down and pause between groups of digits.
Listen back on a phone. A greeting that sounds fine on your computer can sound muddy through a phone speaker.
Using a generated voice
If you'd rather not record your own voice, or you want a consistent sound across several lines, you can generate the greeting with text to speech. Our voicemail greeting generator turns your script into an audio file you can download and upload to your phone system. The same tips apply: write a tight script, keep numbers clear, and listen to the result through a phone before publishing it.
When to change your greeting
Update it for holidays, closures, office moves, staff changes and any time your callback promise changes. A greeting that says "back on Monday the 3rd" in the middle of the following month makes the business sound abandoned.
Greetings by industry
The examples above work for most businesses. A few industries have needs worth calling out.
Healthcare offices should always point to emergency services in after-hours greetings, and avoid inviting callers to leave detailed medical information in a voicemail.
"You've reached Maple Family Clinic. We're closed. If this is a medical emergency, hang up and call 911. For urgent questions after hours, call our on-call nurse line at 555-0190. Otherwise, leave your name and number and we'll call you back the next business day. Please don't leave detailed medical information in this message."
Law and accounting firms often want to set expectations about confidentiality and response time.
"You've reached Hartwell and Price. We return calls within one business day. Leave your name, number and a brief reason for your call. Please don't include confidential details in this message; we'll discuss them when we call you back."
Trades and home services benefit from asking for the address and the problem, so the callback can come with an answer.
"You've reached Ridgeway Plumbing. Leave your name, address and what's going on, and we'll call you back today. If water is actively leaking, turn off your main shut-off valve and call our emergency line at 555-0131."
Retail and restaurants mostly get questions about hours and orders, so lead with those.
"Thanks for calling Copper Kettle. We're open Tuesday to Sunday, 11 to 9. For reservations, visit copperkettle.com. Otherwise leave a message and we'll call you back."
Mistakes that make greetings worse
Reading too fast. Nerves make people rush. Record at a pace that feels slightly slow to you; it will sound normal to callers.
Forgetting to update it. A greeting announcing a holiday closure that ended weeks ago makes callers wonder whether anyone is checking messages.
Too many options. If your greeting starts listing four phone numbers and three websites, callers stop listening. Pick the one or two that matter most.
Background noise. Air conditioning, traffic and office chatter all get louder through a phone line. Record somewhere quiet.
No callback promise. "Leave a message" with no timeframe leaves callers guessing whether they'll hear back today or next week.
Promising what you can't keep. "We'll call you back within the hour" is great if it's true. If it's not, use a timeframe you can meet every time.
A greeting is not a substitute for answering
Even a perfect greeting loses callers. Some people simply won't leave a message, especially first-time callers who have other businesses they can try. A greeting is the floor, not the goal.
If you're losing calls you'd like to capture, look at what happens after the beep: how quickly messages are returned, whether callers are reached, and whether those calls turn into business. If the numbers are disappointing, an answering service or an AI receptionist that can actually talk to callers may be worth the cost. Our guide to the AI receptionist for small business explains how that works.
A quick checklist before you hit record
- Business name, said clearly at the start
- Why you can't answer (with customers, closed, out of office)
- When you'll call back, specifically
- What to leave: name, number, reason, and anything else that helps
- An alternative for urgent matters, if you have one
- Under 20 seconds when read at a calm pace
- Recorded somewhere quiet, checked through a phone speaker
Frequently asked questions
How long should a voicemail greeting be?
Aim for 10 to 20 seconds. Long enough to cover who, when and what to leave, short enough that callers don't hang up before the beep.
Should I say "sorry I missed your call"?
You can, but it adds length without adding information. A friendly tone does the same job.
Is it okay to ask callers to text instead?
Yes, if you actually monitor texts on that number. Many people prefer it. Make sure the line can receive SMS first.
Written by the Voxvencer editorial team. We build and run AI voice agents for call centers and small businesses, and we write about what we see on real phone lines. Questions or corrections: info@voxvencer.com.
