Here is an example we put together for you: Voicemail template
The prompts we suggest are just an example. They generally consist of:
1) The MAIN DAY greeting, as it’s used during the day, when someone at your place of business can pick up the phone. It’s a typical greeting with menu options, so callers can find the right department or staff they are looking for.
2) Closed office message, with business hours and menu options. We call it the MAIN NIGHT; people have an option to leave a general voicemail, or to leave a voicemail in other departments, and they are made aware of business hours.
3) The HOLIDAY greeting, similar to the one above.
4) The EMERGENCY greeting, for those issues you just can’t foresee happening, like power outages. In this case, you are informing your callers that you haven’t disappeared but that you are unable to help them and that you’ll be back in business as soon as possible.
5) The DIRECTORY. This is where people can find your staff.
6) The GENERAL VOICEMAIL box, where voicemail messages that aren’t meant to be routed to people in your directory menu can be left.
7) Your ADDRESS and online information, so people can find you.
Of course, you may need many more messages than this, but if you’re a small company, you’ll be covered with all this.
Also we recommend using department names as opposed to staff names for your directory. This saves you money when you have staff turnover as you won’t have to redo entire sections of your voicemail system.