When recording a voicemail greeting, consider the audience and the purpose of the call. For personal safety, avoid giving too much information and use a simple message. For business, provide necessary information such as office hours and name. Women living alone can use “we” instead of “I” to suggest more people in the house.
One of the main considerations in recording a voicemail greeting is the audience. Who will hear your voicemail or voice greeting? Is this a business line or a home phone line? Also, how much information do you want to give to potential strangers, like telemarketers, who may be calling you at home?
When you record an answering machine greeting for your home or an answering machine greeting, some people like to keep it fun and lighthearted. They can record a message together, have one of their young children record it, play silly music in the background, or create some kind of prank. While it’s okay to be funny, especially in a home recording, you should probably avoid being rude, particularly if you think kids might call your home.
You might also keep in mind that people may be calling you from their cellphones, and a long message can eat up someone’s precious cellphone minutes. Some voicemail systems have the ability to press a key such as the pound key to immediately start recording a message; you might only consider the funny or long message if you have that option available to callers. Another point to consider when recording a voicemail greeting is who is likely to call. If you’re job hunting, for example, you might want to ditch the funny greeting for a while and use a more standard, professional greeting, unless you’re applying for a job as a comedian.
Some people are more interested in recording a voicemail greeting that provides only the bare minimum of information. Such a greeting might be: “You have reached 555-5555. Please leave a message and we will get back to you soon.” What this greeting may lack in imagination, it can make up for in personal safety, especially if you’re getting calls from telemarketers. Note that you don’t say your name, you don’t reveal who lives in your home, and you don’t say you’re not home. Occasionally burglars call a home to verify the presence or absence of the person in the home. Essentially, in this type of message, you’re committing to nothing but your phone number, and the short message is likely to appeal to cell phone callers.
This is the type of message you should aim for when recording a voicemail greeting at your place of business. Some people need to leave other information for business greetings, such as office hours, and can leave special messages when they are on vacation. The name of the business or your name can also be important, as people may want to be sure they’ve reached the right person or business.
People may not want to give information about who lives in their home to unknown callers for a variety of reasons. This information can be used by telemarketers who may ask for your name when they call again, scammers who may do the same, or people who are not interested in your well-being. Women living alone, for example, may use “we” instead of “I” to suggest more people living in one house, and may also opt to use machine-generated messaging or “male voice” ” generated by your computer instead of your voice to increase your home security. For personal safety reasons, you may want to avoid mentioning children in the house as well, and you certainly shouldn’t mention that you’re on vacation.
In all there is a lot to consider when recording an answering machine greeting. If you are aiming for a safer home, you can use a very simple message. If you’re really fun and friends and family mostly use the phone line, maybe having fun is the best way to go about it. For businesses, stick to simple facts that provide enough information to callers about when their call is likely to be returned or when they should call again.
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