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VoIP GuideAuto Attendant Setup: How To Write & Record Your Greeting
A short greeting with clear options improves the customer experience. A long one drives people away. Here is how to write one that works, with scripts you can use.
Should your business have a greeting?
Many small businesses thrive on excellent, personal customer service, and worry that a greeting will put a machine between them and their customers. It is a fair concern. We have all been trapped in an auto attendant with layer upon layer of options that never connects to a person, designed to keep callers away rather than help them.
That is one way to build a greeting, and it is not the only one. A short greeting with two or three clear options does the opposite. It tells the caller they reached the right place, routes them to someone who can actually help, and gives every caller the same experience whether they phone on a Monday morning or a Friday afternoon.
Our recommendation is that every business should have a professional greeting that introduces the company warmly to customers, prospects and suppliers alike.
Greeting features and routing options
Beyond the voice itself, a number of routing options are available. These are all included in our VoIP plans at no cost to set up, update or maintain.
Department routing
The most common option. It can be as simple as two or three choices, or several tiers for a larger business. Callers reach specific phones based on what they pick. It sounds like: “For sales, press 1. For customer service, press 2.”
Extension routing
Each phone is assigned an extension. We can keep the extension numbers from your old system or set up new ones. For a smaller team, naming people directly often works better: “For John Mackenzie, press 1. For Sara Becker, press 2.”
Dial by name directory
Useful once you have enough staff that listing everyone would make the greeting too long. Callers enter the first three letters of a first or last name and reach that person directly.
Open and closed schedule
Set an automatic schedule by day and hour, or use a manual button to open and close the office. Callers outside business hours hear a different greeting: “Our office is now closed. For our address and hours, press 1. To leave a message, press 2.”
After-hours emergency service
For plumbing, dental and any business running 24/7 support. Callers choose between leaving a message for the next business day or connecting to your emergency line. The system calls your mobile, and if nobody answers it moves down the list until someone on your team picks up.
Choosing the voice
Your greeting is heard by every customer, vendor and supplier you have, so the voice should match the business. Playful or serious, male or female, younger or older. It is worth a few minutes of thought rather than defaulting to whoever is free.
We offer three options. A member of our team with a radio voice can record it at no charge. We can bring in professional voiceover talent for roughly $100. Or you can record it yourself, which works well when the owner’s voice is part of the brand.
Four rules for writing the script
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Short is always better
Never more than a sentence or two per section. If something needs explaining, move it to a second layer. Rather than reading out your address, offer “For our office hours and location, press 1” and put the detail behind it.
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Read it out loud
Then cut every word that did not earn its place. A script that looks fine written down often sounds twice as long when spoken.
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Prioritise departments
Lead with sales or customer service, then shipping, billing, accounts and everything else. Most callers want the first two, and they should not have to listen through the rest to get there.
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Cut it again
Once the script is written, go back and shorten it a second time. This is the step everyone skips and the one that makes the difference.
Sample scripts
Simple small business
Thank you for calling Acme Inc. Please stay on the line as we connect your call.
Standard small business
Open: Thank you for calling Acme Inc, Vancouver’s leader in widget manufacturing. For customer care, press 1. For sales, press 2. For billing, press 3. For all other inquiries, press zero.
Closed: Thank you for calling Acme Inc. Our office is currently closed. We are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. To leave a message, stay on the line. Otherwise visit acme.com for more information.
Medium business
Open: Thank you for calling Acme Inc, Vancouver’s leader in widget manufacturing. If you know your party’s extension you may dial it now. For customer care, press 1. Sales, press 2. Billing, press 3. For a dial by name directory, press 8.
After-hours emergency line
Thank you for calling Vancouver Plumbers. You have reached our after-hours emergency line. To leave a non-urgent message to be returned the next business day, press 1. If you have a plumbing emergency, press 2. Our after-hours rates begin at $275 per call. To proceed, press 1. Otherwise stay on the line and leave a message.
We are here to help
If you are stuck on the script or unsure what structure suits your business, our team does this every week and is happy to suggest wording and strategy. Talk to your account executive, or get in touch and we will work through it with you.