Voice Mail Etiquette

There is some etiquette required when using technologies such as email and voice mail, but the guidelines are not well publicized. At least, they are not well recognized. Being a telecommunications professional, I find I have little patience for abuse or misuse of either technology.

In a business setting, these technologies take on a more important role than they might in the average household. Voice mail can be a powerful communications tool if used properly. In a matter of seconds you can send, receive, forward, or reply to a message left in voice mail. If you had to wait to actually speak with someone, it could be weeks before you accomplished your intended task.

That brings us to the first rule of voice mail usage:

Answer the phone when you can. Callers are easily frustrated and often unwilling to leave a message for someone who is "never there."

Beyond that, remember to:

"Set up" your mailbox. This simply means that you record a greeting that the callers will hear. Recording a personal greeting, in your own voice, assures the caller that they have reached the correct person, making them much more likely to leave a message.

A short greeting also tells a caller that you do, in fact, check your messages, and you care about them.

The greeting should also indicate when you will be available, and how soon you will return a call. Be specific. A simple statement such as, "I am out of town during the week of February 11th and will return your call by the 19th". Is extremely helpful. Those of us who have the generic "I am away from my desk, please leave a message" greeting, aren't giving the caller any information.

Make sure your greeting contains information on how to reach someone else if the caller needs immediate attention. If the caller is a customer, you may want them to talk to someone else in the office, rather that wait for your return.

Change your greeting frequently, especially when you are out of the office.

These simple guidelines are immensely helpful when using a call answering system. A short list of rules stating: Answer when you can, record a greeting, be specific about when you will return a call, include information on how to reach someone else, and change your greeting frequently, can be enormously helpful if posted in an office. Make sure you are adhering to the rules of etiquette yourself before passing them on to others.