What Does Your Voice Mail Greeting Say About You?
By Mike Mitchell

Your voice mail greeting may seem like a small detail, but it is often the first impression a new contact receives of you and your organization. First impressions are lasting impressions. One of the goals we should have as Telecom Department heads is to elevate the visibility of our department internally and externally. Since proper use of the phone as a business tool is at the heart of what we do, we should all be leaders in this regard. Professional voice mail greetings will make a good impression on co-workers and the public alike.

It's always a challenge to provide just the right amount of information within a brief voice mail greeting. I've heard users cram so much information into their greetings that they lasted over 60 seconds. Speed of delivery is also important. One person spoke so fast that I could barely understand him. At the other end of the spectrum, I've heard routine greetings where the user spoke so slowly that it seemed to go on for an eternity. Achieving the right balance of several different elements will create an effective voice mail greeting.

The keys to a professional and informative greeting are to:

• Select the right words by choosing what you would like to say beforehand
• Use the right inflection
• Give only relevant information
• Speak in a cheerful and uplifting manner

When we are out of the office or on vacation a caller needs to know:

• That we are out of the office, but not what we are doing
• The date and time that we will return
• When we will return caller's message
• A contact for urgent requests (repeat an extension number twice if possible)

Another tip to consider is the type of call forwarding we use to route our extensions to voice mail. In my hospital we use three types of call forwarding depending on the situation:

• When we are on another call
• When we don't answer a call
• When we want to forward all calls

When we are out of the office or just away from our desks, we should forward all calls to our voice mail.

What are the advantages of a professional voice mail greeting and appropriate call forwarding?

• It shows that we are considerate of our callers
• It reduces caller frustration
• It provides useful information to our callers
• It decreases the duration of a call, and therefore decreases the time a voice mail port is in use

How can we encourage our employees to use voice mail more effectively?

• Set up a telephone/voice mail etiquette presentation at a "lunch and learn" session
• Work with the Educational Department to incorporate telephone and voice mail procedures into new employee orientation
• If your hospital has an Intranet, put this information on a Telecom Department web page
• Start a monthly 'Communications Tips' email for employees,
  or at least, for Managers and Directors

Although we can't force employees to use the right voice mail techniques, we can help them to see the benefits of these techniques to the callers and to themselves by setting the right example.