You have reached the voicemail of . I'm out of the office until and will return calls after that. If it is urgent, please email at . Otherwise, leave your name, number and a short message.
Professional · short · 1 of 1
Also for your time off
Now switch it on
Select Settings and more next to your profile picture, then Settings.
Go to Calls and find Manage voicemail.
Select Record a greeting for your normal greeting, or type a text-to-speech greeting.
In the out-of-office section, choose when the out-of-office greeting plays and type your out-of-office greeting.
Check Call answer rules if callers should be transferred instead of leaving a message.
Plays to every caller who reaches voicemail while it is active.
Record a greeting that says who you are, when you are back and who to contact instead, for example "You have reached the voicemail of Sam Ortiz. I'm out of the office until October 14 and will return calls after that. If it is urgent, please email Priya Nair at priya.nair@yourcompany.com. Otherwise, leave your name, number and a short message."
Phones rarely switch the greeting back by themselves, so plan to change it the morning you return, and on Teams Phone remember that out-of-office greetings are off by default until you turn them on.
All 6 replies on this page
Type your details in the writer and every reply below fills itself in.
Professional 2
You have reached the voicemail of [Your name]. I'm out of the office until [Back on] and will return calls after that. If it is urgent, please email [Who covers] at [Their email]. Otherwise, leave your name, number and a short message.
Short
Hello, this is [Your name]. I am away from the office from [Away from] through [Back on] and am not checking voicemail. If your call is about an open project or order, please email [Who covers] at [Their email], who is covering for me. Leave a message after the tone and I will call you back after I return on [Back on].
Longer
Warm 2
Hi, you've reached [Your name]'s phone. I'm off until [Back on], so I won't hear this for a while. If it can't wait, [Who covers] is covering and you can email them at [Their email]. Otherwise, leave a message and I'll call you back when I'm back at work.
Short
Hello, and thanks for calling [Your name]. I'm taking some time off from [Away from] to [Back on] and I'm leaving my phone alone for once. If you need help before I'm back, [Who covers] knows what I'm working on; their email is [Their email]. Leave your name and number and I'll ring you back after [Back on].
Longer
Funny 2
Beep. That was not the tone yet. This is [Your name], away from my desk until [Back on]. For urgent work, email [Who covers] at [Their email]. The real tone is coming up in three, two, one.
Short
Skip if: A client-facing inbox, or a week when the team is under pressure and the joke would land badly.
You've called [Your name], who is currently somewhere without a phone signal by choice. I'm back on [Back on], rested and suspicious of my inbox. Until then, [Who covers] is handling the important stuff, reachable at [Their email]. For everything else, leave a message, speak slowly, and I promise to listen to all of it.
Longer
Skip if: A client-facing inbox, or a week when the team is under pressure and the joke would land badly.
How to set it up in Voicemail
Steps checked against the official help pages on 2026-10-05. Menus move; if yours differs, the source link has the current wording.
Microsoft Teams Phone voicemail
Select Settings and more next to your profile picture, then Settings.
Go to Calls and find Manage voicemail.
Select Record a greeting for your normal greeting, or type a text-to-speech greeting.
In the out-of-office section, choose when the out-of-office greeting plays and type your out-of-office greeting.
Check Call answer rules if callers should be transferred instead of leaving a message.
Start and end time
Not documented
Separate reply for coworkers
No
How often it replies
Plays to every caller who reaches voicemail while it is active.
Needs Teams Phone (Cloud Voicemail). Out-of-office greetings are off by default, including the option to play them when Outlook automatic replies are on.
A recorded greeting overrides a typed text-to-speech greeting.
Press the Messages or voicemail button and enter your PIN.
Open the mailbox options or personal options menu.
Choose greetings and pick the alternate, extended absence or out of office greeting.
Record the greeting, play it back, and save it.
Switch the greeting back to standard when you return.
Start and end time
No
Separate reply for coworkers
No
How often it replies
Plays to every caller who reaches voicemail.
Menus differ by vendor and system (Cisco, Avaya, Mitel, Poly and others); check the quick reference card for your phone.
Some systems block callers from leaving messages while an extended absence greeting is on.
iPhone (carrier voicemail)
Open the Phone app.
Unified layout: tap Calls, tap Edit, then tap Edit Voicemail Greeting. Classic layout: tap Voicemail, then tap Greeting.
Tap Custom, then tap Record.
Record your out of office greeting, stop, play it back, and tap Save.
Switch back to Default or record a new greeting when you return.
Start and end time
No
Separate reply for coworkers
No
How often it replies
Plays to every caller who reaches voicemail.
Custom greetings are not supported by all carriers or in all countries and regions; without Visual Voicemail you call your carrier's voicemail and use its menus instead.
There is no schedule: you have to change the greeting back yourself.
Reading an email address too fast. Say it once, slowly, and pause at the dot.
Promising a same-day callback you cannot keep from a beach.
Leaving the greeting up after you are back; put a reminder on your first morning.
A greeting longer than the message people want to leave. Aim for 15 to 30 seconds.
Background noise. Record somewhere quiet, play it back once, and record again if the dates are hard to hear.
Filling it in
Fill in your name, return date and who covers, choose a tone, and read the greeting aloud once before recording. On an iPhone, record a Custom greeting in the Phone app; on Teams Phone, go to Settings > Calls > Manage voicemail and set the out-of-office greeting; on a desk phone, look for the alternate or extended absence greeting in the voicemail menu.
Questions people ask
What should an out of office voicemail say?
Your name, that you are away, the day you will return calls, and one person to contact for anything urgent, in that order. Keep it to 15 to 30 seconds when read aloud, give the return day as a date rather than next week, and end by telling callers what to leave: name, number and a short reason.
How do I change my voicemail greeting on an iPhone?
Open the Phone app. In the unified layout, tap Calls, tap Edit, then Edit Voicemail Greeting; in the classic layout, tap Voicemail, then Greeting. Tap Custom and record your greeting, then play it back and save it. Not every carrier supports custom greetings, and nothing switches it back on a schedule, so return to Default when you are back.
To
Everyone leaving soon
From
Department of Being Elsewhere
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Before you go
The auto reply is one of five things. The other four take about ten minutes and prevent most of the emails you will read when you get back.