25 business voicemail greetings, grouped by situation
A business voicemail greeting has one job: get the caller to leave enough that you can call back with an answer. Every greeting below names the business, gives one instruction and makes one promise. Copy the closest match, swap in your own name and hours, and read it out loud once before you record it.
During business hours, when nobody picks up
You've reached Harbor Street Bakery. We're open and on the phone with another customer.
Leave your name, your number and what you need, and we'll call you back within the hour.
Why it works: the caller learns they dialled the right place, hears a reason nobody answered, and gets a time. Fourteen seconds, spoken.
Hi, you've reached Cole and Marsh Accounting.
We return every message between twelve and one, and again before five.
Leave your name and number, and tell us if the matter is time-sensitive.
Why it works: a specific window sets the caller's expectation better than 'as soon as possible', and the time-sensitive prompt sorts your callbacks for you.
Thanks for calling Ridge Line Plumbing. Our crews are on jobs right now.
Text this number with your address and the problem, and you'll get a reply faster than a voicemail.
Or leave a message after the tone and we'll ring you back today.
Why it works: a trade that reads texts between jobs answers texts faster than voicemails. Say so, and callers use the faster route.
You've reached Bluebird Salon. Both of us are with clients.
Leave your name and number, and say which stylist you'd like. We'll confirm a time by the end of the day.
Why it works: 'which stylist' turns a vague message into a bookable one, so the callback is a confirmation, not a second conversation.
This is Dana at Northgate Electrical. I'm up a ladder or under a floor, so I can't get to the phone.
Leave your name, number and the job, and I'll call you back at my next break.
Why it works: first person, one honest reason and a real promise. Callers forgive a missed pickup when they can picture why.
After hours, weekends and closures
You've reached Harbor Dental. Our office is closed for the day.
Leave your name, number and a short message, and the front desk will call you back when we open at eight.
Why it works: 'when we open at eight' is a promise the caller can check. Vague promises get a second call at 8:05 anyway.
Thanks for calling Ridge Line Plumbing. We're closed until seven tomorrow morning.
If water is running where it shouldn't be, hang up and call our emergency line at 555-0142.
For anything else, leave a message and we'll call first thing.
Why it works: the emergency route comes before the message prompt. A caller with a burst pipe stops listening the moment they hear a number.
You've reached Cole and Marsh Accounting. The office is closed over the weekend.
Leave your details and we'll reply on Monday morning. If you're a current client with a filing deadline, say so and we'll call you first.
Why it works: it sets Monday as the answer and gives one group a way to jump the queue without inviting everyone to.
Hi, you've reached Bluebird Salon. We're closed for the holiday and back on Tuesday the third.
Leave your name and number and we'll call to book you in when we reopen.
Why it works: a dated return beats 'we're closed for the holidays'. Update the date the day you leave, or the greeting turns stale on the first morning back.
You've reached Sam Ortega Realty. I'm away from the office until the eighteenth.
For anything about a live listing, call my colleague Priya at 555-0177.
Otherwise leave a message and I'll be in touch when I'm back.
Why it works: a named colleague and a number keep live deals moving. Callers with anything else are content to wait once they know the date.
On another call or a busy day
Thanks for calling Harbor Street Bakery. We're helping another customer right now.
Leave your name and number and we'll be back with you in a few minutes.
Why it works: 'a few minutes' is believable for a small shop, and it keeps the caller from dialling a competitor while they wait.
You've reached Northgate Electrical. Today is our busiest day of the month, so callbacks are running about two hours.
Leave your name, number and the job, and you'll hear from us this afternoon.
Why it works: telling callers the real delay costs you nothing and saves the second and third calls from the same person.
Hi, you've reached Harbor Dental. The front desk is with a patient.
Leave your name, number and whether this is about an appointment, a bill or something else. We'll call you back within the hour.
Why it works: the three categories let the desk return calls in the right order without a long menu.
By trade
You've reached Harbor Dental. We're closed for the evening.
If you have a dental emergency, call Dr. Lin's after-hours line at 555-0119.
To book or change an appointment, leave your name, number and a good time to reach you.
Why it works: emergency first, booking second, no hours read out. A dental caller almost always wants one of those two things.
Thank you for calling Cole and Marsh Law.
Please leave your name, a callback number and a brief description of the matter. Don't include confidential details in the message.
A member of the team will call you back within one business day.
Why it works: it asks for the matter type without inviting the caller to tell the whole story to a machine, and 'one business day' is a promise a firm can keep.
You've reached Summit Heating and Air. If your system is down, press nothing and just leave your name, address and number. Those calls go to the top of the list.
For quotes and maintenance, leave a message and we'll call you back today.
Why it works: 'those calls go to the top of the list' tells the no-heat caller they'll be handled first, which is the only thing they wanted to hear.
Hi, this is Bluebird Salon. We're with clients and can't reach the phone.
Leave your name, number and the service you'd like, and we'll text you two times that are open.
Why it works: promising two open times turns the callback into a text, which suits both the stylist and the client.
You've reached Northgate Property Management.
Tenants with an urgent repair, such as no heat, no water or a leak, call the maintenance line at 555-0163.
For everything else, leave your name, unit and number, and the office will call back next business day.
Why it works: it names what counts as urgent, so the maintenance line gets leaks and not lightbulbs.
Hi, you've reached Sam Ortega. I'm probably at a showing.
If you're calling about a listing, leave the address and your number and I'll get right back to you. Everything else, I'll return by this evening.
Why it works: 'the address' is the one detail that lets an agent call back with an answer instead of a question.
Personal and direct lines
This is Dana. Leave your name and number, and I'll call you back between jobs.
Why it works: a direct line needs no business name if the caller already has your cell. Short greetings on personal lines get more messages left.
You've reached Priya Nair at Sam Ortega Realty. I'm in a meeting or on the road.
Leave a message, or text this number for a faster reply. I check texts between meetings.
Why it works: it names the faster channel and says why it's faster, which is what gets callers to use it.
You've reached Dana at Northgate Electrical. I'm out of the office until Monday the ninth and won't be checking messages.
For anything urgent, call the office at 555-0150. Otherwise I'll call you back the week I return.
Why it works: 'won't be checking messages' is the honest sentence most people leave out, and it's the one that stops callers waiting on a reply that isn't coming.
When an AI assistant answers instead of voicemail
Hi, you've reached the AI assistant at Harbor Street Bakery. I can take an order for pickup, book a cake consultation or pass a message to the team.
What can I do for you?
Why it works: it says it's an assistant in the first sentence, lists what it can do, and asks one open question. See the disclosure note below for where that first sentence is the law.
You've reached Harbor Dental. I'm an AI assistant. If this is a dental emergency, say 'emergency' and I'll connect you to the on-call dentist.
Otherwise, I can book, move or cancel an appointment. How can I help?
Why it works: the AI notice comes before anything else, which is what Utah requires of licensed practices, and the emergency path is one word long.
Thanks for calling Ridge Line Plumbing. You're speaking with our AI assistant, because the office is closed until seven.
If you have an active leak, tell me and I'll get the on-call plumber. If you'd like to book a visit, I can put you in the calendar right now.
Why it works: the caller who would have hung up on a voicemail beep gets the two things voicemail can't give at night, a person for the emergency and a slot for the job.
What the good ones have in common
Every greeting above fits in twenty seconds when read at a normal pace. Callers decide whether to leave a message in the first few seconds, so the business name comes first and the instruction comes second. Nothing else earns a place ahead of those two.
Each one asks for the detail that makes the callback useful. A salon asks for the service, an agent asks for the address, a law firm asks for the matter. You call back with an answer, and the caller feels handled on the first try.
Each one makes a promise the business can keep. 'Within the hour' on a slow Tuesday, 'this afternoon' on a busy day, 'Monday morning' at the weekend. A promise you miss costs more than no promise at all, so pick the honest one.
None of them read out opening hours, a website address or a menu of departments. Callers aren't listening for information at that point. They're waiting to say what they need.
How to adapt a greeting to your own line
Swap the fictional business for yours and keep the sentence shape. 'You've reached Harbor Dental' becomes 'You've reached your practice name', and the rest of the line stays as it is.
Change the promise to match how you really work. If you return calls at lunch and after five, say so. If you check texts between jobs, say that instead. A greeting that describes your actual habit gets fewer repeat calls.
Put the emergency route first if you have one. Callers with a real problem stop listening as soon as they hear a phone number, so the number goes before the message prompt, never after it.
Time it with a stopwatch, not by how it reads. Twenty seconds is shorter than it looks on the page. Cut the thanks-for-calling preamble first, because the caller knows they called.
Re-record when something changes. A holiday greeting still playing on the first morning back tells every caller the shop isn't paying attention.
Where the AI opening line is a legal requirement
How GreetKeeper runs the greeting
GreetKeeper answers the calls you'd otherwise send to voicemail. You forward your existing number to the dedicated local number that comes with your plan, in the no-answer mode at your carrier, and the calls that ring out reach the assistant instead of a beep. The ring count is set where the forwarding is set, and GreetKeeper answers the moment the call arrives.
You write the greeting word for word, with no minimum length, and change it whenever you like. Point GreetKeeper at your website and it drafts your hours, services and the questions callers ask, which you correct before it takes a call. Each number under your account has its own greeting, hours and calendar, and you can set closure dates so it answers as closed on those days.
The AI disclosure is a setting. Switch it on and the greeting tells callers they've reached an AI assistant before anything else happens, which covers the Maine notice and the Utah start-of-call rule in the greetings above.
After the greeting, the call doesn't end with a message. GreetKeeper captures the caller's name, number and reason for calling, books into your calendar with booking included on every plan, reads the name, number and time back before it books, and transfers to your team when the caller asks or the assistant is unsure. Every call arrives as a transcript and a short summary, and the on-call person is texted the caller's details.
Robocalls and silent callers are dropped before the greeting plays, and screened calls don't count toward your plan. Plans start at $49 a month for 200 answered calls, and every plan starts with a 14-day free trial with every feature on and no card needed.
Questions people ask about these greetings
How long should a business voicemail greeting be?
Ten to twenty seconds. That's enough for the business name, one instruction and one promise. Every greeting on this page fits inside twenty seconds at a normal speaking pace, and the ones under fifteen get more messages left.
Do I need to promise a callback time?
Yes, and make it one you can keep on a normal day. 'Within the hour', 'this afternoon' and 'next business day' all work. A greeting with no time gets a second call from the same person, usually within the hour.
Can I use one greeting on every line?
One greeting suits a single line. A main line, a direct line and an after-hours line do different jobs, so they need different openings. Use the group headings on this page: a direct line gets the short personal greeting, the main line gets the callback promise.
Which of these greetings need an AI notice?
The three under 'When an AI assistant answers instead of voicemail'. A recorded voicemail greeting is your own voice and needs no notice. A greeting that opens a live AI conversation needs one in Maine, and in Utah for state-licensed occupations it must be spoken at the start.
Hear your greeting answer a real call
Your business name, your opening line, a caller who wants to book. Two minutes.