A professional voicemail greeting tells callers three things in under 25 seconds: who they reached, why no one answered, and what happens next. Below are 32 copy-paste scripts, grouped by situation, that do exactly that for a general line, a company main number, after hours, holidays, sales, support, and more.
Last updated July 2026.
What should a business voicemail greeting say?
It should name the business, explain briefly that nobody is available, tell the caller exactly what to leave, and promise a callback window you can keep. Four elements, 45 to 70 spoken words. Anything else, including your hours, your website, and your apology, is optional and usually makes the greeting worse.
The one element people leave out is the specific ask. "Leave a message" gets you a name and a number. "Leave your name, number, and your order number" gets you a message you can act on without calling back to ask a question. Tell callers what you need and most of them will give it to you.
Before you record: 5 quick tips
- Keep it 15 to 25 seconds. Callers start hanging up around the 30-second mark.
- Smile while recording. It genuinely changes your tone, and callers hear it.
- Record in a quiet room, standing up. Standing improves breath support; do a second take and keep the better one.
- Say the callback promise you can keep. "Within one business day" beats "as soon as possible" because it is checkable.
- Read your messages instead of dialing in. With voicemail to text, every message arrives as a transcript you can scan in seconds and forward to a teammate. Phoner includes this on every plan.
Swap the bracketed placeholders, read each script out loud once, then record.
General business greetings
1. Thank you for calling [Company]. We're helping other customers right now. Leave your name, number, and a short message, and we'll call you back within one business day.
2. You've reached [Company] in [City]. Our team is on the line with other callers. Leave a message with the best number to reach you, and we'll get right back to you.
3. Hi, you've reached [Company]. We answer every message in the order received, usually within a few hours. Leave your name, number, and what you need, and consider it in the queue.
4. Thanks for calling [Company]. If this is about an existing order, please include your order number in your message. Either way, leave your name and number and we'll call you back today.
5. You've reached [Company]. We're sorry we missed you. Leave a detailed message, or text this same number, and someone from our team will respond within one business day.
After-hours greetings
6. Thanks for calling [Company]. Our office is closed for the day. We're open Monday through Friday, 8 to 6 Eastern. Leave a message and we'll call you first thing tomorrow.
7. You've reached [Company] after business hours. If this is urgent, press 1 to reach our on-call line. Otherwise, leave a message and we'll return your call when we open at [time].
8. Hello, you've caught [Company] outside our regular hours. Leave your name and number, or email [address] any time. We reply to overnight messages by 10 a.m. the next business day.
9. Thank you for calling [Company]. We've closed for the evening, but your call matters. Leave a message now and we will call you back first thing in the morning.
Holiday greetings
10. Happy holidays from [Company]. Our office is closed through [date] so our team can be with their families. Leave a message and we'll return your call when we reopen on [date].
11. Thanks for calling [Company]. We're closed today for [holiday] and will reopen [date] at [time]. Leave a message, or text this number, and we'll respond as soon as we're back.
12. You've reached [Company] during our holiday closure. For urgent matters, email [address] with URGENT in the subject line. Otherwise, we'll call you back on [reopen date]. Enjoy the holiday.
Personal direct line
13. Hi, this is [Name] at [Company]. I'm away from my desk or on another call. Leave a message and I'll call you back today. For anything urgent, call our main line at [number].
14. You've reached [Name]. I return calls between 2 and 4 each afternoon. Leave your name, number, and a sentence about what you need, and you'll hear from me in that window.
15. This is [Name]'s line at [Company]. I'm out of the office until [date]. For immediate help, contact [colleague] at [number]. Otherwise, leave a message and I'll reply when I'm back.
Sales line
16. You've reached the sales team at [Company]. Sorry we missed you; that almost never happens. Leave your name, number, and what you're looking for, and a real person will call back within the hour during business hours.
17. Thanks for calling [Company] sales. Leave your name, company, and number. If you'd rather not wait for a callback, book a time that suits you at [website]/demo.
18. Hi, this is the new-customer line at [Company]. Tell us your name, your number, and the problem you're trying to solve. We'll call back with a straight answer, and if we're not the right fit, we'll say so.
Support line
19. You've reached [Company] support. All of our technicians are helping other customers. Leave your name, number, and account email, and we'll call you back in the order your message arrived.
20. Thanks for calling [Company] support. For fastest help with common issues, visit [website]/help. Otherwise leave a detailed message, including any error message you see, and we'll call you back today.
21. You've reached support at [Company]. We're sorry you're hitting a snag. Describe what happened and the best time to reach you. A technician, not a phone tree, will call you back.
Real estate
Agents live on their phones between showings, so the greeting has to hand the caller a faster path than waiting for a callback; see how agents set the whole line up in phone systems for real estate agents.
22. Hi, you've reached [Name] with [Brokerage]. I'm with clients right now. Leave the property address you're calling about and your number, and I'll get back to you within two hours.
23. This is [Name], your agent at [Brokerage]. If you're calling about a listing, text the address to this number for the fastest reply. Otherwise leave a message and I'll call you back today, evenings included.
Law firm
24. You've reached [Firm]. Our attorneys are in conference or with clients. Leave your name, number, and a brief description of your matter. Please note that leaving a message does not create an attorney-client relationship. We return calls within one business day.
25. Thank you for calling [Firm]. If you are a current client, press 1 to reach your case manager. For new matters, leave your name, number, and the general nature of your issue, and our intake team will call you back today.
Company and corporate main line scripts
A company main line is answered by nobody in particular, so the greeting has to work harder at routing. Name the business first, then hand the caller a faster path than waiting for a callback.
26. You've reached [Company]. Everyone is either with a client or away from their desk. Leave your name, number, and which department you need, and the right person will call you back within one business day.
27. Thank you for calling [Company]. Our main line is unattended right now. For sales, email [address]. For support, visit [website]/help. For anything else, leave a message and we'll route it this afternoon.
28. You've reached [Company] corporate. Please leave your name, your company, and the reason for your call. Messages are reviewed twice a day and returned within one business day.
Business voicemail greeting with hours
Stating your hours only helps if you also say what happens to a message left outside them. A greeting that lists hours and then goes quiet leaves the caller doing arithmetic about when to expect you.
29. Thanks for calling [Company]. We're open Monday through Friday, 8 to 6 [timezone], and closed weekends. Leave your name and number and we'll return your call during the next business day.
30. You've reached [Company]. Our hours are [days], [times] [timezone]. If you're calling within those hours, we're on other calls and will ring you back shortly. Outside them, we'll reach you when we open.
Do not record your hours into a greeting you will have to re-record every holiday. Set business hours on the line instead, so the daytime greeting and the closed greeting swap on schedule without anyone touching a microphone.
Confidential voicemail greeting for medical and legal lines
On a line that receives sensitive details, the greeting should tell callers what not to leave. This is about the caller's protection, and it also keeps information you did not ask for out of a mailbox.
31. You've reached [Practice]. Please leave your name, a callback number, and the best time to reach you. For your privacy, please do not leave medical details in your message. We return calls within one business day.
32. You've reached [Firm]. Leave your name, number, and the general nature of your matter only. Please do not include confidential details. Leaving a message does not create an attorney-client relationship. We return calls within one business day.
If your practice handles protected health information, confirm in writing what your phone provider will and will not sign before you route patient calls through it. Providers differ on this and the answer belongs in your compliance file, not in a sales conversation.
What is a good script for leaving a voicemail?
Leaving a voicemail is the opposite problem: you have about 20 seconds and the listener owes you nothing. Say who you are, why you are calling in one sentence, what you want them to do, and your number twice, at the start and at the end.
Hi [Name], this is [Your name] at [Company], [phone number]. I'm calling about [one specific reason]. If you can call me back at [phone number], I'll keep it to five minutes. Thanks.
The number twice is the entire trick. Most people decide whether to call back in the first three seconds and then have to replay the message to get the digits, which is the point at which they give up and delete it. Say it slowly enough to be written down.
How long should a business voicemail greeting be?
Aim for 15 to 25 seconds, which is roughly 45 to 70 spoken words. Callers begin hanging up around the 30-second mark, and a greeting that runs long tends to be long because it repeats information the caller already has, like the company name they just dialed.
| Line type | Target length | Must include |
|---|---|---|
| Main business line | 15 to 25 seconds | Company name, what to leave, callback window |
| Personal direct line | 10 to 15 seconds | Your name, alternate contact for urgent matters |
| After hours | 15 to 20 seconds | When you reopen, urgent path if you have one |
| Holiday closure | 15 to 25 seconds | Reopen date, alternate channel |
| Outbound message you leave | Under 20 seconds | Your number, said twice |
What should you not say in a business voicemail greeting?
Skip "your call is very important to us," which callers have learned means the opposite. Skip a long apology. Skip "we'll get back to you as soon as possible," because it promises nothing checkable. And never leave a greeting naming an employee who no longer works there.
Also avoid recording your full hours, holiday schedule, and website into a single greeting. Each addition pushes the actual instruction further from the beep, and the instruction is the only part that changes what the caller does.
How do you record a professional voicemail greeting?
Write the script first, read it aloud twice to find the words that trip you, then record standing up in a quiet room with the phone six inches from your mouth. Do two takes and keep the better one. If nobody on the team sounds natural reading it, text-to-speech is a reasonable substitute on a main line.
What matters more than the recording quality is that the greeting matches reality. A greeting promising a callback within one business day, on a line where messages sit unheard for three days, does more damage than no greeting at all. Full setup, including where the file goes and how to schedule the swap, is in how to set up a business voicemail.
What if the call is answered instead?
Every script above covers the call nobody picked up. The greeting a person says when they do answer follows a different formula, and it is the one your callers hear most often. We cover it in phone greeting scripts, including the wording for holds, transfers, and taking a message properly.
Make the greeting the start, not the end
A good greeting saves the call; a good system saves the customer. Two upgrades pay for themselves quickly, and if the volume of missed calls is the real problem, a live phone answering service is the third option worth pricing. First, a phone menu in front of voicemail routes callers to a human when one is available; our guide to setting up an IVR menu takes about ten minutes to apply. Second, transcription turns every message into text you can read in a meeting and act on in seconds. On Phoner, both come with the number: pick a local or toll-free line, upload or record your greeting, and voicemail-to-text is on by default. If you are still setting up the line itself, start with how to get a business phone number.
One last habit worth stealing: put a calendar reminder to re-record your greeting every quarter. Hours change, teammates change, and nothing sounds less professional than a greeting promising a callback from someone who left in March.
LINE OPEN
Get your business number
Phoner is a business phone system with voicemail to text built in: a local or toll-free number your whole team can answer, with an IVR menu, voicemail-to-text, and routing from $15 per user per month. No hardware, no contracts.