Business Voicemail Greeting Scripts (Copy-Paste Templates)

A good business voicemail greeting runs 15 to 25 seconds, about 40 to 60 spoken words, and contains exactly five things: the business name, a one-line reason you missed the call, what to leave in the message, a specific callback window, and an urgent-caller instruction. Below are 25+ copy-paste business voicemail greeting scripts organized by scenario — after-hours, holiday, weather closure, high call volume, vacation — and by trade. Swap the bracketed fields, record, done. At the end, the honest part: what a greeting cannot do for you, no matter how well it is written.

The five parts of a business voicemail greeting

Every script on this page is built from the same skeleton. If you write your own, keep the order:

1. Who — “You’ve reached [Business], [City]‘s [trade] since [year].”
2. Why — “We’re on a job / closed / helping other customers.”
3. What to leave — name, number, address, and the one detail that saves you a callback (job type, service address, appointment date).
4. When you’ll call back — a real window. “Within one business day” beats “as soon as possible,” because it is checkable.
5. Urgent path — whatever your written policy already says. Do not invent a new one for the recording.

Two rules that matter more than the wording. First, say the phone number slowly and twice if you ask for one — most unreturnable voicemails are unreturnable because the number was mumbled once. Second, only promise a callback window you actually hit. A greeting that promises two hours and delivers two days is worse than no promise at all.

Standard business hours voicemail greeting scripts

Use these when you are open but the phone went unanswered.

Thanks for calling [Business Name]. We're on another line or out on a job right now. Leave your name, number, and a quick note about what you need, and we'll call you back within [one business hour]. If it's urgent, text this same number and we'll see it faster.

You've reached [Business Name]. Sorry we missed you — we're with a customer. Please leave your name, the best number to reach you, and your service address, and someone will get back to you today.

Hi, this is [First Name] at [Business Name]. I'm either on a call or with a client. Leave a message with your name and number and I'll return your call before end of day. Thanks for calling.

After-hours voicemail greeting scripts

The most-used greeting in any service business. Give the caller the opening time — it is the single most useful sentence you can record.

Thanks for calling [Business Name]. Our office is closed. We're open [Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm]. Leave your name, number, and what you need, and we'll call you first thing on the next business day. If this is an emergency, [call our on-call line at [number] / hang up and dial 911], per our after-hours policy.

You've reached [Business Name] after hours. We'll be back at [8am tomorrow]. Please leave your name, number, and service address and you'll be near the top of the morning callback list.

Thanks for calling [Business Name]. It's after hours here, but we do read every message. Leave your name and number — say the number twice, please — and a short description of the job. We'll call you back in the morning.

Weekend and closed-today greeting scripts

Thanks for calling [Business Name]. We're closed for the weekend and will reopen [Monday at 8am]. Leave a message and we'll return your call in the order received on Monday morning. For after-hours emergencies, [follow your routing here].

You've reached [Business Name]. We're closed today, [reason if you want one — staff training, a company event]. We reopen [tomorrow at 9am]. Leave your name and number and we'll call you back then.

Holiday voicemail greeting scripts

Date the greeting. A greeting that just says “the holidays” and stays up until February is a credibility problem.

Thanks for calling [Business Name]. We're closed for [Thanksgiving] and will reopen on [Monday, December 1st] at [8am]. Leave your name and number and we'll return your call that day. If you have an emergency before then, [routing]. Happy [holiday] from all of us.

You've reached [Business Name]. Our office is closed from [December 24] through [January 1] for the holidays. We'll be back on [January 2]. Messages left now will be returned in the order received starting that morning. Thank you, and happy holidays.

Happy [New Year] from [Business Name]. We're closed today and back to regular hours — [8am to 5pm] — tomorrow. Leave your name, number, and what you need and we'll pick up right where we left off.

Closed for weather or an emergency

Thanks for calling [Business Name]. Due to [the storm / road conditions], our office is closed today, [date]. Our crews are [status — running emergency calls only / off the road]. Leave your name, number, and address and we'll call as soon as we're operating again. For emergencies, [routing].

You've reached [Business Name]. We've had to close unexpectedly today. We expect to reopen [tomorrow morning]. If you have an active [leak / outage / emergency], [routing]. Everything else, leave a message and we'll work through them in order.

High call volume greeting scripts

Say it plainly. Callers forgive a backlog they were told about.

Thanks for calling [Business Name]. We're getting an unusually high number of calls right now after [the storm / the cold snap] and we're behind on the phones. Leave your name, number, and address, and we're working through messages in the order they come in. Thanks for your patience.

You've reached [Business Name]. All of our team members are on other calls. Rather than hold, leave a message with your name and number and we'll call you back — you won't lose your place.

Vacation and out-of-office greeting scripts

Hi, you've reached [First Name] at [Business Name]. I'm out of the office until [date] with limited phone access. For anything time-sensitive, please call [Colleague] at [number]. Otherwise leave a message and I'll return it when I'm back on [date].

Thanks for calling [Business Name]. We're closed for our annual shutdown from [date] to [date]. We reopen [date]. Leave a message and we'll call you back that week. For emergencies during the shutdown, [routing].

Business voicemail greeting scripts by trade

Plumbing

Thanks for calling [Business Name], plumbing in [City] since [year]. We're out on a job. Leave your name, number, service address, and tell us whether you have active water coming in — that helps us prioritize. We'll call you back within [one hour during business hours]. For a burst pipe or flooding, shut off your main and call [emergency number].

More on phone coverage for the trade: /industries/plumbing/.

HVAC

You've reached [Business Name] heating and air. We're with a customer. Leave your name, number, service address, and whether the system is [cooling/heating] at all. We're returning calls within [two hours]. If you have no heat and it's below freezing, say so in your message and mark it urgent — those go to the top.

Electrical

Thanks for calling [Business Name] Electric. We're on a job site. Please leave your name, number, address, and a short description — panel, outlet, outage, or new install. We'll call you back the same business day. If you smell burning or see sparks, cut power at the breaker and call [number].

Roofing

You've reached [Business Name] Roofing. We're on a roof or on another call. Leave your name, number, property address, and whether you have active water entering the home. Storm calls are returned within [24 hours]; all other estimates within [two business days].

Cleaning services

Thanks for calling [Business Name] Cleaning. We're out with a crew. Leave your name, number, your address, and whether you're looking for a one-time clean, recurring service, or a move-out. We'll call back within one business day with availability and pricing.

Auto repair

You've reached [Business Name] Auto. We're in the shop. Leave your name, number, your vehicle's year, make, and model, and what it's doing. We'll call back with an estimate window. For status on a car already with us, leave your last name and we'll check.

Dental and medical offices

Keep clinical language out of the recording entirely. The greeting reads out your existing protocol; it does not assess anyone.

Thank you for calling [Practice Name]. Our office is closed. Regular hours are [Monday through Thursday, 8am to 4pm]. Please leave your name, date of birth, a callback number, and the reason for your call, and a team member will return it on the next business day. If this is a medical emergency, hang up and dial 911. For our after-hours line, call [number].

Law firms

Thank you for calling the [Firm Name]. We're unable to take your call. Please leave your name, phone number, and a brief description of the matter, and an attorney or staff member will return your call within one business day. Please do not include confidential details in your message. If you are in immediate danger, dial 911.

Salons and spas

Thanks for calling [Business Name]. We're with guests. Leave your name, number, and what you'd like to book, and we'll call back to get you on the schedule. To change or cancel an existing appointment, please call at least [24 hours] ahead so we can offer the spot to someone else.

Real estate

Hi, you've reached [Name] with [Brokerage]. I'm showing property. Leave your name, number, and the address or MLS number you're calling about and I'll call you right back. If you're on a deadline today, text this number.

Two greetings worth recording that most businesses skip

The transfer-to-mobile greeting. If your office line rolls to a cell, record a greeting on the cell mailbox too. A caller who is passed from a polished business greeting to “the person you are trying to reach is unavailable” learns something about the operation you did not want them to learn.

The full-mailbox check. A perfect script is worthless behind a full inbox. Put a recurring calendar reminder on it.

What a business voicemail greeting cannot do

Here is the part most script libraries leave out.

You will find claims online that a specific percentage of callers never call back, or that missed calls cost the average small business a precise six-figure sum. Those numbers get copied between blogs endlessly and we have not been able to trace any of them to a real study — we would not put them in your business plan and we are not going to put them in ours. Ignore the fake precision.

The directional point stands anyway, and you can check it against your own phone bill. A voicemail greeting cannot book a job. It cannot quote a price, confirm you service a zip code, or move an appointment. It cannot stop the caller who is working down a search results page from dialing the next number while your message is still playing. The best greeting on this page only does one thing: it makes the voicemail experience slightly less bad for the fraction of callers willing to leave one at all.

Which means the greeting is damage control. If you want to know what the missed calls themselves are worth in your business, run your own numbers on the missed-call revenue calculator, or read the breakdown in what missed calls really cost a home service business.

The alternative to a great greeting is not answering every call yourself at 9pm. It is having something pick up. A done-for-you AI receptionist answers 24/7, asks the questions your greeting was asking the caller to volunteer, and books straight into your calendar — CallNeo starts at $95/mo, most businesses are live in about 48 hours, and there is no long-term contract. We write the script, train it on your business, and only go live once it is ready.

If you would rather hear it than read about it, call the demo line and book a real appointment with it — it books on the spot, though it won’t send you a text or email afterward. Or book a demo and we will walk through what your own greeting would say.

Until then — copy a script above, record it today, and check the mailbox isn’t full.