How to Customize Your After-Hours Voicemail Greeting

Jessica Paxton Updated by Jessica Paxton

Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists service can answer all your calls, 24/7. We recommend 24/7 answering, as a real person on the line can help you capture and convert more leads and build trust with your existing clients. But if you have decided to limit our services to certain hours, you can upload a custom voicemail message in our system for "after-hours" callers. Here's how:

Recording

If you are going to record on your own, you have several options:

  • Online: We recommend Online Voice Recorder, which allows you to record your greetings, trim the start and end points, and then download them as MP3s.
  • On iOS/iPhone, use the Voice Memos app.
  • On a Mac, you can use Quicktime’s “Record Audio” function
  • On a PC, you can use Windows’ Voice Recorder software.

If you are using something else to record, drop us a line, and we will be sure to follow up. To make the best impressions on your customers, we have some tips for recording on your own. Take a look at these 5 Tips for Perfect Voicemail Greetings.

To sum it up:

  • Format: MP3
  • Optimal Length: Less than 30 seconds
Important note: If your file is not an mp3, do not change the file extension to "mp3". This doesn't make it an mp3; it makes it a fake mp3 and will cause serious problems. Read how to change another file type to an mp3.

Alternatively, you could save yourself some time and hire an affordable professional. Smith.ai recommends Fiverr’s Voiceover talent. Starting at just $5, you can purchase a customized voicemail greeting, ready in just a few days. Many of our current small businesses and entrepreneurs have messages provided by Fiverr’s talent — we think they provide top-notch service.

When it’s ready, follow the steps below to upload your voicemail greeting:

  1. Login to your VR dashboard here: https://app.smith.ai/vr/
  2. Click on the handset icon (Call Handling) and scroll to the bottom
  3. In the Voicemail Greeting section, click “Add” to upload your personalized voicemail greeting recording
    NOTE: File must be an MP3, and less than 5MB

"General" covers all missed calls ever. The "After-hours" is an additional option that only plays after your set hours (if you decide against 24/7). If you don't upload a separate After-hours voicemail, it will default to General.

Tips

Not sure what to say, or is your existing greeting making people doze off? Here’s what we recommend:

 “Hello. You've reached ______. Please leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you, and have a great day.”

Smith.ai’s friendly virtual receptionists will gladly answer your calls during business hours. We pride ourselves on providing you and your clients with an experience that will keep current customers coming back, and convert those new leads in to paying customers.

Questions? Contact us!

If you're already a Smith.ai client and need help, please email us at support@smith.ai or call us at (650) 727-6484 for assistance.

If you're not yet a Smith.ai client, please schedule a free consultation to get started with our virtual receptionist services or email us at sales@smith.ai. We'll help you select the best plan to match your business’s growth goals and budget.

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