| Greetings FM,
It’s that time of year when many of us are planning time away from the office for a well-deserved summer break. As a friendly reminder, please be sure to set an out-of-office message for phone and email before you leave. This simple step plays a crucial role in maintaining our commitment to outstanding customer service.
Include the following:
A friendly, professional greeting: Always include a greeting just as you would in any other phone or email message.
Example: Hello! Thank you for your message.
How long you’ll be away: Be as specific as possible to make sure the sender clearly understands how long you’ll be unavailable.
Example: I will be out of the office and unable to check email/voicemail Monday, October 8, and Tuesday, October 9.
When a sender can expect a response: Give the sender clear expectations about your plans once you return. If you will be gone for a lengthy period and anticipate returning to hundreds of messages, you might add language to ensure the sender doesn’t expect to hear from you immediately after your return.
Example: I will return on October 10 and address emails/messages as quickly as possible, in the order in which they were received.
Who to contact in the event of an emergency: If your sender’s message is urgent, they may not be able to wait until you’ve returned to take action. Always include contact information for a supervisor or colleague who is comfortable handling any time-sensitive correspondences in your absence. However, it’s important to get your colleague's permission before including their information.
Example: If this message is urgent, please contact Anna Smith at asmith@email.com or 301-405-1234.
If it’s common for customers to contact you with emergency requests, you may also want to include instructions for reaching the CRC.
Example: "If this is a Facilities emergency, please call the Customer Support Center at 301-405-2222"
A professional signature line (Email):
Always include a professional signature line as you would with any email correspondence. Check out UMD’s guidelines for email signatures for tips on elements to include (and leave out).
How to set up out-of-office messages:
Instructions for setting a vacation responder in Gmail
Instructions for setting personal greetings with Cisco IP Phones
Thank you in advance for your support of this effort. Wishing you a rejuvenating and enjoyable vacation when the time comes.
Regards,
Facilities Management Communications Team
7401 Baltimore Ave., 4th Floor
College Park, MD 20740
fmcommunications@umd.edu
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