Voicemail Greeting Generator
Pick your kind of business and when the greeting plays. Add your hours, booking link, emergency line and callback time, and get a short and a full greeting with a read time for each.
Last updated October 27, 2026 · Free · Nothing stored
What should a business voicemail greeting say?
A business voicemail greeting should say who the caller reached, when you are open, the fastest way to book without waiting for a callback, where to go in an emergency, and when you will call back. Say plainly that a message does not hold a booking. Keep it under about 30 seconds. Clinics put the 911 line straight after the name, and trades give an on-call number that rings a person.
The checklist and the order of lines follow our business voicemail greeting examples guide, which has full scripts by business type. The gas safety line follows CenterPoint Energy's published guidance, cited in that guide. Read times assume about 150 words a minute, with phone numbers counted digit by digit, so your recording may run a little faster or slower.
Your greeting
Said first, so callers know they reached the right place.
Write them the way you would say them. If the greeting runs long, give today and tomorrow only.
Said the way a caller would type it. We drop https:// and www.
Most salons and restaurants leave this empty. If you add one, it is said twice.
Read after "we'll call you back". Promise a time you will keep.
Used exactly as you type it, right after your name. We never translate. Have a fluent speaker write and record it.
- Add your business name. Callers who dialled from a map listing or an old contact need to know they reached the right place.
- Add your opening hours. They answer the most common question and save a message.
- Add your booking web address, the way a caller would type it, or pick another booking route.
- Add a callback time you will keep, such as "by noon the next business day". Callers can plan around a time.
Short version
Hi, you've reached us. We're with clients right now. Please leave your name and number, and we'll call you back.
20 wordsAbout 8 seconds
Full version
Hi, you've reached us. We're with clients right now. Please leave your name, the service you'd like and a day that suits you, and we'll call you back. A message doesn't hold an appointment until we confirm it. Thanks for calling.
41 wordsAbout 16 seconds
Read times assume about 150 words a minute, with phone numbers counted digit by digit and web addresses part by part. Aim for under 30 seconds.
Recording tips
The script is half the job. How it sounds on a phone line is the other half. For ready-made scripts by business type, see our business voicemail greeting examples.
Record on the phone line
Record through your phone system, or upload a file it accepts, then call your own number from a mobile and listen the way a caller does.
Pick a quiet room and a quiet hour
Dryers, a dish pit or a compressor in the background make the greeting harder to follow.
Slow down on numbers and web addresses
Say the emergency number twice and spell anything a caller could mishear, such as "book dot juniper dot com".
Put a second language early
If many callers speak another language, record a short line in it within the first ten seconds. Have a fluent speaker write and say it.
Change holiday greetings on time
Set a calendar reminder for the day you reopen. A holiday greeting still playing weeks later is worse than none.
Ask what a full mailbox plays
Some systems skip your greeting when the box is full. Ask your provider, and clear messages daily.
How to write a business voicemail greeting
01
Choose the business and when it plays
Pick your kind of business and whether the greeting plays while you are busy, after hours, over a holiday, at lunch, or when the mailbox is full.
02
Add the details callers need
Enter your business name, hours, booking web address or texting option, any on-call number and the time you promise to call back. Add a second-language line only if you have one written by a fluent speaker.
03
Check the length and record it
Compare the short and full versions, keep the one under about 30 seconds, play the browser preview if you like, then copy the script and record it on your phone line in your own voice.
Common questions
How long should a business voicemail greeting be?
Under about 30 seconds, and closer to 20 if you can. The caller already missed a person, so every extra sentence is a reason to call the next business. If a greeting runs long, cut the hours down to today and tomorrow, but keep the emergency line and the callback time.
What should a medical or dental voicemail greeting say?
Say the practice name, then "If this is a medical emergency, hang up and call 911." before anything else. Then give hours, how to request an appointment, and when you will call back. Leave out advice about symptoms, and only name an on-call line that will answer. Ask whoever handles your compliance how much a caller should leave in a message.
Should a voicemail greeting say that a message does not book an appointment?
Yes, for most appointment businesses. A caller who leaves "Saturday at two" and hears nothing back may think they are booked and turn up. A line such as "A message doesn't hold an appointment until we confirm it" prevents that. Restaurants can say "Voicemail doesn't hold a reservation."
Why are phone numbers counted digit by digit?
Because that is how they are said. A ten-digit on-call number takes about as long to read as ten words, and a good greeting says it twice. Web addresses are counted part by part, since "junipersalon dot com slash book" is five spoken words.
Is the Hear it button a real recording?
No. It uses your browser's built-in voice to give a rough sense of pace and length. It is not how the greeting will sound on your line. Record the final version yourself, then call your own number from a mobile to hear what callers hear. Some browsers have no built-in voice, so the button does not appear.
Do I still need a voicemail greeting if an AI agent answers my phone?
Yes. A voicemail greeting is the fallback for when nobody, and nothing, picks up, such as during an outage or when a line is set to ring through. LLDTEK's agents answer voice, SMS and web chat and book into Vagaro, Square, Booksy, Zenoti, Mindbody and OpenTable, but a clear greeting behind them still matters.
Does this tool store what I type?
No. The greeting is built in your browser and nothing is sent to LLDTEK. The Hear it preview uses your browser's own speech feature. Copy the script into your notes or straight into your phone system.
See it against your book
A greeting is the fallback. Answering is the fix.
LLDTEK's agents answer voice, SMS and web chat, and book into the calendar you already use, whether that is Vagaro, Square, Booksy, Zenoti, Mindbody or OpenTable. Bring two weeks of call logs to a 30-minute demo and we will tell you whether an agent fits, or whether a better greeting is enough. Pricing is quoted after the demo.