Service for professional-sounding outgoing voicemail message on home landline phone?

[Mike B]

We have a small, home-based online business and communicate with our customers primarily via email. However, we do get the occasional customer inquiry on our residential land line (once or twice a month, if that). Often we are working with clients and unable to answer the phone immediately. Any suggestions for inexpensive services that provide a professional-seeming experience for these folks?

Basically, I just want an outgoing message that confirms they've reached the right place and that we'll respond within 24 hours. We could do it ourselves, but is there a better alternative?

[Freelancier]

Lots of voice-over talent out there willing to record a greeting for you for very little money. You should just look around your area or see if you can find it on one of those elance-type sites.

[Harold Mansfield]

First off, you shouldn't be getting business calls on your personal line. Not only is it unprofessional, it's not safe.
It's very easy to get a virtual phone number either for free via Google Voice, or as a service through something like Grasshopper. (http://grasshopper.com/)

After that it's not hard to make a professional message that simply states that you'll return their call shortly.
If you use a service like Grasshopper they have all kinds of tools and options depending on what kind of virtual phone and answering system you need.
If you are sure that you sound so horrible that you can't leave your own message, I'm sure you have a friend or family member that sounds professional over the phone.

[smallbizfinancier]

Grasshopper is a great cloud-based voip phone system for SMBs-two of their pluses are that they offer vanity #s and an easy to user search feature to find a # that suits your brand and they also offer a free/professionally made phone system recording. That said, if all you're looking for is a professionally-recorded vm, just go to www.elance.com and query voice talents. Most can record your message and phone tree and individual vm messages for up to 5 users for around $50. You'll love the results.

If you are looking into cloud-based phone systems, try 8x8.com as well. They're featured in the Southwest Airlines magazine each month in the adverts toward the back. For $40/month (two-year contract), you'll have 99% up service with sophisticated features like ring groups and call stats. The one set back is call recording which they only offer to enterprise accounts.



Good luck

[MyITGuy]

For voice talent - I recommend GMVoices

To ensure you don't get calls like this in the future on your landline, look into a PBX Solution. Hosted solutions such as Grasshopper, Packet8. If you need more flexibility but in a hosted environment then check out RentPBX. If you want something you own and fully control then buy a server and install FreePBX.