Phone Greeting and On-Hold Message Scripts (With Examples)

A good business phone greeting tells callers they've reached the right place, gives them the next step quickly and sounds the same every time. A good on-hold message reassures them while they wait and shares something useful. Below you'll find copy-ready scripts for main greetings, after-hours messages, holidays, voicemail and on-hold loops, plus practical tips for recording them with an AI voice and loading them into your phone system.

What makes a phone greeting work

Callers want to get somewhere, not listen to a speech. The best greetings share a few traits:

• The business name comes first. It confirms they dialed correctly.
• It's short. A main greeting of around 15 to 20 seconds is usually plenty. That's roughly 30 to 50 words.
• Options are in a predictable order. Put the most common reason for calling first.
• Numbers and addresses are clear. Phone numbers read digit by digit, websites read with "dot com".
• The tone matches the business. A dental practice and a skate shop shouldn't sound the same.

If you'd rather start from a template, the free phone greeting generator builds a script from your business name, hours and departments.

Main greeting scripts

Simple main line:

Thank you for calling Maple Street Dental. [pause] If you're calling to book or change an appointment, press 1. For billing, press 2. For all other questions, please stay on the line and a member of our team will be with you shortly.

Service business with a website:

Hi, and thanks for calling Northside Plumbing. [pause] For emergency repairs, press 1. To request a quote, press 2, or visit northsideplumbing.com any time. For everything else, press 3.

Small office, no menu:

Thank you for calling Hartley and Moss Accounting. Please hold for a moment and we'll be right with you.

After-hours and holiday scripts

After hours:

You've reached Maple Street Dental. Our office is currently closed. Our hours are Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. [pause] If this is a dental emergency, please call 555 0142. Otherwise, leave a message after the tone and we'll call you back on the next business day.

Holiday closure:

Thank you for calling Northside Plumbing. Our office is closed for the holiday and will reopen on 2026-12-28. [pause] For emergency repairs, press 1 to reach our on-call technician. For anything else, please leave a message or email [email protected].

Notice the date and email in that script. With smart reading, 2026-12-28 is read as "December 28, 2026" and the email is read as "hello at northsideplumbing dot com", so you can type them naturally. Write times as "8 a.m. to 5 p.m." rather than "8-5", which can be misread.

Voicemail scripts

Department voicemail:

You've reached the billing team at Hartley and Moss. We're away from our desks right now. Please leave your name, your number and a short message, and we'll return your call within one business day.

Personal voicemail for a team member:

Hi, you've reached Dana at Hartley and Moss. I'm not available right now. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. [pause] If it's urgent, press 0 to reach the front desk.

Only promise a callback time you can actually meet. "Within one business day" should be a real commitment.

On-hold message scripts

On-hold messages play in a loop, so each message should be short, stand on its own and not become irritating on the third listen. A typical approach is three or four messages of 20 to 30 seconds each, rotated with music.

Reassurance:

Thank you for holding. Your call is important to us, and a member of our team will be with you as soon as possible.

Useful information:

Did you know you can book and change appointments online? Visit maplestreetdental.com and choose a time that suits you. [pause] Thanks for your patience. We'll be with you shortly.

Service awareness:

While you wait: Northside Plumbing also installs and services water heaters. Ask your technician about a maintenance check on your next visit.

Keep on-hold messages factual. Don't advertise offers you might not honor, and update the messages when your hours or services change.

Recording your greetings with an AI voice

Recording phone audio with an AI voice makes it easy to keep greetings consistent and to update them the moment something changes, such as new hours or a holiday. A practical workflow in VoiceoverWise:

1. Choose the Phone greeting style. It's designed for clear, steady delivery over a phone line. Pick a voice from the voice library and use it for every message so your line sounds consistent.
2. Use normal or slow pace. Phone audio is often compressed, and callers may be in noisy places. A slightly slower pace helps.
3. Add pause markers. A [pause] after the business name and before menu options gives callers a moment to listen.
4. Save names in the pronunciation dictionary. Your business name, staff names and street names will be right in every message.
5. Generate all messages at once. Bulk mode accepts a CSV or pasted lines, up to 200 rows, and returns every file in one ZIP, which is handy for a set of greetings, voicemails and on-hold messages.
6. Export in the format your phone system needs. Many systems accept WAV or MP3. Check your provider's requirements; see MP3 vs WAV for the difference.

One important rule: these greetings are for people calling you or waiting on hold. VoiceoverWise must not be used for robocalls or unsolicited outbound calls. See the acceptable use policy.

Checklist before you upload

• Business name in the first sentence.
• Most common option first.
• Hours, phone numbers and emails checked in the preview.
• Callback promises you can keep.
• Holiday messages scheduled and removed afterwards.
• Files saved locally. Audio is available for download for 30 days.

Start with the free phone greeting generator to draft your script, then sign up free to record it. The free plan includes 10,000 credits every month, which covers a full set of greetings for most small businesses.