--- title: "Professional phone greeting scripts: 8 templates + an AI voice to record them" description: "Copy-paste scripts for your main line, voicemail, after-hours and IVR menu - and how to turn any of them into a studio-quality MP3 with an AI voice in about a minute." canonical: "https://speecho.app/blog/professional-phone-greeting-scripts/" language: "en" author: "The Speecho team" date_published: 2026-07-23 date_modified: 2026-09-16 publisher: "Speecho" --- # Professional phone greeting scripts: 8 templates + an AI voice to record them > Copy-paste scripts for your main line, voicemail, after-hours and IVR menu - and how to turn any of them into a studio-quality MP3 with an AI voice in about a minute. _The Speecho team · 2026-07-23 · Canonical: https://speecho.app/blog/professional-phone-greeting-scripts/_ Your phone greeting answers more calls than anyone on your team, and callers decide within seconds whether they've reached a real business or a dead end. Yet most greetings are either a mumbled recording from 2019 or the phone system's robotic default. Below are eight scripts you can copy and adapt - and, since nobody wants to book a studio for twenty seconds of audio, how to have a natural AI voice read them for you in about a minute. ## What makes a greeting work Four rules cover almost everything: 1. **Company name first.** Callers are verifying they dialled the right number - settle that in the opening seconds. 2. **Keep it short.** Ten to twenty seconds for a greeting or voicemail message. Every extra sentence costs hang-ups. 3. **One clear next step.** Leave a message, email us, or call back at these hours - pick the one you actually want, not all three. 4. **Keep it current.** An October greeting still announcing your August closure tells callers nobody's home. With an AI voice, re-recording takes a minute, so there's no excuse left. ## The scripts Replace the [brackets] with your details. Each template is written to be read aloud - short sentences, no subclauses. Once your details are in, [hear your version read aloud](/tools/read-aloud/) to catch a line that trips. ### 1. Main greeting (business hours) Plays before the call connects or enters a queue. > Welcome to [Company]. We're connecting you to the next available team member. Thank you for your patience. ### 2. Business voicemail greeting The classic answering-machine message for a line that's busy or unattended. > You've reached [Company]. We can't take your call right now. Please leave your name, number and a short message after the tone, and we'll call you back within [one business day]. ### 3. After-hours message For calls outside opening times - tell them when to try again and give an alternative. > Thank you for calling [Company]. Our office is currently closed. You can reach us [Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm]. Leave a message, or email us at [address], and we'll get back to you on the next business day. ### 4. Holiday closure Swap this in before you leave - and set a reminder to swap it back. > Thank you for calling [Company]. We're closed from [date] to [date]. From [date], we'll be there for you as usual. For urgent matters, please contact [name or number]. ### 5. IVR menu Three or four options at most; always leave a route to a human. > Welcome to [Company]. For sales, press one. For support, press two. For billing, press three. To speak with reception, press zero or stay on the line. ### 6. On-hold message For the queue. Reassure, don't advertise for three minutes. > All our team members are currently helping other callers. Please stay on the line - you'll be connected to the next available person. By the way, many questions are answered at [website]. ### 7. Solo business / personal line Warmer and first-person - fits freelancers, tradespeople and one-person shops. > Hi, you've reached [Name] at [Company]. I'm probably on the other line or with a customer. Leave me a message and I'll call you back today. ### 8. Appointment-based business For practices, salons, workshops - anywhere the phone mostly books slots. > Thank you for calling [Business]. To book an appointment, please call during our opening hours, [hours], or book online at [website]. For urgent matters, please contact [emergency contact]. ## IVR menu scripts: five more examples The IVR menu is where callers either find their way or give up, so it gets a set of its own. Three rules first: - **Say the option before the number.** "For billing, press 3" lets callers wait for the option they want. "Press 3 for billing" makes them hold on to a number before they know whether they need it. - **Most requested option first, four options at most.** Everything else can live in a second menu or on your website. - **Always a way out.** A zero for a person, and a nine to hear the options again. ### Small office, three options > Thank you for calling [Company]. For sales, press 1. For support, press 2. For invoices and payments, press 3. To speak with someone at reception, press 0. To hear these options again, press 9. ### Medical practice The emergency instruction goes first, before any menu option. > You've reached [Practice name]. If this is a medical emergency, please hang up and call [emergency number]. To book, change or cancel an appointment, press 1. For test results, press 2. For prescriptions, press 3. For anything else, please stay on the line. ### Online shop > Welcome to [Shop] customer service. To check the status of an order, press 1. For returns and refunds, press 2. For questions about a product, press 3. Please have your order number ready. You'll find it in your confirmation email. ### Two-language greeting Each option in its own language, so every caller understands at least the one meant for them. > Welcome to [Company]. For English, press 1. Para español, marque 2. ### After-hours menu > Thank you for calling [Company]. Our office is closed right now. Our opening hours are [hours]. To leave a message, press 1. For urgent technical problems, press 2 to reach our on-call service. For everything else, please visit [website]. ## Recording it with an AI voice (about a minute) The wording is half the job; the recording is the other half. A phone-quality voice used to mean a studio, a voice actor and a per-word invoice - for a file you'll replace at the next schedule change. Now: 1. Open the [phone greeting generator](/phone-greeting-generator/) and paste your script. 2. Pick a voice and **preview it free** - compare two or three before deciding. 3. Generate and download the **MP3**. 4. Upload it to your phone system, and call yourself once to hear it as your customers will. You pay per generation - a twenty-second greeting costs cents, and the [calculator](/tools/tts-cost-calculator/) shows the exact figure before you spend anything. No subscription for something you re-record twice a year. And because the voices speak 50+ languages, a business with locations in three countries can use the same voice, and the same tone, in all of them. For German, Spanish, French, Italian or Japanese callers there are native-speaker voices too - see the [German](/text-to-speech/german/), [Spanish](/text-to-speech/spanish/) and [French](/text-to-speech/french/) voice pages. ## Will my phone system accept it? Modern VoIP and cloud systems - the RingCentral and Google Voice category - take MP3 directly. Older on-premise PBX hardware sometimes insists on WAV or µ-law; any free audio converter handles that in seconds. Two practical tips: skip background music (phone lines compress it into mush, and licensing is a headache), and always test the final file through an actual phone call, not your studio headphones. ## Five mistakes that undo a good greeting 1. **The 45-second welcome.** Callers want a human or a beep, not an essay. 2. **Six menu options.** Past three or four, everyone just presses zero. 3. **Reading faster to fit more in.** Cut words instead - the script templates above are short on purpose. 4. **Music with unclear rights.** Hold music from a random playlist can cost you licensing fees; a clean voice-only announcement is safer and clearer. 5. **Promising what you won't deliver.** Don't say "we'll call back within the hour" unless someone actually will. Pick the script closest to your situation, adjust the brackets, and [have a voice read it](/phone-greeting-generator/) - you can preview for free and walk away with the MP3 before your coffee cools.