I am working with a client on ensuring we have thought of everything when it comes to preparing for the majority of employees working from home during the coronavirus crisis.
Some firms have completely shifted to a remote working model, which means you likely do not have a receptionist manning the phones, especially small- and mid-sized firms. Make sure your out of office greeting is updated to let callers know its business as usual and how to easily reach those at the firm.
I know one firm that didn’t realize it had its general off-hours message on for the past few days – this can result in lost business and frustrated clients.
To the extent that this sample phone greeting is helpful to you, please feel free to adapt it for your needs. Make sure that whoever records the greeting is calm and collected, which I know can be so hard during this time – it’s a good idea to have another person in management review the new recorded greeting before it goes live.
“You have reached [insert name] firm. The firm is open and operating under a social distance policy with many of our attorneys and staff operating remotely. You can reach them directly by sending an email to them or by using the firm directory. You can leave a voicemail in our main mailbox by pressing (0) or by sending an email to [insert general firm email] and someone will get back to you soon. Please go to our web site to find a full list of our lawyers and their contact information. Please be safe.
It goes without saying that the general voicemail inbox should be regularly checked as well as the general firm email.
Also lawyers should update their own personal voicemail too with their cell number and add their cell phone number to their email signature.
Stay safe everyone.