The holidays bring time off, shorter hours, and often a spike in calls from customers trying to wrap things up before the year ends. A few minutes of setup now means your callers get a clear, helpful experience whether your team is at their desks or away. Here are the Grasshopper features worth a look before the season starts.
Record a holiday away greeting
If your office closes for a holiday or vacation, the Main Away Greeting lets callers know. There is no system default for this greeting, so you’ll need to record your own. Keep it short: say you’re closed, give your return date, and tell callers how to reach you in the meantime, such as sending a text or visiting your website.
One thing to keep in mind: callers can’t leave a voicemail from the main greeting or the away greeting. If you want people to be able to leave a message while you’re out, forward your phone number to an extension so callers reach that extension’s voicemail greeting.
Update your extension greetings
Each extension has its own set of greetings, so it’s worth reviewing them for team members who will be out:
- Extension Away Greeting plays when a caller reaches an extension while that person is out of the office.
- Extension Voicemail Greeting plays when someone is unavailable to take the call.
- Call Forwarding Greeting plays an announcement to callers who dial an extension when call forwarding is enabled.
- Recorded Extension Name plays when callers search the name directory or when call announce is on.
Your main greeting is also a good place to check. If you have multiple extensions, make sure it lists the options callers can choose from, such as “press 1 for sales.”
For more detail, see Different Types of Greetings. To record or upload a voicemail greeting, see Add a Voicemail Greeting.
Check where your calls are going
Before the holidays, take a moment to confirm where incoming calls to your Grasshopper number are being routed. Admins can forward a phone number to an extension on the account, which is also how you give callers the option to leave a voicemail when your main or away greeting is in use.
When your account is created, your business number is automatically forwarded to the contact phone number you used at sign-up. If that number has changed, or if someone else will be covering calls over the break, you can update it. Sign in, go to Contact Info, select Edit, enter the new Home Phone number, and select Save.
Grasshopper also offers forwarding schedules if you want routing to change at set times. See Set Up Call Forwarding for Phone Numbers for the full steps.
Have your greetings professionally recorded
If you’d rather not record greetings yourself, Voice Studio can do it for you. Professional voice actors record your IVR greetings and prompts for $75 per order. For extensions, they can also record voicemail greetings, transfer messages, and recorded names.
A few details to know before you order:
- Each order uses one voice actor.
- All Voice Studio requests are final sale.
- You can start an order from the Voice Studio option in your account or from Add-ons.
Voice actors are available in English, Spanish, and French, which is helpful if you serve a multilingual customer base. If you’d like a consistent sound across departments, you can use the same voice actor for each greeting.
Learn more in What Is the Voice Studio?
Choose the right hold music
Hold music is a small detail that shapes the caller experience, especially when volume is higher than usual. Admins can pick a track for the whole account or set different music for individual extensions. To change it, sign in, open the hold music settings, select Change Music, and choose Use next to the track you want. For a specific extension, select Change Music next to Set On Hold Music by Extension, pick a track from the drop-down, and save your changes.
You can also upload your own audio. Just make sure you have the rights to any file you use. Admin permissions are required for both options.
Step-by-step instructions are in Choose Hold Music for My Callers and Upload My Own Hold Music.
Add live coverage with Ruby Receptionist
Ruby Receptionist is a live, virtual receptionist service that works with Grasshopper. Ruby can answer calls, transfer them to you live, answer questions for callers, or take messages based on the settings you choose. Plans include 50, 100, or 200 receptionist minutes per month, which don’t roll over. Receptionists are available Monday through Friday from 8am to 12am EST and Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 9pm EST, and Spanish bilingual receptionists are included.
There are a few ways to use Ruby during the holidays:
- Cover closed hours. Forward calls to Ruby during the hours your team isn’t available.
- Handle one department. Point a single menu option or extension, such as billing, to Ruby.
- Cover busy moments. Use Call Forward Busy/No Answer so that Ruby picks up if no one answers within a set time.
- Answer everything. Have Ruby take all of your incoming calls.
To get started, follow the steps in Set Up Ruby Receptionist.
A quick pre-holiday checklist
- Record or update your Main Away Greeting.
- Review extension greetings for anyone who will be out.
- Decide how callers can leave a voicemail while you’re away.
- Confirm your business number is forwarding to the right extension or contact number.
- Refresh your hold music.
- Decide whether Ruby Receptionist can cover your busiest or quietest hours.
Do you have a holiday setup tip that works well for your business? Share it in the comments.
