Writing an Out-of-Office Message

Several years ago, Textwende asked me to translate their out-of-office message for their website.

This is what I sent them:

“Good morning / Good afternoon 

Thank you for your email. I will be back in the office on 1 September and will contact you as soon as possible after that date. If you need immediate assistance, then please contact my colleague, Mr Anton Muster. He will be only too pleased to help you. His email address is: anton.muster@musterfirma.de.

With best wishes …”

Of course, we don’t need to stick to the above text.

Something like this would work, too:

“Hello

Thank you for your message. I will be out of the office until 5 September and will have limited access to my emails while I’m away.

If you need help before then, please contact Ruth Braydon at rbraydon@email.com or 02452 8889432.

Otherwise I will reply to your email when I return.

With best wishes …”

(I know not everyone agrees with me, but I personally think you don’t need to say that your email will not be forwarded!) 

Do you use a similar text?