Make the greeting brief. No one enjoys listening to several minutes of instructions just to learn the choice they wanted was the first option.
NOTE: Maximum greeting length is three minutes.
Inform users that they can immediately dial an extension, then offer other options. This helps to reduce frustration for callers who dislike interacting with the automated attendant.
Always give callers the option to press a key to speak with a live operator. This makes the system foolproof and, again, less frustrating for callers who can' t tolerate the automated attendant. Make sure customers can then speak to the live operator. Don't allow these transfers to go to a mailbox. Instead route them to a hunt group of several extensions to make sure someone answers the call.
NOTE: If the first option on the menu is to press a digit to speak with an operator, be prepared that the most of your calls will bypass the automated attendant and speak with an operator. This will greatly reduce the benefits of having an automated attendant.
Provide open and closed greetings. Callers need to know that the business is closed and transferring to an extension will probably not result in the call being answered. Unless your business is large, it is probably not necessary to offer a full set of menu options from the closed greeting. It is more efficient to offer a single keypress transfer to "company mailbox" and then have a receptionist retrieve messages the next day and transfer to the appropriate person.
"Thank you for calling ABC Industries. Merci d'appeler les Industries ABC. Pour le service en francais, composez le 8."
"Happy Holidays from all of us at ABC Company. We are closed from Friday, December 23 until Monday, January 2. To leave a message, enter the number of the person you wish to reach or press 9 for the directory"