The greeting on your phone line was probably written in a hurry, years ago, by whoever set up the phone system. It might still mention a member of staff who left, or opening hours you changed after the pandemic. Callers hear it before they hear anything else about you. This post collects business phone greeting examples for the situations a small business actually meets, explains why each one is built the way it is, and shows how to test a greeting before it goes live.
A greeting has one job: tell the caller they've reached the right place and get them talking, or tell them clearly what to do next. Everything else is optional.
What a good greeting does in the first ten seconds
Callers decide quickly whether they're in the right place. A good greeting answers three questions in order.
- Have I reached the right business? Say the business name first, clearly, and the way customers know it. If people call you "Northgate Plumbing", don't open with "Northgate Property Maintenance Services Limited".
- Who or what am I talking to? A person, a recording, or an AI receptionist. Callers adjust how they speak depending on the answer.
- What do I do now? Speak, leave a message, press a key, or call another number.
That's it. Slogans, "your call is important to us" and lists of every service you offer all delay the moment the caller gets what they rang for.
Length
For a live greeting, aim for one or two short sentences. For a recorded message, keep the part before the caller can act as short as you can, and put rarely needed information (website, alternative numbers) at the end, not the start. Read your greeting aloud with a timer. If it runs past about ten seconds before the caller can speak or act, cut it.
Tone
Match how you'd speak to a customer at the counter. A dental practice can be warm and calm; a busy takeaway can be quick and friendly. Avoid anything you wouldn't say in person, such as "Thank you for calling, how may I direct your call?" from a one-person business.
Business phone greeting examples by situation
The examples below use made-up business names. Swap in yours and cut anything that doesn't apply.
Main line, answered by a person
Name first, then your own name if you're happy to give it. A first name makes the call feel personal and gives the caller someone to ask for later.
Main line, answered by an AI receptionist
Saying it's an AI in the greeting does two things. It sets expectations, so callers speak more plainly, and it avoids the "was that a real person?" complaint later. In the EU, Article 50 of the AI Act sets transparency duties for AI systems that interact with people, unless it's obvious to the person that they're dealing with an AI. Saying so up front is the straightforward way to meet that.
Listing two or three things the AI can do helps callers who aren't sure whether to bother. Don't list ten.
Recorded greeting with options
Three options is plenty for a small firm. Put the most common reason first. If more than one in ten callers is choosing "other", your menu doesn't match why people ring.
After hours
Emergency information goes before the voicemail instructions, not after. The National Gas emergency number above is taken from National Gas's emergency contacts page. Our post on writing an after hours call policy covers how to decide what happens to each kind of call outside opening hours.
Clinic or practice, after hours
The NHS page on when to use 111 is the right reference for UK practices. Check that your wording matches what your local services want callers to do.
Bank holidays and closures
The UK bank holidays list on GOV.UK gives the dates for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Put a reminder in your calendar a week before each one to change the message, and another to change it back. A closure message left up after you've reopened costs you calls.
Voicemail when you're busy
Only say "today" if you will. "As soon as I can" is honest when you don't know.
Seasonal peaks
Seasonal greetings are worth the effort when one question dominates your calls for a few weeks.
Business phone greeting examples by industry
The situation examples above cover most needs. These add the detail particular trades need.
| Business | Greeting | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Hair salon | "Willow & Wren Hair, hello. Are you calling to book?" | Most calls are bookings, so it gets to the point. |
| Restaurant | "Casa Lume, good evening. Is this for a table?" | Same logic; diners rarely ring for anything else. |
| Trades | "Northgate Plumbing, what's happened?" | Emergency callers want to explain the problem straight away. |
| Law firm | "Good afternoon, Ashby Clarke Solicitors. How can I help?" | Formal, neutral, and doesn't presume the matter. |
| Vet | "Riverside Vets, good morning. Is this an emergency?" | Separates urgent calls from routine ones immediately. |
| Gym | "Ironbark Gym, hi. How can I help?" | Short and informal suits the brand. |
If you run one of these businesses, the industry pages go further: AI receptionist for salons, restaurant AI receptionist, AI receptionist for contractors and AI receptionist for law firms.
Common greeting mistakes
- Opening with a sales message. "Ask us about our new spring offers!" before the caller knows they've got the right number.
- Out-of-date information. Wrong hours, staff who've left, a website you no longer use. Check the greeting every time something changes.
- Speaking too fast. Recorded greetings are often read quickly to fit a time limit. Slow down and cut words instead.
- Background noise. Record somewhere quiet, or use a clean computer-generated voice for recorded messages.
- Burying the emergency line. If some callers need to go elsewhere urgently, tell them first.
- Promising what you can't deliver. "We'll call you back within the hour" sets a standard that one busy afternoon will break.
- Collecting details without saying why. If a recorded message or an AI asks for a phone number, it should be clear it's for a callback. The ICO's guidance on the right to be informed explains what people should be told when you collect their personal data.
How to write your own greeting, step by step
- List why people call you. If you're not sure, keep a tally on paper for a week.
- Decide who or what answers at each time of day: a person, an AI receptionist, or voicemail.
- Write one greeting for each case. Business name first. Then who's answering. Then what to do.
- Add the essential exceptions: emergencies, closures, the one seasonal question.
- Read each one aloud with a timer and cut until it's short enough.
- Ring your own number from a mobile, at each time of day, and listen as a stranger would.
- Ask someone else to ring and tell you what they thought they were meant to do.
- Set reminders to update the greeting for holidays and changes.
Greetings for AI receptionists
An AI receptionist's greeting is shorter than a voicemail message, because the conversation does the rest. You don't need to list hours or options. The AI answers questions as they come. What you do need:
- The business name, said the way customers say it.
- That they're talking to an AI.
- An open question that invites them to say what they want.
- The greeting in the language your callers speak. Our post on multilingual phone answering covers this.
Once the greeting is right, the rest of the call depends on the instructions behind it. Our AI receptionist script examples show what those look like for different businesses.
Setting your greeting in Klugon
If you use Klugon's AI receptionist, the greeting is a setting on each assistant, alongside the voice and the phone language. A few things to know:
- You can write your own greeting. We recommend you do. The default is "Hello! Thank you for calling {your business}. How can I help you today?"
- The default is in English and isn't translated automatically. If your assistant speaks another language on calls, write the greeting in that language.
- The default doesn't say it's an AI. Add that yourself, as in the examples above.
- There's no separate after-hours greeting. The AI answers every call the same way, day and night, so write a greeting that works at 3am as well as at 11am. Avoid "Good morning".
- You can test it in the browser during the 7-day trial before any phone number is connected. Phone numbers can be added once the trial ends.
The AI phone receptionist page covers how calls are answered, and the pricing page lists the plans and minute allowances.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a business phone greeting be?
For a live or AI-answered call, one or two short sentences. For a recorded message, keep everything before the caller can speak or press a key to around ten seconds, and put rarely needed details at the end.
Should I say my own name when I answer?
If you're comfortable with it, yes. It makes the call feel personal and gives the caller a name to ask for. In larger teams, use first names only.
Should an AI receptionist say it's an AI?
We recommend it. It sets expectations, and in the EU, the AI Act includes transparency rules for AI systems that talk to people. Saying it in the greeting is simple and avoids awkwardness later.
Do I need a different greeting for bank holidays?
If you close, yes. Say you're closed, when you reopen and what to do in the meantime. Change it back the morning you reopen.
Is "Good morning" a good opening?
It's friendly, but it has to match the time. Recorded messages and AI greetings play at every hour, so use "Hello" or "Thanks for calling" instead.
What should an after-hours greeting include?
The business name, that you're closed, your hours, any emergency number callers might need, and what to do next: leave a message, use the website or call back.
Should I mention my website in the greeting?
Only when it actually helps, such as a seasonal rush when online ordering is quicker. Otherwise put it at the end of a recorded message, or leave it out.
Ring your own number tonight and listen. If the greeting makes you wince, it's worth ten minutes to fix.