Last updated: September 2026
How to Upload an
Auto Attendant Greeting to
Ooma Office
Already have a professionally recorded greeting for Ooma Office?
Ooma Office’s Virtual Receptionist can greet callers, present menu options, route calls, play announcements, and use different menus during business hours and after hours. Ooma also allows you to upload your own recorded greeting instead of relying only on text-to-speech.
This guide walks you through preparing your recording, updating the Virtual Receptionist, assigning menu options, and testing the finished caller experience.
Need a professional recording first?
Captive Audience Marketing provides professional voice talent, script assistance, multilingual recordings, and phone-system-ready audio for Ooma Office.
How Do I Upload a Custom Greeting to Ooma Office?
Ooma calls its Auto Attendant the Virtual Receptionist.
Sign in to Ooma Office Manager, open the Virtual Receptionist settings, and select the menu you want to edit.
In the Initial Greeting area, choose the option to use a recorded audio file rather than text-to-speech, upload your finished greeting, configure the appropriate key-press assignments, save your changes, and place a test call.
Ooma’s Virtual Receptionist supports personalized greetings and separate business-hours and after-hours menus.
Before You Start
Make sure you have everything you need before changing your Ooma Office greeting.
Ooma Office Administrator Access
You’ll need access to Ooma Office Manager and sufficient permission to edit your company’s Virtual Receptionist and call-routing settings.
Your Finished Recording
Have your professionally recorded greeting ready before you begin.
Your spoken menu should match the key-press options you plan to configure in Ooma.
Your Menu and Routing Plan
Know where each option should send callers.
Ooma’s Virtual Receptionist can route calls to users, Ring Groups, voicemail, and other destinations depending on the configuration.
How to Upload Your Ooma Office Auto Attendant Greeting
1. Sign In to Ooma Office Manager
Sign in to the administrative Ooma Office portal using an account with permission to manage your phone system.
Ooma describes Office Manager as the web portal used to administer features such as the Virtual Receptionist, extensions, Ring Groups, and Music on Hold.
2. Open the Virtual Receptionist
Navigate to the Virtual Receptionist section.
Depending on your account and interface version, you may see controls for:
- Business Hours Menu
- After Hours Menu
- Business Hours Schedule
- Holidays
- Initial Greeting
- Key Press Assignments
Ooma supports different Virtual Receptionist menus during business hours and after hours.
3. Select the Menu You Want to Update
Choose the appropriate menu before changing the greeting.
You may want separate recordings for:
- normal business hours
- after-hours calls
- holidays
- special closures
Make sure you are editing the menu callers will actually reach during the intended time period.
4. Replace the Initial Greeting
Find the Initial Greeting section.
Ooma allows the Virtual Receptionist greeting to be created using text-to-speech or an uploaded audio recording.
Choose the recorded-audio option and select your finished professional greeting.
5. Upload Your Recording
Upload your audio file and allow Ooma Office to process it.
Once the file is available, confirm that it has been selected as the greeting for the correct Virtual Receptionist menu.
If you use separate Business Hours and After Hours menus, upload or assign the appropriate greeting to each one.
6. Configure the Key-Press Assignments
Make sure the menu options in Ooma match the options spoken in the recording.
Ooma Virtual Receptionist menu actions can include functions such as:
- transferring a call
- routing to an extension
- routing to a Ring Group
- sending callers to voicemail
- playing a prerecorded announcement
- dial-by-name functionality
Ooma supports up to ten key-press menu options in the Virtual Receptionist.
7. Save Your Changes
Save the updated Virtual Receptionist configuration.
If you changed:
- the greeting
- routing
- business hours
- after-hours behavior
- holiday settings
make sure all related sections are saved.
8. Test Your Ooma Office Auto Attendant
Call your main business number from an outside phone.
Listen to the entire greeting and test every menu option.
Confirm that:
- the correct greeting plays
- the recording is clear
- each key press matches the spoken menu
- calls route to the correct destination
- business-hours behavior works
- after-hours behavior works
- voicemail destinations work
- announcements play correctly
Testing from an outside number gives you the closest representation of what customers will experience.
What Ooma Office Greetings Can We Record?
Captive Audience Marketing can produce professional recordings for:
Ooma also allows prerecorded announcements to be used as menu actions, making professional audio useful beyond just the initial greeting.
Recommended Audio Format
For telephony audio, Ooma Office Manager recommends:
PCM WAV
8kHz sample rate
16-bit, Mono
G.711 / u-law WAV
8kHz sample rate
8-bit, Mono
Auto Attendant vs. IVR
An Auto Attendant primarily answers calls and routes callers through menu options.
IVR, or Interactive Voice Response, is a broader category of automated telephone interaction and may include more advanced functions such as:
- collecting caller input
- accessing account information
- identifying callers
- responding to spoken input
- routing based on customer data
For many small businesses, the Ooma Virtual Receptionist provides the core Auto Attendant functionality needed to professionally answer and route calls.
Why Use Professional Voice Talent?
Create a Better First Impression
Your Auto Attendant may be one of the first interactions a customer has with your company.
A professional recording helps that experience sound intentional rather than improvised.
Improve Menu Clarity
Professional announcers are trained to deliver numbers, department names, and instructions clearly.
Maintain Consistency
The same voice can be used across:
- your main greeting
- after-hours messages
- voicemail
- announcements
- Marketing On Hold
Match Your Brand
Voice style, pacing, tone, and music can all reinforce the personality of your business.
Tips for Writing an Ooma Virtual Receptionist Script
Keep the Welcome Short
Get callers to the menu quickly.
Instead of a long company introduction, use something like:
“Thank you for calling Smith & Associates.”
Then move directly into the options.
Put Important Options First
The most commonly requested departments should usually appear near the beginning.
Match the Recording to the Routing
If the recording says:
“Press 2 for Service”
then key 2 in Ooma must actually route to Service.
Keep Menu Levels Simple
Avoid forcing callers through unnecessary layers of menus.
Include an Escape Option
If appropriate, give callers an option to reach an operator or leave a voicemail.
Multilingual Ooma Office Greetings
If your business serves callers in more than one language, professional multilingual recordings can make the caller experience much easier to understand.
We can produce coordinated Ooma Office recordings in multiple languages while maintaining consistent:
- terminology
- tone
- menu structure
- pacing
- file naming
For example:
“For English, press 1. Para español, oprima el número 2.”
Can I upload my own Auto Attendant greeting to Ooma Office?
Yes. Ooma’s Virtual Receptionist allows you to use an uploaded recorded greeting instead of text-to-speech.
What is the Ooma Virtual Receptionist?
The Virtual Receptionist is Ooma Office’s automated answering and routing system. It can greet callers, provide key-press options, transfer calls, play announcements, and use different menus depending on your business hours.
Can I have different business-hours and after-hours greetings?
Yes. Ooma Office supports separate Business Hours and After Hours menus.
Can I create a holiday greeting?
Yes. Ooma provides holiday scheduling for the Virtual Receptionist so your call handling can change on days when the business is closed.
Can Ooma play prerecorded announcements?
Yes. A Virtual Receptionist key press can be configured to play a prerecorded announcement instead of transferring the call.
Can callers search by employee name?
Ooma’s Virtual Receptionist includes a dial-by-name option that can allow callers to search the company directory.
Can Captive Audience write my Ooma Auto Attendant script?
Yes. We can create or refine your menu script so that the greeting is concise, easy to understand, and aligned with the routing you configure in Ooma.
Can I use the same professional voice for my Ooma voicemail and Marketing On Hold?
Yes. Using the same announcer throughout your phone system can create a much more consistent caller experience.
Want to Improve What Callers Hear After They’re Placed on Hold?
Your Virtual Receptionist handles the beginning of the call.
Marketing On Hold helps improve the experience after a caller is placed on hold.