Will your phones know you're closed Thanksgiving?

By the VentureTel team · Facts current as of November 2026 · About VentureTel

It's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in Twin Falls. The pies are picked up, the last customer is out the door, and you lock up early so everyone can get on the road. Back inside, the phone on the front desk keeps ringing. Nobody is there to answer it. Callers get your everyday greeting, the one that says "we'll be right with you," and they leave message after message until the voicemail box is full. On Thursday it starts all over again.

Short answer: Your phones only know you're closed if you tell them. Before Thanksgiving, which falls on Thursday, November 26 this year, take a few minutes to do three things: set your holiday hours, record a closed-day greeting that says when you reopen, and decide who gets urgent calls. With VentureTel, you can change it yourself in the portal in a few minutes, or open a quick support ticket and we'll set it up for you at no extra charge.

Why holiday hours matter for a small business

A ringing phone at an empty desk doesn't just mean a missed call. The caller doesn't know if you're closed for the day, closed for good, or just ignoring them. Some will call a competitor. Others will leave a message, and you'll come back Monday to a full voicemail box and a stack of callbacks.

A short holiday greeting fixes most of that. Callers hear that you're closed, when you'll be back, and what to do if it can't wait. That's true whether you run a shop in Jerome, a clinic in Burley, or a property management office in Ketchum that's getting ready for winter visitors.

Your Thanksgiving phone checklist

1. Set your holiday hours

Add Thanksgiving as an office holiday so your phones switch to holiday mode on their own that day. You can set it as a yearly rule, "the fourth Thursday of November," so it lands on the right date every year without you having to remember. That's November 26 this year and November 25 in 2027.

Closing the Friday after too? Add it as its own holiday. Closing early on Wednesday? Shorten that day's office hours in the portal, then set them back afterward, or ask us to handle it.

2. Record a closed-day greeting that says when you reopen

Keep it short and friendly. Say you're closed, say when you'll be back, and tell callers what their options are. For example:

"Thanks for calling [Your Business]. Our office is closed today for the holiday. We'll reopen on [day] at [time]. To leave a message, press 1. If this is urgent, press 2. Have a great holiday."

Tip: one holiday greeting plays for every holiday on your list, so keep the wording general ("closed today for the holiday") and it will still work at Christmas and New Year's. If it names a specific holiday or day, remember to update it before the next one.

3. Decide who gets urgent calls

Some calls can't wait until Monday: a property emergency, a patient who needs a callback, a customer whose job is half finished. Decide ahead of time who covers urgent calls over the holiday, and let callers reach that person by pressing a number. The call can ring their desk phone, their VentureTel mobile app, or a group of people. Everyone else can leave a message.

If you get voicemail by email, voicemail transcription lets you skim holiday messages from your phone without dialing in to listen.

How to set it up

If you're a VentureTel customer, there are two ways to get this done before Thanksgiving:

• Do it yourself. Sign in to the portal and follow our step-by-step guide: Set up holiday closures and holiday call routing in SmartPBX. It walks through adding the holiday, uploading your greeting and adding "press 1" and "press 2" options. Most people are done in a few minutes.
• Let us do it. Open a quick support ticket with the days you're closed, what you want your greeting to say (or an audio file), and who should get urgent calls. We'll set it up at no extra charge and let you know when it's ready.

Either way, it's worth a quick test: call your main number from a cell phone after it's set up for the holiday, and make sure each option goes where you expect.

You don't have to be a phone system expert

Because we are. VentureTel has supported businesses since 2006 as a southern Idaho team, and we'd rather spend five minutes setting up your holiday hours than have you spend Thanksgiving worrying about the phones. Having us set up your holiday routing is free, there's no long-term contract, and you can make changes yourself whenever you like or hand them to us so you can focus on your business.

We work with businesses in Twin Falls and across the Magic Valley, in Hailey and the Wood River Valley, and nationwide. Not a VentureTel customer yet? See our features or pricing, or give us a call.

Frequently asked questions

More answers are on our FAQ page. Step-by-step guides are in our support center.