Smart ways to handle public holidays and business availability

Smart ways to handle public holidays and business availability

King’s Day, Liberation Day, Ascension Day, Pentecost… The spring and early summer calendar is packed with public holidays. Great for employees, but for businesses these days often raise practical questions. Are you open or closed? How do you clearly inform customers? And what if an urgent call still comes in?

With smart business telephony, you can arrange everything in advance and keep your communication professional, clear and calm.

Public holidays: being closed is perfectly normal

Public holidays are officially recognised days off. That means it’s completely normal for businesses to be closed or operate with limited availability. Customers expect this, as long as you communicate it clearly.

Common public holidays include:
 
  • King’s Day
  • Liberation Day
  • Ascension Day
  • First and second day of Pentecost
 
By clearly communicating your availability in advance, you avoid frustration and show that your business is well organised.

Business availability during public holidays

Even when you’re closed, business availability still matters. Not because you need to answer every call, but because callers want to know what’s going on. Letting the phone ring endlessly without explanation is frustrating.

An automatic message or voicemail solves this instantly. Callers immediately hear why you’re unavailable, when you’ll be back and where they can go in the meantime. Clear communication keeps expectations realistic and your brand professional.

Set everything up in advance with a yearly calendar

To avoid adjusting your phone system before every single holiday, it’s smart to work with a yearly calendar inside your business telephony system. This allows you to plan everything once for the entire year.

With such a calendar, you can:
 
  • pre‑set all public holidays
  • mark days as open or closed
  • automatically play a recorded message on closed days
 
Once it’s set up, everything runs automatically and you don’t have to think about it again. 

Creating a professional voicemail or holiday message

A good voicemail or recorded message doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does make a big difference in how professional your business sounds. Customers expect clear and friendly communication, even when you’re unavailable.

Helpful tips:
 
  • keep the message short and clear
  • explain why you’re closed
  • mention when you’ll be available again
  • optionally refer to email or your website
 
Short script example:
“Thank you for calling. Today we are closed due to a public holiday. We’ll be available again from May 17, 2026. You can email us at info@yourcompany.com. Have a great day.”
 

This way, the caller immediately knows what to expect. You can record this yourself, or have it professionally generated.

Staying available for urgent calls

Some businesses prefer to remain available for urgent matters, even on public holidays, without answering every call. A call menu makes this easy.

In your standard message, you explain that the office is closed, but you offer one specific option for urgent situations. For example: only callers who press option 3 are forwarded to the mobile phone of an on‑call employee.
This way, only truly urgent calls come through.

Fully automated, all year round

The biggest advantage of smart business telephony is automation. No last‑minute changes, no forgotten holidays and no confusion for customers. Your availability always matches your planning, without extra work.

Manage public holidays easily with smart business telephony

At Zakelijketelefoonnummers.nl, we help you set this up in a clear and simple way, including:

  • a yearly holiday calendar
  • professional voicemail and holiday messages
  • call menus for urgent matters
  • smart call forwarding
 
This way, you stay clear for customers, flexible for emergencies and professional at all times. Smart communication for every situation.

Want to look professional and work more efficiently? With our smart business phone solutions, you’ll always be reachable, no matter where you are. That way, your organization stays ahead of the game.

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