How do I keep my business phone answered during a hurricane or power outage?
Before the storm, move your business number off anything that needs power at your shop: forward it to your cell, a cloud phone line or an answering service. Record a storm greeting and put a banner on your website that says when you expect to reopen. A cloud-based answering line keeps taking calls and messages even when your building is dark, so you come back to a list of customers instead of silence.
Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. For a small business in South Florida, the storm itself usually costs a few days. What costs more is the week after, when customers need you and cannot reach you.
48 hours before: the phone checklist
- Find out where your number actually rings. A desk phone plugged into the office internet dies when the office loses power. A cell phone or a cloud phone line does not.
- Set up forwarding now, not during the storm. Most phone providers let you forward calls from their app or website. Test it once: call your business number from another phone and make sure it reaches you.
- Record a storm greeting. Short and specific: that you are closed or limited, when you expect to reopen, and how to leave a message or reach you for emergencies.
- Charge everything. Phones, a battery pack, a car charger. Save your provider's support number somewhere that is not only on your computer.
- Write down your top 20 customers' numbers on paper or in your phone, not only in office software.
During the storm: what callers need to hear
People calling a business during a storm want three answers: are you OK, are you open, and when can you help me. A greeting that answers all three calms most callers and stops them from calling five other companies. For example:
"Thanks for calling. We're closed during the storm and expect to reopen on Thursday. Leave your name, number and what you need, and we'll call you back in the order calls came in. If this is an emergency, say so in your message."
Put the same words at the top of your website and on your Google Business Profile.
After the storm: the call surge
Roofers, plumbers, HVAC companies, tree services and restoration companies often get more calls in the week after a storm than in the month before it. That is also when you are busiest on jobs and least able to pick up. Two things help:
- A callback list, not a voicemail box. Every caller's name, number, address and problem in one place, so you can plan routes instead of replaying messages.
- Clear expectations. Tell callers roughly when you can come. People wait for a business that gave them a date; they keep dialing when nobody answered.
Website banner template
Storm update: We are [open / closed / working on emergencies only] as of [date and time]. We expect normal hours from [date]. Leave a message or send the form below and we'll reply in order.
Update it every day, even if nothing changed. A banner that is three days old looks like nobody is there.
Where an AI answering line helps
A cloud-based AI receptionist keeps answering while your shop has no power and you are dealing with your own house. It tells callers what you told it to say about the storm, takes their name, number, address and problem, and sends each conversation to your phone. When you are ready, you have a list to work through. If a caller asks for a person, it can transfer them to your cell.
It will not fix a cell tower that is down. Nothing will. The goal is to be reachable in every way that still works.
Questions people ask
When is hurricane season in Florida?
The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to November 30 each year.
Will my business phone work if the power goes out?
It depends on the phone. A desk phone that runs through the office internet usually stops working. A cell phone, or a cloud phone line forwarded to your cell, keeps working as long as there is cell service.
What should my storm voicemail greeting say?
Whether you are open, when you expect to reopen, and what the caller should do now: leave a name, number and what they need, and say if it is an emergency.
How do I handle all the calls after a storm?
Keep one callback list with each caller's name, number, address and problem, and tell callers roughly when you can come. An answering service or AI receptionist can collect that list for you while you work.
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