Special Edition Using® Microsoft® Office Outlook® 2003

Out of Office Assistant

If you're going to be out of the office, it's helpful to let those who email you know that you won't be responding for a specified period of time. You can create a client-side rule using the Rules and Alerts dialog box that replies to all incoming email with a specific template. That process, however, requires not only that you create the reply message, but also that you leave your computer on and Outlook open the entire time you're gone. That often isn't practical.

If you use Outlook as a client for Exchange Server, you can take advantage of another helpful productivity feature: the Out of Office Assistant. The Out of Office Assistant is a special type of server-based rule designed to inform others when you're out of ...