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Rules Wizard and Assistants
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To make automatic reply rules |
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Microsoft Outlook and the Exchange client allow you to create rules
to reply automatically to incoming messages with the Rules Wizard,
Inbox Assistant and Out of Office Assistant.
Out of Office Assistant | Outlook 2000 or 2002 Rules Wizard with Exchange Server | Other Rules Wizard Configurations | Inbox Assistant | Exchange Server Script | Notes | More Information |
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Out of Office Assistant |
OOA
is available only if you connect to Microsoft Exchange Server. It
sends a response (just once) to each message sent to you and also
executes other rules that you set up in OOA. Always fill in the
response text; otherwise, your correspondents will receive a blank
message in return.
If you are using OOA, be sure to keep a list of all the mailing lists you have subscribed to, so that you can either unsubscribe or change your list settings so that you receive no message from the list while you have OOA turned on. It's rude to send OOA messages to mailing lists. Also see: |
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Outlook 2000 Rules Wizard with Exchange Server |
Outlook
2000 and 2002 include a Have server reply action that allows
you to build server-based reply rules. When you create
such a rule, Outlook prompts you to create the reply
message as part of the process. This reply message is
saved in your Exchange Server mailbox. See: |
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Other Outlook Configurations with Rules Wizard |
Before creating a reply rule, you need an Outlook template file containing the text and subject of the reply. To create the template, make sure that you are not use Word as your e-mail editor (Tools | Options | Mail Format), because WordMail does not allow you to save messages as Outlook templates. Create a new Outlook message, then add your own subject and text. You can also add Bcc and Cc addresses. Then use File | Save As to save it as an Outlook template .oft file. When you create your reply, you'll be asked to specify the location of the reply template -- that's your .oft file. Several issues on Rules Wizard replies in such configurations: Rules Wizard replies are a client-only function, because they depend on the .oft file. If you use Exchange Server and want replies to run from the server, you must disable Rules Wizard and use Inbox Assistant instead. Only one reply per address is sent, no matter how many times someone sends to you. This means that Rules Wizard replies actually work like the Out of Office Assistant replies. However, it also means that, when you're testing reply rules by sending to yourself, you must exit Outlook and then restart. Otherwise, after the first test, you won't see any replies to other messages you send yourself. If you want the replies to go out automatically, say while you're on vacation, you need to leave Outlook running and make sure that it is set up to send and receive messages automatically. |
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Inbox Assistant |
To
use Inbox Assistant, you must disable Rules
Wizard and use Inbox Assistant instead.
When you create a reply rule with Inbox Assistant, you will be prompted to create the reply message as part of the process. This reply message is saved in your Exchange Server mailbox. |
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Exchange Server Script |
Another reply method available only with Exchange Server is a server-side script on the mailbox' Inbox folder. See Automatic Message Responding Script for a sample script. |
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Notes |
The Folder Assistant for Exchange Server public folders, found on the
folder's Properties dialog, can create many of the same types of rules
as Inbox Assistant.
In an Exchange Server environment, automatic forwarding and replies to the Internet may be disabled at the server level. Consult your Exchange administrator if automatic replies are working to internal recipients, but not those one the Internet. See: In Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000 in Corporate/Workgroup mode, automatic replies are not saved to the Sent Items folder. Outlook provides no way to quote the original text of a message in an automatic reply rule. For that, we have used Email Templates, which can operate in rules as a custom action (except in Outlook 2002). |
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More Information |
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Updated Apr 09 2008
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