Creating an Automated
Reply in Outlook Express
The instructions included here are
for Microsoft Outlook Express 5 (works for 6,too), which is a free
e-mail program available to you when you download Microsoft Internet
Explorer. Microsoft Outlook (not Express) is part of the Microsoft
Office package that you can purchase, and will have slightly different
instructions for performing the same functions. We
have included a note where the instructions may differ slightly.
When you are going to be out of the office for
a day or more, you probably leave a voice message to inform callers that
you will not be able to return their call immediately. But what about people
who communicate by e-mail? They may wonder why you haven't responded to
their message after a couple of days. A solution to this problem is to
create an automated reply to any message you receive. Before we go any further,
there are a few requirements for this to work:
1. You must have a constant connection to the
Internet. A connection that uses a modem to dial up and connect will not
work.
2. You must leave your computer on and
Microsoft Outlook Express open. (Note: Unless you have an all-in-one
system like the iMac, you do not need to leave your monitor on, only
your computer. This will save electricity and extend the life of your
monitor.)
3. You must set Outlook Express to check mail automatically at a
regular interval.
If Outlook does not already do this, from the
Tools pull down menu select Options. Select the General tab and check the
box in front of "Check for new messages every..." Then set the frequency.
Every 60 minutes is sufficient.
A. ** Very Important! Before you set up an
automated reply, you must unsubscribe or postpone mail from any listservs that you
subscribe to. This is very
important because you do not want your
automated reply sent back the listserv. If you do, it will be posted and then create a
new listserv message to which
you will again send an automated reply. . For
other listservs consult the original welcome message or contact the list
administrator. **
B. Now you need to create your message that will be sent automatically.
Open Outlook Express and open a new message. Leave
the To: line blank but fill in the Subject: with something to indicate
this is an "out of the office" message.
C. In the body of the message give the basic
information that you might give on a voice message: how long you will be away and
who to contact if the situation is urgent. Now select File>Save and give the
file a name and save it in a location where you will be able to find it again.
D. In the top menu bar click on Tools and
select Message Rules>Mail (If you are using Microsoft Outlook then you would choose
Rules Wizard from the Tools menu).
E. If a Message Rules dialogue box opens,
click on the New button. If this is your first time making a mail rule, the New Mail
Rule box should open directly as in Step D.
F. Now you need to set conditions for your
new rule. In the first window scroll down and check the box labeled For all
messages. In the second window scroll down and check Reply with message .
G. In the third text box, Rule Description, you will now specify the
message. Click on the underlined link message. A dialogue box
now appears which you will use to browse and select the message you saved as
a file in Step 2. Once you have found and highlighted the message, click on
the Open button and the file name
will now appear in the third window.
H. Finally, in the fourth text box you should give this rule a name
more descriptive than "New Mail Rule #1" that will clue you in to the
purpose of the rule when you go back to turn it off and on, or to edit
it. Delete "New Mail Rule #1" and then type in your new name (for
example, "Out of Office"). Then click OK.
Now you should be looking at the Message Rules dialogue box, but if not
use the Tools menu to get to it as in Step 3 above.
You will see your new auto reply rule listed along with any others that you have
created. The rule you have just created will be turned on indicated by the checked box
in front of it. Unless you are leaving the office at this moment, you can
uncheck the box to turn it off until you leave. Before you leave
though, you must go back to turn it on again. Once you return from being
away, you should turn the rule off again.
One Final Note
You can use this rule any time you will be
out of the office, but be sure to edit the file you created in Step 2 to
update the information about when you will be back, etc.
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