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Out-of-Office Assistant

Setting up the Out-of-Office Assistant

The Out of Office Assistant is a feature that allows you to notify other Outlook users via email when you are away from the office. You can also use the Out of Office Assistant to apply rules to incoming items while you are not checking your email. When an Outlook user sends you an item, the Out of Office Assistant feature automatically responds to the item with a notice, indicating that you are away from the office. The notice can also display any text that you choose to send to other Outlook users, including the dates and times you are out of the office, any additional information, such as who to report to with questions. The notice is sent only once to each person that send you an item.

  1. From the Inbox, pull down the Tools menu and select Out of Office Assistant.
  2. Select I am currently Out of the Office.
  3. In the box under AutoReply only once to each sender with the following text, type the message you want to send to people.
  4. Click OK.

When someone sends you an email message, they will automatically receive an email message from you containing the text you wrote about being out of the office. This only affects the first message a person sends you. They can continue to send you messages, but they will not continue to be notified. Your messages will be stored in your account on the Exchange server.

Important: It is important to remember to turn the Out of Office Assistant "off" when you are back in the office. When you open Outlook, it will remind you that the Out-of-Office Assistant is currently on and ask you whether to turn it of or not.  Pull down the Tools menu and select Out of Office Assistant. Select I am currently in the Office.

Manually creating an out-of-office rule for non-Exchange and/or listserv correspondence

    Outlook 2000

  1. From the Inbox Information viewer, click the Tools menu and select Rules Wizard.... The Rules Wizard dialog box appears.
  2. Click New... to start creating a new rule.
  3. Select Check messages when they arrive.
  4. Click Next.
  5. Do not select a condition. Simply click Next.
  6. A message appears informing you that the rule will apply to all messages. Click Yes.
  7. Check the action have server reply using a specific message.
  8. A description of the rule/action appears in the lower box requiring additional information. Click the underlined value to edit it.
  9. An Untitled-message form appears. Type in a subject and body for the message.

    Caution: Do not put anything in the To... or Cc... fields, or the message will only go to those people.

  10. When you are done creating the reply message, click Save and Close on the message form. The underlined value is replaced with the subject you gave.
  11. Click Next. A dialog box appears allowing you to make exceptions to your rule. You don't have to select any exceptions, but you can check any exceptions necessary. This would be a good time to note if you do not want any list you may be on to receive the reply message. Again, some exceptions may require additional information. Click an underlined value to edit it.
  12. Click Next. The final Rules Wizard dialog box appears.
  13. A suggested name is in the Please specify a name for this rule field. You can easily change the name if you want. Be sure the box labeled Turn on this rule is checked.
  14. Click Finish.
  15. The first Rules Wizard dialog box reappears listing the name of the rule and its final description. The checkmark means that the rule is applied to every message you receive or send. Be sure to move the rule to the top of the list so that it is applied first as messages are received. If all the criteria you specified is met then the rule is applied. You can uncheck the rule, the rule still exists but Outlook doesn't apply the rule to any new incoming or outgoing messages. Click OK to close the Rules Wizard dialog box.

    Important: Remember to turn the rule off when you return. You will not be reminded by Outlook, so it is important to remember this.


    Outlook 2002

  1. With the Inbox open, click the Tools menu and select Rules Wiard.... The Rules Wizard dialog box appears.
  2. Click New... to start creating a new rule.
  3. Click Start from a blank rule.
  4. Select Check messages when they arrive. 
  5. Click Next.
  6. Do not select a condition, simply click Next.
  7. A message appears informing you that the "rule will be applied to every message you receive".  Click Yes. 
  8. Check the action have server reply using a specific message. 
  9. A description of the rule/action appears in the lower box requiring additional information. click the underlined value to edit it.
  10. An Untitled-message form appears. Type in a subject and body for the message.

    Caution: Do not put anything in the To... or Cc... fields, or the message will only go to those people.

  11. When you are done creating the reply message, click Save and Close on the message form.  The underlined value is replaced with the subject you gave. 
  12. Click Next.  A dialog box appears allowing you to make exceptions to your rule.  You don't have to select any exceptions, but you can check any exceptions necessary.  As an example of an exception, you may be a member of a mailing list that you don't want to receive the automated reply message.  Again, some exceptions may require additional information.  Click the underlined value to edit it. 
  13. Click Next.  The final Rules Wizard dialog box appears. 
  14. A suggested name is in the Please specify a name for this rule: field.  you can easily change the name if you want.  Be sure the Turn on this rule box is checked. 
  15. Click Finish. 
  16. The first Rules Wizard dialog box reappears, listing the name of the rule and its final description.  The checkmark means that the rule is applied to every message you receive or send.  Be sure to move the rule to the top of the list so that it is applied first as messages are received.  If all the criteria you specified are met, then the rule is applied.  You can uncheck the rule if you want to turn it off so that it isn't applied to any incoming or outgoing messages.  The rule will still exist in Outlook, however.  Click OK to close the Rules Wizard dialog box. 

    Important: Remember to turn the rule off when you return. You will not be reminded by Outlook, so it is important to remember this.