January 15, 2002

Using the Out of Office Assistant in Microsoft Outlook

By Teresa Lightle- Computer Training Coordinator

Many employees took some well deserved time off over the holidays, and schedules were different for each school district. If business needs to be transacted, via e-mail, it may be difficult to know if someone is out of the office for an extended period of time or if they are in the office and able to return your e-mail as soon as possible. The Out of Office Assistant is a feature which allows the user to set up an "auto reply" message that is automatically sent by the server back to the sender informing the recipient that you are away. You will still receive the message the sender sent, and it will reside in your inbox until you return to read it.

• To set the Out of Office Assistant, make sure you are in Microsoft Outlook.

• Choose Tools in the menu bar

• This will launch the Out of Office dialogue box as shown below

In the text box, key the message you want users to view when they receive the AutoReply. Once the message has been keyed, be sure to select the radio button in front of 'I am currently Out of the the Office.'  This will turn the reply feature on. Choose OK.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Out of Office Assistant Feature

Do I have to leave my computer on in order for this to work?
It is not necessary to leave Outlook running or your computer on in order for this option to work. 

Can I still check my e-mail and leave the assistant on?
If you just can't stand not checking your e-mail while you are away, you can while the Out of Office Assistant is turned on. When you launch Outlook, a dialogue box will appear prompting you that the Out of Office Assistant is on and would you like to turn it off?

What does an AutoReply look like?



When you open the e-mail message you will then read the AutoReply which will appear in the body of the e-mail message.

Can I turn on or modify my Out of Office Assistant using the web access?

Do not  forget to turn the Out of Office Assistant off when you return to work.

Coming up in the February 1, 2002 edition. Creating a Distribution List

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For Questions or Comments about this newsletter please contact: tlightle@bcoe.org

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