With the holidays approaching, more and more people are taking one or more days off. Enabling the ‘Automatic Replies’ option in Outlook (sometimes better known as ‘out of office’) allows you to automatically send an out-of-office message to anyone who emails you. This ensures that all your projects can be properly managed by employees or colleagues even while you’re away, and that customers and suppliers can be kept informed—with a personalized message—of specific arrangements during your absence (such as who they can contact with their questions).
To enable this option in Outlook 2007 To activate:
- Click ‘Tools’ – ‘Out of Office Assistant…’
To enable this option in Outlook 2010 To activate:
- Click ‘File’ – ‘Info’ – ‘Autoresponder’
Next, enter the dates of your departure and return in your out-of-office message. If you wish, you can enter a different message for your colleagues (‘within my organization’) than for people outside your office (‘outside my organization’).
An ideal message is clear, concise, and includes the following elements:
- The dates on which you will be absent (Avoid phrases such as ‘I will be away for 10 days’)
- Who to contact while you are away: For urgent questions, please include the name of your supervisor or a colleague, as well as their contact information.
- Multiple languages: If you regularly interact with people who speak other languages, it’s a good idea to write your message in multiple languages as well. That way, they’ll also know when you’ll be back in the office and who they can contact while you’re away.
Then click OK to confirm.
Fun fact: Anyone who sends you an email will receive only one automatic message stating that you are out of the office!
Don't forget to turn off the ‘Automatic Replies’ feature as soon as you're back in the office.
