Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
A good out-of-office message should include the dates that you will be
gone and an alternative contact person who can be reached in case of an
urgent matter.
For example, here is a typical message:
I will be out of the office from March 1 to March 15 and will not
be checking messages. If this is an urgent matter, please contact my
supervisor, Mary Clark, at 317-555-2811 or mary@sycamoreknoll.com.
Otherwise, I will respond to your message when I am back in the office.
Sincerely,
Ashley Colvin
Out-of-office messages are set up on your mail server, not in your email
client. That's because when you are out of the office, your email client soft-
ware won't be running, so you can't count on it to handle the
automatic
reply
.
automatic reply
A feature on a mail server that
automatically sends a message back to each one
received when it is enabled.
In some cases, you may be able to set up automatic replies through your
email client. It depends on the incoming mail server. If you are using a
Microsoft Exchange mail server (for example, through your company's
network at work), you can use the Automatic Replies feature in Outlook
2010. Click File, and click Automatic Replies. If you don't see that com-
mand after clicking File, you can't use automatic replies in Outlook.
To set up an automatic reply on your mail server, log into your mail pro-
vider's website, or log into your hosting account if the email account you
are working with is part of a domain you own. In the provider's configura-
tion pages online, you will find a feature that will enable you to set up an
out-of-office message. You may also be able to set up an automatic reply
in the web-based interface for your account, as shown in FigureĀ 9.15.
Signatures
Rather than typing your name at the end of each email you send, you can
append a
signature
that is added automatically. This can include your
Skype name, mobile phone number, Twitter handle, blog address, or
other information. You set up a signature in your email client. The fol-
lowing Step by Step section shows how to set one up in Outlook 2010.
signature
Text that is automatically appended to
outgoing messages.
Be conservative with the information you put in a signature line if you are using the same email account for
both business and personal email. You might write a formal email address to a business client, for example,
and forget that you have something very informal and silly in your signature.
CAUTION