How to configure Out-of-Office replies in Entourage 2004?

• 19 July 2010
• in: Entourage,Exchange

Do you know how to configure ‘Out-of-Office’ replies in Entourage 2004?

Microsoft Entourage does not provide an ‘Out of Office Assistant’ for setting an automatic response to messages you receive while you are out of the office; however, it is possible to set up such an automatic response in one of the three ways. Entourage 2008 now includes Out-of-Office:

• Use Outlook Web Access
• Configure a rule in Microsoft Entourage
• Use a third party application

Please make sure your reply does not get sent to any mailing lists as a mail loop can result and make you very unpopular!

Sending Out-of-Office reply in Entourage 2004 by using Outlook Web Access

By using the Out of Office Assistant in Outlook Web Access (OWA), you can enable or disable the Out of Office Assistant in OWA from any computer with internet access while you are on or off campus. It does not involve setting up any special rules in Entourage.

Log in to OWA and select Options from the left column. Under Out of Office Assistant select I’m currently out of the office and enter any AutoReply text to be returned to the sender.

Sending Out of Office reply in Entourage 2004 by configuring a rule in Microsoft Entourage

Note: A Rule would require Entourage to be active and running on your computer while you are out.

Follow the steps below to create a new rule in Entourage, which will automatically send a custom response to every message you receive while you are out of the office:

1. In Entourage, select Rules from the Tools menu.
2. In the Rules window, select Mail (Exchange) from the New drop-down menu.
3. In the Rule name field, type “Out of Office”.
4. In the If section select if all criteria are met from the Execute drop-down menu.
5. In the If section ensure that All messages is selected in the second drop-down menu.
6. In the Then section choose Reply from the first drop-down menu. Click the Reply Text… button.
7. In the Reply Text window, type in the message you wish to send as an auto reply.
8. Click the OK button.
9. Deselect Do not apply other rules to messages that meet these criteria.
10. Select Enabled.
11. Click the OK button.

Follow the steps below to turn off the custom out-of-office rule in Entourage:

1. In Entourage, go to the Tools menu, and click Rules.
2. In the Rules window, click Mail (Exchange).
3. To disable the Out of Office rule, uncheck the box next to it.

Sending Out of Office reply in Entourage 2004 by Using a third party application

Download the donationware Out Of Office application and use it to set the Out of Office message from a Mac OS X 10.4 computer.