The best way to setup Out of Office or Vacation responses is on the mail host or server.
You don’t have to leave your computer and Outlook on while you’re away because the server is handling it all for you. The server runs 24/7, so monitoring incoming messages and replying automatically is a logical job for it. Out of Office messages are almost always sent by the mail host or server – not Outlook software. Setting up ‘Out of Office’ doesn’t stop you from checking your email anyway (some of use can’t resist a peek even on holidays). Vacation autoresponses also can limit the number of replies to the same email address, for example only autoreply once or only every few days. Some businesses like their staff to setup an ‘Out of Office’ message over weekends, but most people save it for longer breaks. You can set the range of dates that the Vacation responder will work for. The New York Times got some suggestions from the real world.
In this article we have some cheeky vacation replies, but you can write whatever you like.
Clever systems have options like different messages for people inside or outside an organization or only those in your Contacts list. ‘Out of Office’ or ‘Vacation’ autoresponses will automatically reply to incoming messages. Outlook can setup an Out of Office response, depending on the type of email connection but there’s a better way that works for everyone. Thanks for joining us! You'll get a welcome message in a few moments.