MAIL

Setting up out-of-office notifications
You can use the out-of-office notification service to send an automated reply to incoming messages while you're away. The automated reply tells people who send you mail while you're away that you're out and tells them when you're returning.

To set up out-of-office notifications, you must specify out-of-office settings, such as your leaving and returning dates, and then enable the out-of-office notification service. Then, on your return date, you receive an out-of-office summary message, which includes a list of the senders the notification service sent out-of-office replies to while you were away.

Note Depending on your organization's server configuration, either IBM® Lotus® Notes® disables the out-of-office notification service automatically on the specified return date, or you must disable the notification service manually after you return. If the latter is the case, you will receive daily e-mail reminders to disable out-of-office notification.

To enable out-of-office notification

1. If necessary, open your mail.

2. Above the message list, click More > Out of Office.

3. Specify your leaving and returning dates.


4. (Optional) Do any of the following:
TaskDescription
Keep the time you're away free in your free time schedule so that others may invite you to meetingsClear the I am unavailable for meetings field.

Otherwise, the time is marked busy in your free time schedule so that others will see that you are unavailable for meetings while you're away.

Change the standard notification sent while you're awayDo any of the following:
  • Edit the Subject field.
  • Clear the Append return date to subject field
  • Edit the Additional body text field.
Send a different notification to certain people or domains
  1. Click Alternate Notification.
  2. Specify one or more people or domains in the To field. To select names from a directory, click To.
  3. Edit the rest of the notification.
Permit replies to messages sent from Internet addressesClick Exclusions, and then clear the Do not automatically reply to mail from Internet addresses field.

Tip To prevent sending replies to spammers, keep this field selected.

Cancel replies to certain people or people in certain groupClick Exclusions, and then specify one or more people or group names in the Sent by field. To select names from a directory, click Sent by.
Cancel replies to messages sent to certain groups that you're part ofClick Exclusions, and then specify one or more group names in the Addressed to field. To select names from a directory, click Addressed to.
Cancel replies to messages whose subject contains certain phrases
  1. Click Exclusions.
  2. Specify a phrase in the A message subject contains any of these exact phrases field.
  3. Click Add Phrase.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each phrase to add.
5. Click Enable and Close or, if you have already enabled out-of-office notification but changed some out-of-office settings, click Save and Close.

To disable out-of-office notification

Depending on your organization's server configuration, you may need to disable out-of-office notifications manually after you return (even though Notes stops sending out-of-office replies at the specified return time). If this is the case, you will receive e-mail reminders to disable out-of-office notification.

1. If necessary, open your mail.

2. Above the message list, click More > Out of Office.

3. Click Disable and Close.

Notes
The out-of-office notification service sends only one automated reply to each person who sends you mail while you're away, regardless of how many messages the person sends you during that time.

The notification service is not an automatic broadcast; a person must send you mail while you're away to receive an automated reply.

The notification service replies to mail only during the time that you specify you're away, and replies to mail received on weekends if they are part of the time that you specify you're away.

Tip To see mail that arrives at your office before you return there, consider creating a mail rule that sends copies of incoming messages to a different e-mail address.

See Also