In Microsoft Outlook Web Access, how do I use the Out of Office Assistant (vacation mail)?

In Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) 2007, the Out of Office Assistant (vacation mail) option allows you to collect messages in your Inbox while you are out of the office, and replies automatically to incoming messages.

The Out of Office Assistant can notify people who send you mail that you are out of the office and cannot reply immediately. The auto-reply feature will notify each sender only once, even if you receive multiple messages from that person, and can be configured to be active only while you're away from your office.

To use the Out of Office Assistant:

1. In the upper right corner of the OWA window, click Options.
   
   
2. In the resulting window on the left, click Out of Office Assistant.
   
   
3. On the right, select Send Out of Office auto-replies. You have several options:
   
   
   1. If you want to set a timeframe for the Out of Office auto-replies to begin and end, check Send Out of Office auto-replies only during this time period: . Then:
      
      
      1. Next to "Start time:", use the menu to select the month and day, and then the time you want the Out of Office Assistant to start sending the auto-replies.
      2. Repeat for the "End time:".
      
      
   2. If you want to send a different message to users outside your organization, check Send Out of Office auto-replies to External Senders. Then, choose from the two options available:
      
      
      • Send Out of Office auto-replies only to senders in my Contacts list (Use this option to send the reply to senders outside of your organization but in your Contacts list.)
      • Send Out of Office auto-replies to anyone outside my organization

      Both of these options are selected by default, so you don't need to use this option if you want everyone, external or not, to get the same message.

4. Compose the Out of Office auto-reply in the text boxes provided; if you choose to send a different message to external senders, remember to compose that one, too. In OWA Premium in Internet Explorer, you will see font and paragraph editing tools with which you can compose your message; in OWA Light, you will have only a text field and no formatting tools.
   
   
5. When you're finished composing, click Save.

To disable the Out of Office Assistant, in step 3 above, select Do not send Out of Office auto-replies.

For more robust control of the Out of Office Assistant, including setting up mail forwarding rules, use Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003, or 2007. See In Microsoft Outlook, how do I set up the Out of Office Assistant (vacation mail)?