University Computer Help Desk

Before You Begin

Set up an out-of-office email autoreply message to automatically send a customized response to people who email you while you are unavailable. This is intended for extended times when you can't get to your email, such as when you are on vacation.

Full Exchange

Important: If you use Exchange for email (i.e. Full Exchange), you need to set up an automatic reply in Outlook Web App (OWA). You will not set up an out-of-office autoreply in ULID Account Management.

Out-of-Office Email Autoreply

You can set an out-of-office email autoreply through ULID Account Management on the Help Desk website. This option is appropriate for those members of Illinois State University who use the IMAP email system (i.e. not Full Exchange members).

To set up an out-of-office email autoreply, do the following:

1. Go to http://helpdesk.illinoisstate.edu/.
2. Click Account Management.
   • If you are not already logged in, click log in to manage your account and sign in to CentralLogin.
3. Click Out-of-Office Email Reply.
4. Specify a time frame for your email autoreply by choosing appropriate start and end dates and times.
5. Define the frequency at which your email autoreply will send automatic responses. You can choose 3 days, 5 days, or 7 days.
   • This frequency determines the number of days between sending an autoreply to the same sender.
   • Example: Reggie Redbird sends you an email while you are on vacation, and he receives the email autoreply you set up. The next day, he sends you another email. He will not receive an email autoreply from you a second time due to the frequency. If you set the frequency to 3 days, Reggie will not receive another autoreply unless he emails you again three days from the first day.
6. Enter an email subject in the Email Subject: field.
   • The email subject should indicate that you are unavailable.
   • Example: Reggie Redbird's autoreply email subject says, "Out of the Office".
7. Enter a message in the Email Body: field.
   • The message contents should include whatever information you deem necessary.
   • Example: "Please contact Jon Smith at 8-0000 until I return on Oct. 1. Thank you."
8. When you are done, click Save Changes.

Automatic Reply (Full Exchange)

If you use Exchange for email (i.e. you are a Full Exchange member), then you should set up an automatic reply in Outlook Web App (OWA). This option is only appropriate for Full Exchange users.

To set up an automatic reply in OWA, do the following:

1. Go to https://owa.illinoisstate.edu and log in.
2. Click Options > Set Automatic Replies....
3. Select Send automatic replies.
4. Put a check mark in the box labeled Send replies only during this time period:.
   • Specify a time frame for your automatic reply by choosing appropriate start and end dates and times.
5. Enter a message in the box labeled Send a reply once to each sender inside my organization with the following message:.
   • Example: "Please contact Jon Smith at 8-0000 until I return on Oct. 1. Thank you."
6. Enter a message in the box labeled Send a reply once to each sender outside my organization with the following message.
   • You may copy and paste the same message from the box above or you may send a unique message to those who email you from an off-campus email address.
7. When you are done, click Save.