The tone of your out-of-office auto-reply may vary depending on the intended recipient of your email.
Optionally, if you want eDesk to send the auto-response at a random time, you can also configure the maximum delay field. In this case, if you set a minimum delay of 1 and a maximum delay of 4, then eDesk will auto-respond with this template between 1 and 4 minutes after it received the message.
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As a side note, I put a similar message on my work and cell phones, and once I didn’t change the cell message back for nearly a year. (It was my personal cell number, and only my parents ever left messages.)
By the way, [Name], our [Title], will be giving a speech sharing unique experience in [field]. I think you’ll enjoy it.
The bad news is that I’m out of office. The good news is that I’m out of office and enjoying elotes in Cancún.
If I’m out for three months, *someone* is doing each bit of my job in that time. Me coming back and wading through three months of emails where the majority of them will involve someone seeing the OOO and promptly emailing my cover instead, and trying to track down which ones did that and cc-ed me, which ones did that and *didn’t* cc me, and which ones fell off is just a terrible use of getting-back-up-to-speed time.
To set automatic out of office replies on the Microsoft Outlook desktop app, go to File > Automatic Replies > Send automatic replies.
In 2013, researcher danah boyd wrote a LinkedIn blog post advocating for the nuclear option which was framed in the piece as an “email sabbatical.” Coming back to an empty inbox after a vacation is should be a break from the insanity, not a procrastination of it,” boyd wrote of the decision to send everything to the trash.
Email autoresponder platform seems to provide great help when you are probably not a good situation to reply to emails in time. It definitely would be a good thing to learn in every organization. MenuCategoriesComputersSmart HomeWiFi & NetworkingMobile & TabletsTV & Home TheaterPrintersBusiness Technology Home Business Technology How to Set Up an Automati... How to Set Up an Automatic Out of Office Reply in Outlook
Ugh, I wouldn’t mind changing daily if I could have a couple of prepared responses for normal circumstances (i.e.: “I’ve left for the day, but I’ll be back in the office tomorrow morning to return your call”) to select from, but having to create a new message for Tuesday night when the info for Monday night is the same? Rage inducing. Email is asynchronous, you KNOW you’re not going to get an instant reply and sometimes you email knowing fully well that it won’t be seen until the next morning/week/whatever. Why on earth mandate an auto-reply for that?
My favorite one that I’ve heard is from TV. “You’ve reached {name}. I can’t answer. Don’t waste my time.”
I don’t use the OOO. If you’re supposed to be able to reach me by email, I have already proactively notified you of my absence. If you’re not supposed to be able to reach me by email, your email is already in the junk folder and I think it’s cruel to offer you false hope I’m going to read it upon my return from the rare PTO I take.
I’ve started using one that’s short/sweet but still has a little bit of JAZZ. I can’t take credit for it – I saw it on Twitter a few years ago. It’s been received well both inside and outside of my organization. Here it is. If it speaks to you, please yoink it and use it as you wish:
On the other hand, you can get more interesting or playful with subject lines such as:
This article originally appeared on The Daily Muse and is reprinted with permission.
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In a role where I got many OoO replies, I actually loved this. (And wrote back in said language. And got a reply!)