Forum Home
Press F1
Thread ID: 124444	2012-04-27 00:11:00	Out of Office auto-replies - Policy?	caffy (2665)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1272199	2012-04-27 00:11:00	Hi, At my work there's overuse of the Out of Office auto-reply function - to the point where some staff are putting it on EVEN when they are around their desk but busy doing other things! Or when they've popped out for a one-hour long meeting . Grrrr . So I have asked our IT guys if they are happy for me to draft up a policy (and send to our managers for approval) that we can enforce . Things such as, only using that function if you're out of the office for at least a full day, etc . (It's standard practice/acceptable to have up to 48 hours to reply to an email isn't it?) I've searched on Google for a template, but most of the results are generic email-use policies . Does anyone know of a specific out of office auto-reply use template that I could work with? Many thanks! caffy	caffy (2665)
1272200	2012-05-01 18:56:00	I'm not sure if 48 hours is standard practice to expect a reply, in many cases I would think within a day is expected now, depending on whether it is internal within the company or external, and of course the subject urgency. In terms of an out of office message, I used to be involved in some training courses where we covered Outlook tips, and this was one topic we touched upon. We used to suggest it be turned on only if the person was absent for more than one day. We used to suggest a format something like: Thanks for your mail. I'm currently out of the office and returning on <date>. I will reply to your email then. For urgent matters, please contact <John Smith> on <alt contact email and/or phone> Your email has not been auto-forwarded. Key points and tips: - You don't need to say *why* you are out of the office (it's none of the emailers business if you are sick, on leave, in meetings, travelling, whatever!) - Have a specific date of return so the person knows how long before you will be able to read it - If it's not urgent, they will be happy to wait. But if it is urgent, they have another person's contacts. Depending on your company, you can provide an alternative email only, or phone number also - If you say your email is not forwarded, this avoids any confusion from the sender on whether the alt contact has already seen it or not - Remember if you are away for weeks, you might come back to many hundreds of mails! And you would probably need to spend some time with the buddy so they can tell you which ones they have already dealt with and you can safely delete. So allow yourself time to deal with this when you return - Also remember MS Exchange (I assume it's still the same now, it used to be when I last dealt with this in our corporate environment) - a out of office message only gets sent *once* to each sender until you turn the Out of Office off. So If I email you 5 times while you're away, I will only get a message the first time. - Another option in Outlook is to set up delegates, and give a specific person access to your mail folders (and calendar and tasks if you want) and reply on your behalf..but remember if you do this, they will see all your mails in that folder including any personal ones!	Chikara (5139)
1272201	2012-05-01 19:51:00	So I have asked our IT guys if they are happy for me to draft up a policy that we can enforce. I've searched on Google for a template, but most of the results are generic email-use policies. Can't you just create one?	pctek (84)
1272202	2012-05-01 22:34:00	Nothing to add on your template but 48 hours? If I haven't heard from a company within an hour or two of emailing I move on. In fact I will send the same enquiry via email to multiple competing companies and use the one that replies first.	DeSade (984)
1272203	2012-05-01 23:54:00	I think anything over a half day or if the person is working on critical stuff where immediate replies are expected.	Alex B (15479)
1