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Overview

By default, the Out of Office Assistant is disabled unless activated by the user. OWA users also have the Out of Office auto-reply option set to External Senders by default so that contacts that are not within the MIT community will get the Out of Office auto-reply when they contact you during your absence.

Note: If you do not enter text in the text fields and the Out of Office Assistant is enabled, senders will not receive an auto-reply message.

For more information, see:

OWA Help (login required). For OWA Out of Office Assistant setup, go to Options > Out of Office Assistant

OWA Out of Office Assistant vs. Webmail Auto-Responder for a feature comparison chart

Hermes Stock Answers also has Out of Office Assistant setup instructions

To Create an Out of Office Message for External Senders

1. Access OWA and select Options > Out of Office Assistant.
2. Select the Send Out of Office auto-replies option.
3. Check the Send Out of Office auto-replies only during this time period checkbox. Checking this option allows you to edit the Start Time and End Time fields.
   • By default, the Start and End Time fields show today's date as the Start Time and the End Time defaults to 24 hours from the Start Time. 
   • To edit the Start and End Time fields, simply click on the down arrow for each field and choose the dates and times that you will be out of the office.
4. Choose to tailor separate messages for internal and external senders, or enter the same message for both sender types.
   •  attach 2 bvFor Internal senders, (those within the MIT community) enter your message in the first text field. Use the formatting tools to format your message in the fonts and styles you desire.
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   • For External senders, (those outside of the MIT community) enter your message in the second text field and format the message using the available formatting tools.
   • If you do not need to separate messages for internal and external senders, enter the same message in both text fields. You may also use the standard Copy and Paste functions to reduce typing.
5. The Send Out of Office auto-replies to External Senders option is already checked for you.
   • Select Send Out of Office auto-replies only to senders in my Contacts list if you want to limit the external Out of Office auto-replies to senders who are in your Contacts list.
   • Select Send Out of Office auto-replies to anyone outside my organization if you want to send Out of Office auto-replies to any sender outside your organization.
6. Click Save to save your changes.

To Turn Off the Out of Office Auto-Reply

1. Select Options > Out of Office Assistant.

2. Select the Do not send Out of Office auto-replies option and then click Save to disable the OWA Out of Office Assistant.

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