Outlook 2010: Setting up Out-of-office reply

Hi everyone,

I need to set up an out-of-office reply for a friend of mine who is using Outlook 2010.

I did go through all the steps for setting up an out-of-office automatic reply for POP, IMAP or non-exchange accounts (he doesn't use MS exchange).

I could set up the out-of-office reply. But the problem is, the rules wizard where the out-of-office reply is set up for all incoming mails, works *only* when Outlook is running.

I don't get how it works (and I don't get the logic behind this as well - one needs to set up an out-of-office automatic reply and then leave Outlook running all the time?). When my friend is traveling in a couple of days time, he is going to shut down his PC at home. Which means Outlook will not be running and the out-of-office reply is not going to be sent whenever a new mail comes in. I have tested it now by sending him some test mails. I get the out-of-office reply back only when we open and run Outlook. Not when Outlook is not running.

Can someone help me with this and how to set it up properly?

Thanks in advance.

 

This is because Outlook is just an app, and once it's not running, it doesn't exist anywhere. So it can't process any rules.

Your friend would need to set up Out-Of-Office (OOO) on the server itself. Any service with a webmail front-end would likely have that capability through said front-end. It would not be set up in Outlook.

 

Thanks. That makes sense. I'll check on the webmail end to see if we can set it up there. I'll get back with how it goes.

Edit: Yes, that worked - set up the out of office reply through the server/webmail. Thanks again for the help.