In Easy365Manager, you choose a “Start time” and “End time” to schedule the activation and deactivation of automatic replies.
Watch a quick video guide here.
You can quickly locate the setting by opening up properties for a user, selecting the Mailbox tab, and clicking on Delivery Options.
This opens up the following form, where you find “Enable automatic replies” and “Schedule automatic replies” in the Automatic replies section:
In Easy365Manager, the “Start time” and “End time” settings correspond to the ‘StartTime’ and ‘EndTime’ parameters of the Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration PowerShell command.
The PowerShell command “Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration -StartTime -EndTime” defines a time window for when the ‘AutoReplyState’ parameter is set to Scheduled:
Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration – alexander.adams@azure.skrubbeltrang.com -AutoReplyState Scheduled -StartTime "2023-08-20 08:00:00" -EndTime "2023-08-25 17:00:00" -ExternalMessage "Out of office"
When “-StartTime” and “-EndTime” parameters are specified, the automatic reply functionality will be active only between the designated time frame. Emails received outside this timeframe won’t trigger an automatic response.
Scheduling automatic replies provides several benefits. It enables users to maintain professionalism by informing senders about their unavailability during specific periods. This feature is handy for vacations, business trips, or any other scenarios where email responses might be delayed. By setting start and end times, users ensure that automatic replies are only sent when necessary, preventing unnecessary notifications during non-working hours. This helps manage sender expectations and ensures efficient communication.
The Exchange Admin Center currently lacks a scheduling feature, only allowing users to enable and disable automatic replies:
