Setting Up an Out-of-Office / Vacation Responder (Enhanced Email)

A vacation or out-of-office responder automatically replies to people who email you while you are away, letting them know when to expect a response. On Enhanced Email you set this up in Webmail as an autoresponder. This guide shows you how to turn it on, set an end date, and turn it off.

About the autoresponder

The autoresponder sends your chosen message back to anyone who emails you, on a schedule you control. To avoid spamming the same person, it only replies to each sender once per interval (one day by default), no matter how many messages they send.

The autoresponder is the same feature used for both "out of office" and "vacation" replies — there is one autoresponder per mailbox.

Before you begin

• Access to Exact Hosting Webmail. You must be able to sign in to the mailbox.
• The message you want to send and the date you want the responder to stop.

Step 1: Open the autoresponder

1. Sign in to Exact Hosting Webmail.
2. Open Settings.
3. Click Autoresponder. For an overview of the Settings menu, see Using the Webmail Settings Menu at Exact Hosting.

Step 2: Write and enable your reply

1. In the Autoresponse text field, type the message you want sent automatically.
2. Select the Enabled check box.
3. In the Interval field, enter the number of days before the same sender receives another auto-reply. The default is one day.
4. Click in the End date field and choose the date the autoresponder should stop.
5. Click Save.

Tip: Keep the message short and avoid sharing exactly when your home will be empty. A simple "I'm away until [date] with limited access to email and will reply when I return" is enough.

Step 3: Turn the autoresponder off

If you return early, or want to stop it manually rather than waiting for the end date:

1. In Settings, click Autoresponder.
2. Clear the Enabled check box.
3. Click Save.

A note on forwarding while away

If you want someone else to handle your mail while you are out, you can forward it in addition to (or instead of) an auto-reply. See Setting Up Email Forwarding (Enhanced Email).

Next steps

• Add a forward to a colleague. See Setting Up Email Forwarding (Enhanced Email).
• Set a signature. Configure your outgoing signature in Using the Webmail Settings Menu at Exact Hosting.

Questions? Contact Exact Hosting Support.