Faculty & Staff on Exhange

Use OWA (owa.bc.edu) to set up your Out-of-office (auto-reply) message.

If you would like to set an auto-reply message for a reason OTHER than time out of the office, you need to create a rule in Outlook.

Students

If you are going to be away for an extended period of time, you may want to do something to help manage your email. You can set up an automatic reply to all of your incoming email, letting people know that you are temporarily away from email.

To set up your auto reply message:

1. Log in to Agora Portal.
2. Under My Services, click Email - AutoReply & Forwarding.
3. Click the Auto Reply link.
   The Auto Reply page appears (see Figure 1).
   
   Figure 1.
   
   
4. Click On.
   Important: Once you get back from your vacation or conference, make sure to turn off auto reply by clicking Off, then clicking Update.
5. In the Subject box, enter a subject for your auto reply message.
   For example: "On vacation" or "At a conference"
6. In the box, enter a message for your auto reply message.
   For example: "I'm out of the office and won't be checking my messages until I return on April 1st. If you need immediate assistance, please contact the Help Desk at 617.552.HELP (4357). Thanks!"
   
   Remember: Keep security in mind when composing your auto reply message. Just as it is not a good idea to tell people you do not know very well when you will be going away for vacation and leaving your home unattended, it is not a good idea to put too much personal information in your auto reply message. For example, you should put in your message that you are "Out of the Office," but do not add "In Europe for 6 months." Give a date that you will return and whether or not you will be checking your messages during that time. It is also a good idea to add an alternative contact person to handle work related items if something urgent should come up while you are away.
   
7. Click Update.

What happens if I have both Forwarding and Auto Reply turned on?

If you have both Forwarding and Auto Reply turned on, the email address you specified in Forwarding receives all your new email that would normally go to your BC account. A copy of all new email also remains in your BC account and anyone sending email to your BC account will receive the auto reply message you composed.