Another possibility with the powershell command-lets in Exchange 2010 is to change the "Out of Office" aka "Mailbox Auto Reply" settings.
The "Get-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration" and "Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration" can be used to view the current auto reply settings and change the message etc that is sent.
You can also have seperate internal and external out of office messages.
View the current auto reply settings for a mailbox:
Here there has been no message set.
Get-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration "andy barnes"
RunspaceId : b1531019-f59a-45aa-9176-3033ca169444
AutoReplyState : Disabled
EndTime : 03/08/2010 17:00:00
ExternalAudience : All
ExternalMessage :
InternalMessage :
StartTime : 02/08/2010 17:00:00
MailboxOwnerId : domain.local/New York/Andy Barnes
Identity : domain.local/New York/Andy Barnes
IsValid : True
Set the auto reply settings for a mailbox:
With seperate internal and external messages
Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration -identity "andy barnes" -AutoReplyState enabled -EndTime 03/08/2010 -InternalMessage "I am currently out of the office on until Tuesday 4rd August due to
partying and so forth. Please could all enquiries be directed to ext 123 and emails be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." -ExternalMessage "I am currently out of the office on until Tuesday 4rd August. Please could all enquiries be directed to ext 123 and emails be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it."
View the current auto reply settings for a mailbox:
Here you can see the message we have just set. Notice the internal message is different to the external message so that you can include further details to colleagues, that you might not want external contacts to know.
Get-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration "andy barnes"
RunspaceId : b1531019-f59a-45aa-9176-3033ca169444
AutoReplyState : Enabled
EndTime : 03/08/2010 16:00:00
ExternalAudience : All
ExternalMessage : <html>
<body>
I am currently out of the office on until Tuesday 4rd August. Please could all enquiries be directed to ext 123 and emails be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.</body>
</html>
InternalMessage : <html>
<body>
I am currently out of the office on until Tuesday 4rd August due to partying and so forth. Please could all enquiries be directed to ext 123 and emails be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.</body>
</html>
StartTime : 02/08/2010 16:00:00
MailboxOwnerId : domain.local/New York/Andy Barnes
Identity : domain.local/New York/Andy Barnes
IsValid : True
Disable Out of Office/Auto Reply:
Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration "andy barnes" -AutoReplyState disabled
Disable Out of Office/Auto Reply and clear the Internal/External message:
Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration -identity "andy barnes" -AutoReplyState disabled -InternalMessage "" -ExternalMessage ""