Shared mailbox auto-reply to selected messages

Question

Case study:

• shared mailbox address changed and messages are redirected/forwarded to new address

Requirements:

• messages sent directly to new shared mailbox - no action;
• messages sent to old shared mailbox and redirected/forwarded to new shared mailbox needs to be delivered and have online/exchange auto-reply message sent back to the sender with information to replace old address
• there are 6 shared mailboxes with the same requirement

Is it possible to do it online - not via Outlook client?
Gone through many different topics about that and unfortunately haven't found any working solution.

Any suggestions appreciated

Answer 1

Hi!
The Out Of Office message is sent from Shared Mailbox. By default, it is designed that every sender can receive the auto-reply only once a day. If you want to config that the sender can receive the auto-reply without limit in one day, you may need to use the Outlook rules. But some Outlook rules about auto-reply are not available in OWA, to config the auto-reply, I would suggest you to consider using Outlook client which has whole Outlook rules.
Here are the steps of using Outlook rules to config auto-reply without limit in Outlook client:
1.Open the “File”, find out “Manage Rules&Alerts”

2.Choose Apply Rule on messages I receive to create a blank rule. Click Next.

3.Choose your conditions or click Next to apply the rule to all messages you receive.

4.Tick have server reply using a specific message from the Actions list, click on “a specific message” in lower pane and edit the message of auto-reply directly. After editing , click “File” and save the message.

5.Click Next to add exceptions or Finish to complete the rule.

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Answer 2

Hi!
Do you use Exchange Online or Exchange on-premises?
You can use Outlook Web Access(OWA) to config the Shared mailbox. Before configuration, you need to grant “full access” permission to the administrator account. After then ,add roles to send messages directly to new Shared mailbox and send messages forwarding to new mailbox. For more information about adding roles, you can reference this Microsoft KB’s Outlook on the web part: add-rules-to-a-shared-mailbox-b0963400-2a51-4c64-afc7-b816d737d164

This Microsoft KB provides the method of configuring automatic reply: send-automatic-out-of-office-replies-in-outlook-on-the-web-0c193ab0-b9e1-4058-84be-a5b014242290
You can edit the content of the automatic reply that the old Shared mailbox is no longer used and ask the users to use new Shared mailbox.

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Answer 3

Hi @BenOu-MSFT ,

Thank you for your reply.

This is about Exchange Online (OWA).
What you presented above is about to send Out Of Office message from another mailbox, which will be sent once to each sender per entire period OOO is enabled.
That means OOO will have to be reset (toggle off and on) at least each day for this to function.
I have seen Azure Automation instructions to automate this reset process but still, this is a lot of hassle for feature as simple as it should be.

Seams for so many years there is still no easy and quick solution.

Anyway, thanks

Answer 4

You could set up a mail flow rule to auto reply if any email has been sent to the old address. And, another mail flow rule to forward emails to the new shared mailbox.