The vacation responder replies to people who write to you while you are away. The mail server sends the replies, so they go out even when you are offline. It is a Sieve rule on your mailbox, saved together with your filters.
Turn it on#
- Open Settings > Vacation Responder.
- Write the Message. You cannot turn the responder on without text. The Subject line starts as "Out of Office".
- Optionally set the Time zone, Starts and Ends. Leave both dates empty to reply until you turn it off.
- Turn on Turn on the responder and choose Save responder.
A badge shows Off, Scheduled, Replying now or Ended. After you save, the page says either that the responder is active on the mail server or why it is not. If the server rejects the rule, your settings are kept and your filters stay active.
Dates#
You enter dates in the time zone you pick. SipherMail saves them as exact moments in UTC, so a daylight saving change does not move a saved window. The end must be after the start and in the future, and a window can be at most one year.
Who gets a reply#
- Reply to each sender at most once every (days): choose 1 to 30. The default is 7.
- Different reply for colleagues: write a second subject and message for people on your domains or your organisation’s domains.
- Do not reply to colleagues: only people outside your organisation get a reply.
- Only reply to my contacts: people outside your organisation get a reply only if they are in your contacts or you have written to them. The list is copied to the mail server when you save, so save again after adding contacts. Up to 400 are used. With no contacts, nobody outside your organisation gets a reply.
What is never answered#
The responder replies only to mail that lists your address in To or Cc. It skips:
- Mailing lists, newsletters, and bulk or automatic mail.
- Bounces and delivery reports.
- Mail marked as spam.
- No-reply and system addresses.
- Mail from your own addresses.
Replies it sends are marked as automatic, so two responders cannot answer each other in a loop.
Limits#
The subject can be 200 characters and the message 5,000. You can save the responder up to 30 times an hour.
The iPhone and Android apps have a simpler Vacation Responder screen with subject, message, dates, reply once and external only. The colleague reply, time zone, day count and contacts options are on the web.