We would like to use the External Out of Office feature in Exchange2007, but want to limit the clients options so the OoO responses will only be sent to addresses in their contacts folder. I know how to enable external OoO globally and/or a mailbox by mailbox basis, but I have not been able to get the settings I want. I've looked into the Office 2007 GPO templates and I don't see any options there. Is there a solution for this, or do we just disable external OoO replies like we've done for previous versions of Exhange? -Max

AFAIK This is not possible. Exchange is not able to make routing decisions based on the contents of an individuals mailbox. Mike Crowley A+, Network+, Security+, MCT, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP: Enterprise Administrator / Messaging Administrator

Hi Mike. Thanks for the reply, but I'm not talking about any sort of routing here. A user's contacts folder is part of the mailbox and should be easily read by the server(s) in question. As a matter of fact, it is, otherwise we wouldn't have the option to send OoO messages only to senders in out Contacts list. But to tell you the truth, I'd actually be more than pleased if I could just limit the OoO options that users see within Outlook 2007. As it stands right now, I have external replies disabled, but people look at the OoO assistant and think they have the option to send OoO messages to users outside of the organization when in reality don't. It's just a matter of time before that becomes an untenable position for our helpdesk staff. -Mats

I knew about the internal vs external settings of OOF but never noticed that option to filter on contacts!Either way this is not something that Microsoft really exposes to the administrative tools. I did however find this article which is kinda off the beaten path but might be exactly what you're looking for:http://www.pro-exchange.eu/modules.php?$1&name=News&file=article&sid=844 Mike Crowley A+, Network+, Security+, MCT, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP: Enterprise Administrator / Messaging Administrator

hi,please look at here ;http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-6179076.htmlregards,Mumin CICEK | Exchange - MVP | www.cozumpark.com | www.mumincicek.com

Hi Max, Whether you would like to have OOF message only send to external Contact and block the client user change the behavior? Based on my research, we are only able to disable the user to configure external OOF by running set-mailbox with ExternalOofOptions command. For My Contacts only and Outside My Organization option, I would like to explain that the settings are actually saved in a hidden message in users mailbox. I am afraid that we do not have a method to configure it globally. Thanks, Mike