Is there a function within exchange (server side) to set the out of office assistant on for individual users without having to go through ms outlook on the client side ? Kind regards

To the best of my knowledge you can not set this on the server side.

The easiest way to do this is to open the person's e-mail box in OWA and set the Ooo message. If you don't have rights, give them to yourself!!

JohnGann has the answer. Either find someone who already has access to that user's mailbox (for example, personal assistant may), or use the Exchange Management Console to grant yourself access. Ask that user to, (or do yourself), log on to Outlook Web Access. Click the link where your name is (top right hand side), and type the name of the mailbox you wish to open. Once in that mailbox, click "Options". Now choose Out of Office Assistant from the left hand side list and set the options you want. Rules can also be managed in the same way.

In Exchange 2010 to perform this function at the server side: * You can use the Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration cmdlet.# * You can login to the Exchagne Control Panel and choose to Manage another user, then set the Auto Reply configuration. Steve Steve Goodman Check out my Blog for more Exchange info or find me on Twitter