How to Centrally Manage Out of Office Assistant 1

[EazyPrey]

We have implemented a security policy for staff which means that they are not allowed to share their password with anyone. The problem is that if they are off/away from the office and they have not turned on their OOA, nobody else can!.

Therefore I would like to be pointed in the right direction (if there is one) towards any utilities, scripts etc that would enable an administrator to centrally activate their OOA and if possible, amend their OOA message.

Thanks in Advance for any help, it will be gratefully appreciated.

Nigel Bradshaw
IT Manager
NEPIA Ltd

 

[jlmartini]

One time I had to do this and as the administrator I could login to the mailbox and turn on the rule without having to give anyone a password.

 

[poochie]

Logon to the server which holds the user Accounts>change users password (anything you like within your definitions). Login (with the absent user's name and the ammended password) Proceed to Out Of Office Reply. Inform the user that their password has been changed and explain why, let them change it to whatever they like.

 

[EazyPrey]

Thanks for the replies so far, what I am looking for is preferably a utility to centrally manage OOA. I am aware that I can log onto their mailbox after changing their password etc but I don't really want to have to do it for several hundred users. Also many users are effectively on 24 hour call and sod's law means that the one time someone tries to access the system remotely will be 3am in the morning and I will have changed their password!.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Nigel

 

[soloxiv]

You might consider scripting this piece.

Something in VBS which would allow you to parse a text file (with the names of those which you wish to affect) and change this value, which resides somewhere in the registry, I'm sure.

It might take a bit to create/test, but sounds like it would be worth it after it is working well.

Good Luck,
Marcus Solorio MCSE
Lanlogic, Inc

 

[Zelandakh]

If your Exchange box is configured to allow Administrator access to the containers you can log on as Admin and get to their email then activate their OOA.

Check properties of the organisation, site or server and see who has permission. By default this is Admin, Backup account but you may have others.

Then problem solved and you can do it from your desk without knowing or changing their password.

And yes, it is exactly how I do it...

 

[EazyPrey]

Thanks to everyone for the posts. We are to follow Zelandakh's advice. It's just a pity that there isn't a simple utility to do this without going through the hoops of directly opening their container.

Regards

Nigel

 

[Guest_imported]

If you are using OWA, OOA can be activated remotely which may help