Sending Email Using Exchange Server

The process of sending email with Exchange Server is no more complicated than sending email with any other type of mail account. However, you can take advantage of a number of options to address, organize, and otherwise handle your outgoing messages. Many of the options discussed in the following sections either work only in an Exchange Server environment, or work only sporadically outside of an Exchange Server environment. So, if you aren't running Outlook connecting to an Exchange server, you might not be able to use all of these tools.

NOTE

There are some advanced sending features you can use with Exchange, such as Send As and Send on Behalf Of. These options require advanced configuration on both the server and in Outlook 2003, and are discussed later in this book.


For more information about sending messages on behalf of another user, see "Sending Messages on Behalf of Another User," p. 689.


Addressing Messages

Addressing messages when connected to an Exchange Server computer enables you to take advantage of the Global Address List (GAL), an address list available to all users of the Exchange server. Every Exchange organization has at least one Global Address List and some might have multiple address lists stored on the server.

To use the Global Address List, open a new message in Outlook. Click the To button to display Figure 26.16.

Figure 26.16. The Global Address List is usually the default address list.

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The first address list you'll see by default is usually your organization's GAL. The GAL lists all users in Active Directory; however, those users don't necessarily need to have Exchange mailboxes. Your organization can include mailbox-enabled users (standard users with an Exchange mailbox) and mail-enabled contacts. Mail-enabled contacts have an external email address associated with their account in Active Directory, but don't have a mailbox on the Exchange server. In Figure 26.16, Laura Jones is a mail-enabled contact. Mail-enabled contacts are displayed with a globe icon next to their name to indicate that they aren't local to your Exchange Server.

To address a message to someone in the Global Address List, select a name and click either the To, CC, or BCC button to add him as a recipient of the email message. You can address an email to recipients in your Global Address List as well as recipients in your Contact folders. To change the address list you're currently viewing, use the drop-down list marked "Show Names from the" and select a different Contacts folder.

You can view properties of a user in your Global Address List directly from this dialog box. To view properties of an Exchange user, double-click the user's name in the To, CC, or BCC field to display the user's Active Directory properties, as shown in Figure 26.17.

Figure 26.17. You can view all the Active Directory properties for any user.

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Using the five tabs of this dialog box, you can view information about the user's location, department, manager, email addresses, distribution lists, phone numbers, and notes. Click OK when you're done viewing the user's properties. Click OK again when you're done addressing your message to return to the message.

TIP

For most Exchange users, the GAL is the address list displayed first when the user clicks the To, CC, or BCC button. However, you might want to change this to one of your Contacts folders. To change the default address book, click Tools, Address Book to display the Address Book dialog. From that dialog, choose Tools, Options to display the Addressing dialog. You can choose any available address book and use the up or down arrows to change the display order.


Setting Message Options

You can set a number of delivery and sending options when sending a message through Exchange Server. You can redirect replies to a different address, schedule a message for delivery at a later date, and include voting buttons for a message. All of these options can be configured through the Message Options dialog box. To display this dialog box, click the Options button on the toolbar while you're composing a message to display Figure 26.18.

Figure 26.18. Use this dialog box to configure a variety of message options.

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For information about setting the options for an outgoing message, see "Sending Options," p. 441.


Recalling Messages

Sometimes you might need to recall a message you already sent. You might have accidentally clicked the Send button or received new information that needs updating. Under certain specific conditions, you can recall that message and remove it from the recipient's inbox.

CAUTION

Recalling a message isn't an exact science. Even if you follow all the steps outlined in this section, there's no guarantee that your recall will be successful. It might fail completely or it might leave the recipient with both the original message and the recall message in her inbox.


Recalling messages works only when messages are sent to recipients on the Exchange Server. You cannot recall a message sent to an external recipient. The options are still there, but the recall will fail. There are several other limitations to recalling messages. To recall a message, all of the following conditions must be true:

  • The recipient must have Outlook running and be logged on to Exchange.

  • The message must be unopened.

  • The message cannot be moved from the Inbox folder to another folder (either manually or through a rule).

NOTE

It's possible that message recall will work if the recipient has Outlook closed. In that case, the recall might still work when the user opens Outlook. However, there's no guarantee.


To recall a message, use the following steps:

  1. Navigate to your Sent Items folder and open the message you want to recall.

  2. Select Actions, Recall This Message to display Figure 26.19.

    Figure 26.19. Use this dialog box to recall a sent message.

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  3. You can choose Delete Unread Copies of This Message or Delete Unread Copies and Replace with a New Message.

  4. You can also choose Tell Me If the Recall Succeeds or Fails for Each Recipient. If this box is checked, you'll receive a notification message in your Inbox for the recall status of each recipient.

  5. Click OK.

If you chose to replace the recalled message with a new message, Outlook will display a copy of your original message in an unsent message form. You can then edit the message you want to send. Click Send on the replacement message to complete the recall process.

As previously stated, the behavior your recipients see depends on a variety of factors, most of which aren't 100% predictable. It's possible that your recipients won't see only the original message, but also the recall attempt and the replacement message. If the recipient opens the recall message, she'll receive a message informing her that you've recalled the message.

If the recall is successful, you'll receive a message in your inbox informing you of the success.

Using Voting Buttons

If you're sending a message with several standard responses, voting buttons can help your users respond to your message with the exact information you need. In addition, you can track the responses your users send to your message directly from the sent message.

The default voting buttons available are Approve;Reject, Yes;No, and Yes;No;Maybe. However, you can configure your own voting buttons to meet your particular needs.

Use the following instructions to send a message with four voting options to enable users to choose between four sandwich choices for a lunch meeting:

  1. Create a new email message and address it to your recipients.

  2. Compose the message body.

  3. Click the Options button on the toolbar.

  4. Check the box marked Use Voting Buttons. The drop-down box adjacent to the check box will populate with the default voting buttons of Approve;Reject, as shown in Figure 26.20. You can accept the default voting buttons or enter your own.

    Figure 26.20. Outlook's default voting buttons are Approve;Reject.

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  5. Enter Turkey;Pastrami;Roast Beef;Vegetarian in the voting button drop-down box. Click Close.

  6. Send your message.

When your recipients receive the message, it will look similar to Figure 26.21.

Figure 26.21. Your recipients can click the appropriate voting button to send their response.

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If you're trying to send voting buttons to both Exchange recipients and Internet recipients and your Internet recipients aren't receiving the voting buttons, see "Internet Recipients Can't Vote" in the "Troubleshooting" section at the end of this chapter.


NOTE

Unfortunately, voting buttons aren't viewable directly in the Reading Pane. A message with voting buttons attached will display the following message in the InfoBar: Vote by clicking in this InfoBar and selecting your choice from the menu. Your recipients can either click on the InfoBar to choose their vote or open the message to see the voting buttons. Because of this, it's a good idea to mention to your recipients in the body of the message that voting buttons are present.


Tally Votes

After you send a message with voting buttons, you can use that sent item to tally your voting responses. Navigate to the sent item in the Sent Items folder and open the item. The item now has a second tab: Tracking. Click the Tracking tab to display Figure 26.22. You can see the total number of responses, each recipient's individual response, and how many votes each choice received.

Figure 26.22. The Tracking tab enables you to tally your votes.

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Special Edition Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
Special Edition Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
ISBN: 0789729563
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 426

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