AutoReply - how to do it in EFA?

Questions and answers about how to do stuff
Post Reply
bostjanc
Posts: 165
Joined: 01 Jun 2016 17:18

AutoReply - how to do it in EFA?

Post by bostjanc »

Hi.
Is there a way to set an autoreply on EFA level when someone sends a message to a person?
I have read on the internet that there is one option to install autoresponder and configure postfix config, but that doesn't look to me as a "safe option". Don't want to risk to "damage" core Efa settings.
smyers119
Posts: 108
Joined: 29 Nov 2019 11:36

Re: AutoReply - how to do it in EFA?

Post by smyers119 »

I don't understand why you would want to do this on the gateway level. Make's no sense.
User avatar
pdwalker
Posts: 1553
Joined: 18 Mar 2015 09:16

Re: AutoReply - how to do it in EFA?

Post by pdwalker »

Perhaps you could explain what you really want to accomplish first?
bostjanc
Posts: 165
Joined: 01 Jun 2016 17:18

Re: AutoReply - how to do it in EFA?

Post by bostjanc »

Hi.
Efa is our SMTP gateway and internally there is Microsoft Exchange server

There is a problem on Microsoft Exchange server that you can not set a notification (Out of office reply) on a Distribution group, which is quite logical since distribution group is only a list of users and not a mailbox.

We have solved this with a "funny" workaround:
- we have created new dedicated mailbox with Out of office reply set
- we have joined that dedicated mailbox to this Distribution group
- but we had to enable on the distribution group itself anyone who is a member of that distribution group is allowed to bounce back to customer with his/hers out of office reply.

Since we don't want to expose who are other members of that distribution group if they had out of office reply set on their mailboxes, we had temporary banned/told users that setting Out of office reply on their mailbox is currently not allowed.


That's why I have asked if it's possible to deal with this problem, that we would be able somehow to setup "Out of office reply" for that particular SMTP address (which is a distribution group on Exchange) on EFA level?
User avatar
pdwalker
Posts: 1553
Joined: 18 Mar 2015 09:16

Re: AutoReply - how to do it in EFA?

Post by pdwalker »

I see what you are trying to do, but why do you want to set an "out of office" reply to that group address anyway? What do you want to accomplish by doing that, or what is the actual problem you are trying to solve?

I'm asking, because the actual solution to your problem may be something completely different depending on what you really want.

A solution that involves telling users "not to do something" is not going to work long term. It never does, so a better solution would be something that doesn't require their cooperation.
bostjanc
Posts: 165
Joined: 01 Jun 2016 17:18

Re: AutoReply - how to do it in EFA?

Post by bostjanc »

Hi.
thank you for your reply.
The idea is when customer sends a message to customersupport@domain.com (which is distribution group on Exchange like I mentioned in my previous post), that a customer will get one-time automatic reply sth like: Due to Covid19 situation we receive a lot of mails, for urgent matters please call us on this number+1xxxxx".
smyers119
Posts: 108
Joined: 29 Nov 2019 11:36

Re: AutoReply - how to do it in EFA?

Post by smyers119 »

Have you considered using a shared mailbox instead of a group?
smyers119
Posts: 108
Joined: 29 Nov 2019 11:36

Re: AutoReply - how to do it in EFA?

Post by smyers119 »

If you don't want to use a shared mailbox then you can always use transport rules to do this as well.
bostjanc
Posts: 165
Joined: 01 Jun 2016 17:18

Re: AutoReply - how to do it in EFA?

Post by bostjanc »

transport rules do not work with distribution group on exchange
smyers119
Posts: 108
Joined: 29 Nov 2019 11:36

Re: AutoReply - how to do it in EFA?

Post by smyers119 »

I can use transports rules with groups, but there is no option to send a message to sender. I would create a shared mailbox then create a transport rule that sends a copy of the messages to the your sales staff. Effectively making it a group with benefits.
User avatar
pdwalker
Posts: 1553
Joined: 18 Mar 2015 09:16

Re: AutoReply - how to do it in EFA?

Post by pdwalker »

ok, so yes, this is a valid use for an autoreply, and is also beyond the scope of EFA.

Unfortunately, postfix doesn't have an out of the box solution for autoreplies. There are commercial programs available for this (boo), or there are that you can try to cobble together yourself to achieve what you want

I've not looked too deeply, but I've found the following: If you choose to try this, you should go through all the comments at the bottom.

The postfix addons page is woefully out of date and is of little use at this time. You can look for yourself, but nothing there is relevant now. Outside of this, I guess the only other solution would be to have a shared user mailbox with an out of office response set.
Post Reply