| Страници во темата: [1 2] > | Poll: Do you usually set an out of office auto-reply if you are unavailable for less than 12 hours? Лице кое објавува дискусија: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you usually set an out of office auto-reply if you are unavailable for less than 12 hours?".
View the poll results »
| | | | Mary Worby 
Обединето Кралство
Local time: 10:23
Член
германски на англиски
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I never set the out-of-office assistant. I always have my phone with me and can answer personally, even if it's only to say I'm not available. Sometimes, it's useful to be able to communicate with customers while out and about in order to ensure there is work to do when I get back.
| | | | Vibeke Lindstad
Норвешка
Local time: 11:23
Член (2010)
англиски на норвешки
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I never do. I fear the moment when a spam mail accidentally works it's way through my spam filter, and auto-reply then confirmes that my e-mail is active. As Mary W. I use my phone to check mails when I'm out of the office. Hands-on approach is the best way to fight spam.
| | | | John Cutler
Шпанија
Local time: 11:23
шпански на англиски
+ ...
| This is definitely an "It depends" situation. | May 21, 2013 |
If I'm truly out of the office (away from home), I may set it just to let clients know I'm not available for a while and when I'll return. It's a small courtesy that helps them organize their work and time.
If I'm at home but puttering in my balcony garden or perhaps out grocery shopping for a bit with my better half, I'll just pop into my home office from time to time and check my emails. In cases like these, there's no need to be the "invisible man" and give clients the impression... See more If I'm truly out of the office (away from home), I may set it just to let clients know I'm not available for a while and when I'll return. It's a small courtesy that helps them organize their work and time.
If I'm at home but puttering in my balcony garden or perhaps out grocery shopping for a bit with my better half, I'll just pop into my home office from time to time and check my emails. In cases like these, there's no need to be the "invisible man" and give clients the impression I'm never around, so best not to set it.
The out-of-office setting is also useful because, unlike some translators, I have absolutely no intention of giving clients my mobile number. If I'm not in front of my computer or at home (they all have my home number) I'm simply not available and can't be bothered with work matters.
IMO, the out-of-office feature is best used in small doses and only when necessary to keep from putting clients off.
[Edited at 2013-05-21 08:52 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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EvaVer (X)
Local time: 11:23
чешки на француски
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because I do not know how!
| | | | | No, I usually find a way to check my e-mail | May 21, 2013 |
However, it is handy during real vacation
| | | | | Mainly for unexpected breaks | May 21, 2013 |
If I am home, I check the mail regularly, and if I am not, then I am off duty.
However, I do set the auto-reply if I am unexpectedly away on a working day, for a training day or just for private reasons.
I intend to do it when Danish public holidays fall on different days from English and Swedish ones, but so far this year I have a dismal record of working right through them!
So I owe myself a break and Constitution Day is coming up...
| | | | neilmac
Шпанија
Local time: 11:23
шпански на англиски
+ ...
If I'm unavailable during what my clients would consider normal working hours, I tend to leave a brief message telling them when I'll be back, especially if we have any jobs underway with deadlines.
I only started doing this comparatively recently, though. I previously only left messages when on "holiday", although I do tend to keep working even then, albeit at a less frantic pace than usual.
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If I am going away for a few days or more, I usually contact my regular customers beforehand to let them know. Similarly, if I am going away for a few hours and am expecting someone to contact me I let them know, and perhaps give them my mobile number if necessary. I don't set an auto-reply because I am on quite a few mailing lists or email groups and do not want to bombard unsuspecting people unnecessarily with my out of office notice. Instead, I try to check my email once or twice while I am a... See more If I am going away for a few days or more, I usually contact my regular customers beforehand to let them know. Similarly, if I am going away for a few hours and am expecting someone to contact me I let them know, and perhaps give them my mobile number if necessary. I don't set an auto-reply because I am on quite a few mailing lists or email groups and do not want to bombard unsuspecting people unnecessarily with my out of office notice. Instead, I try to check my email once or twice while I am away, but only reply if it is very urgent. If I am away from my desk for less than 12 hours, though, it can usually wait until I get back. ▲ Collapse
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for 1, because if I am away, I inform my regular customers, and for 2. you never know who is sending you mails and when you get home... nothing there- ring a bell??
[Edited at 2013-05-21 14:45 GMT]
| | | | | I am never out of office! | May 21, 2013 |
That is, far from the internet, even when I am travelling. So this question really does not apply.
I have a feeling that setting an out of office message can have a negative impact on our business for the following reasons.
- Busy project managers who receive such messages will hazily remember the out of office message even after we have come back, and refrain from contacting us for jobs on the mistaken remembrance that we are unavailable to take up work.
... See more That is, far from the internet, even when I am travelling. So this question really does not apply.
I have a feeling that setting an out of office message can have a negative impact on our business for the following reasons.
- Busy project managers who receive such messages will hazily remember the out of office message even after we have come back, and refrain from contacting us for jobs on the mistaken remembrance that we are unavailable to take up work.
- If we set up an out of work message we also need to set up a back in office message to erase the earlier message and its impact on the memory of project manager. I doubt if the back in office message does this effectively. What if project managers receives the out of office message, but not the subsequent back in office message? Or, what if the out of office message was received by one project manager in a large agency who then marks you as unavailable in their list, and then himself/herself goes on leave? You will continue to be absent from their list even after you have come back to work and may miss out on that dream project that comes once in a blue moon.
To avoid all this, you will have to unleash a counter information campaign about your new availability status which will take up a quite a bit of your time and energy and no one can say with certainty that it would reach all those who need to know.
Or alternatively, you will have to individually reply to all those to whom the automatic out of office message went and enlighten them of your new availability status. This of course cannot be done automatically, so it will have to be done manually at considerable cost to you in time.
Why get into all this muddle? Just take your holiday or break from work, and while you are holidaying, keep away all work worries locked up in your email Inbox to be tackled once you are back. The world is not going to end if you fail to respond to a job request. The job requester will wait as long as he/she can for your reply, and on not receiving it, will move on to the next available translator. Since in any case you would not have been in a position to take up the work, this should create no heartburn for you.
At least that is my approach to being away from work. ▲ Collapse
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Michael Harris wrote:
you never know who is sending you mails and when you get home... nothing there- ring a bell??
[Edited at 2013-05-21 12:16 GMT]
As freelancers we work (generally) from home, and as Michael says you never know who is sending you e-mails.
This was also pointed out in an article yesterday: "Do not set away messages for your email, telephone or social media. Initially, it might seem like a good idea to let any prospective clients who contact you during that week know that you’re away. However, remember that you’re also telling anyone who gets in contact with you that you’re not at home". (http://filthyrichwriter.com/copywriting-qa-how-to-take-a-vacation)
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NataliaAnne
Бразил
Local time: 06:23
португалски на англиски
| Yes (and feeling like the only one...) | May 21, 2013 |
It’s very interesting to read all the ideas against using an out-of-office reply because I use it all the time! I mainly do so when I have to go into town to meet with a client or similar because the traffic means that I’m usually gone for 1/2 - 2/3 of a working day. Perhaps, however, I’m being overly concerned about responding to clients promptly?! I just feel it’s polite to let people know I am working and that I will reply at around X time. I treat my business as if it were a physical... See more It’s very interesting to read all the ideas against using an out-of-office reply because I use it all the time! I mainly do so when I have to go into town to meet with a client or similar because the traffic means that I’m usually gone for 1/2 - 2/3 of a working day. Perhaps, however, I’m being overly concerned about responding to clients promptly?! I just feel it’s polite to let people know I am working and that I will reply at around X time. I treat my business as if it were a physical office clients could show up at; in which case I would never go out without putting the answering machine on and sticking a note on the door.
As for security, the fact that I’m not at home doesn’t mean no-one else is.
The crux of the whole matter, though, is probably that I don’t have Internet access when I’m out of the house. If I did, I doubt I would need to set the out-of-office reply. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Thayenga
Германија
Local time: 11:23
Член (2009)
англиски на германски
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Michael Harris wrote:
for 1, because if I am away, I inform my regular customers, and for 2. you never know who is sending you mails and when you get home... nothing there- ring a bell??
[Edited at 2013-05-21 12:16 GMT]
My regular clients always known when they can reach me. In case of an "emergency" absence, I will inform them.
Since all my emails contain my contact information, so would an out-of-office auto-reply. And Michael iis right, you never know who is sending you a message. I'm not paranoid, but there's plenty of cyber crime going on, e. g. identity theft, for me to support it by carelessly making my personal, though business, information available to just anybody.
Beter a little cautious than sorry.
| | | | NataliaAnne
Бразил
Local time: 06:23
португалски на англиски
| Re: Security | May 21, 2013 |
You’re all freaking me out about the dangers of out-of-office replies! Does it make a difference that mine only goes to people in my contact list?
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