User retired - want to auto reply, but not use a mailbox

[JN]

I have had a number of users over the years retire or leave. We usually
disable their account, but leave the mailbox and set the Out of Office
Assistant to reply with a notice that the employee left. This ends up tying
up a mailbox license.

Is there a better way to do this without tying up a license?

I don't know if this helps, but when JSmith retires or leaves we regularly
set up their replacement SJones with the email addresses
sjo...@mycompany.com and jsm...@mycompany.com. Could I make some sort of
server based rule on SJones's mailbox that says if an email is addressed to
jsmith, reply "They are gone!"

[Michael Dragone]

The user with the departed person's SMTP proxy address could create a rule
in Outlook. This solution probably won't scale very well though.

What version of Exchange, by the way?

"JN" <m...@here.com> wrote in message
news:uB#g2h3EJ...@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

[Susan]

use caution, though...setting up a rule to respond to each message sent to
an smtp address can get you in a bad "looping" condition...

--
Susan Conkey [MVP]

"Michael Dragone" <news...@mikerochip.com> wrote in message
news:%23X%23NJl4E...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

[JN]

We are using Exchange 2003.

I did try to create a rule as a test on my mailbox via OL 2003 and I ran
into an issue with combining local and server rules. My rule was

Check messages when they arrive
for addresses containing the phrase ret...@mycompany.com
Have server reply with the message "I retired"

When trying to save the rule I would get the error on combining the server
and local rule. I can't see a server rule for checking for the smtp
address. I can't leave Outlook open all day so I need something that will
work on the server.

"Michael Dragone" <news...@mikerochip.com> wrote in message
news:%23X%23NJl4E...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Perhaps OT, but I don't know if this actually "ties up a license." Licenses
are for *users* - not for mailboxes. Or, they're for devices, which are
still not mailboxes. You should confirm your worries with a licensed
reseller or with MS directly.

Here's my task list when users leave -

1. Change the password ASAP
2. Remove the user from any DLs of which he/she was member, and from the any
remote access groups
3. Log into the user's mailbox using OWA to set up a simple OOF -

Thanks for your message. Note that as of <date>,
User Name is no longer at Company X.
Please call our main office at (800) 555-1212
for further information. Thank you.

4. Grant "Full Mailbox Rights" to the user's replacement, and show him/her
how to open the mailbox as a secondary one in Outlook. Then they can
open/see see all items - to copy/move out what he/she wishes and deal with
new mail coming in. I do not grant "send as" or "send on behalf of"
rights - I have the user remove the sending address from the From field if
he/she is replying to a message in the other inbox. But you could instead
use Send on Behalf Of if you prefer. The new user can send out a broadcast
message to whomever he/she needs to.

5. Move the old user's My Documents to a subfolder of his/her replacement's
...since I use folder redidirection this is all done easily on the server.
\\server\users\olduser1\my documents is moved to \\server\users\newuser\my
documents\Old user's documents

6. After a period of time, remove the old user's valid SMTP addresses
(change to something nonsensical like
213kjlfdskjlk3...@lxkjlkjldxkj.xwy in his/her ADUC properties,
so it doesn't receive any more Internet mail

7. After even more time, have the replacement user remove the secondary
mailbox in Outlook, once they've gotten what they need moved out to their
own.

8. Hide the old user's mailbox from the address list (Exchange Advanced tab
in ADUC) for a while before deleting it. I do this for about 6 mos, usually,
because invariably someone will come back and want something they've already
asked me to delete!