Missing "Out of office assistant" in Outlook 2003 (Office 2003 install)

Greetings, rightmirem !

You must be in the Mail view. The Out of Office Assistant menu command does not appear on the Tools menu in Calendar, Tasks, Notes, or Journal. Also, this feature requires you to be using a Microsoft Exchange Server e-mail account. Most personal e-mail accounts through an Internet service provider (ISP) (ISP: A business that provides access to the Internet for such things as electronic mail, chat rooms, or use of the World Wide Web. Some ISPs are multinational, offering access in many locations, while others are limited to a specific region.) are POP3 (POP3: A common protocol that is used to retrieve e-mail messages from an Internet e-mail server.) accounts and do not support this feature.

In Mail, in the Navigation Pane (Navigation Pane: The column on the left side of the Outlook window that includes panes such as Shortcuts or Mail and the shortcuts or folders within each pane. Click a folder to show the items in the folder.) under Mailbox - Your Name, click Inbox. On the Tools menu, click Out of Office Assistant. The Out of Office Assistant command appears on the Tools menu only when you click a folder within an Exchange Server e-mail account.

If the Out of Office Assistant command is missing, make sure this Exchange add-in feature is installed and turned on by doing the following:

   1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
   2. Click the Other tab, and then click Advanced Options.
   3. Click Add-In Manager.
   4. Select the Exchange Extensions commands check box.

      Try to use the Out of Office Assistant command.

If the Exchange Extensions commands check box does not appear in the Add-In Manager dialog box, do the following:

   1. On the Help menu, click About Microsoft Office Outlook, and then click Disabled Items.
   2. If Exchange Extensions commands appears, click it, and then click Enable.

      Try to use the Out of Office Assistant command.

If you still cannot locate the Exchange Extensions commands, do the following:

   1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
   2. Click the Other tab, and then click Advanced Options.
   3. Click Add-In Manager.
   4. Click Install.
   5. Click outex.ecf, and then click Open.

Try to use the Out of Office Assistant command. If you still cannot use the Out of Office Assistant feature, contact your Exchange server administrator for assistance.

Reference: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP052422351033.aspx

Best wishes!