Adding a reminder for recipients when a message is sent in OL 2010
When a mail message is ready to be sent, I want to use the application_itemsend event to add calculated reminders to recipients based on selected key words in the mailbody. Example: When the message contains a term like "tomorrow", the macro should set a recipient reminder on next day 8:00. Now catching the message through the event is no problem, analyzing the content and calculating the reminder date and time is no problem. But what properties (if any) do I have to set in order to send this reminder to the recipients?
I tried to read the already posted questions here. But none seems to provide a solution. Most of them seem to focus on setting a reminder for the sender of the message. But that is not what I'm worried about. That indeed I could resolve by using the itemadd event in the sent items folder. The issue is to have the sent item transport the reminder information to the recipient when sending the message.
What I am reading is, that it can't be done??? I find that hard to believe. If I would manually set the recipient reminder date and time by clicking the follow-up flag in the toolbar, then outlook somehow stores the information and sends it. Are there any hidden properties that can be used?
OL Version I use is 2010. Help on this is very much appreciated.
I tried to read the already posted questions here. But none seems to provide a solution. Most of them seem to focus on setting a reminder for the sender of the message. But that is not what I'm worried about. That indeed I could resolve by using the itemadd event in the sent items folder. The issue is to have the sent item transport the reminder information to the recipient when sending the message.
What I am reading is, that it can't be done??? I find that hard to believe. If I would manually set the recipient reminder date and time by clicking the follow-up flag in the toolbar, then outlook somehow stores the information and sends it. Are there any hidden properties that can be used?
OL Version I use is 2010. Help on this is very much appreciated.
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Just as an add-on to the statement: <<You can not set a reminder for the recipient from outlook full stop.>>
Here is a link: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/send-an-email-message-that-has-a-reminder-HA010355010.aspx
referring to a microsoft page, stating:
If you want to follow up on an email message or want to remember to check for responses to a message that you send, include a reminder in the message before you send it. You can also encourage other people to respond to a message or remind them of actions that need to be taken by sending a flagged message that has a reminder.
If you look at the second second sentence, this sounds like setting a reminder for recipients is possible? Btw, the article is marked as relevant for Outlook 2010.
Here is a link: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/send-an-email-message-that-has-a-reminder-HA010355010.aspx
referring to a microsoft page, stating:
If you want to follow up on an email message or want to remember to check for responses to a message that you send, include a reminder in the message before you send it. You can also encourage other people to respond to a message or remind them of actions that need to be taken by sending a flagged message that has a reminder.
If you look at the second second sentence, this sounds like setting a reminder for recipients is possible? Btw, the article is marked as relevant for Outlook 2010.
I agree with Neilsr. The sender can NOT set a reminder for the recipient. Some options:
1) Set rules in the recipient mailboxes to search for certain keywords?
2) Some sort of exchange tool to do the same thing
...but I'm sure this can't be done with built in tools by the sender. (think about how easy it would be for marketers to set reminders on their pesky emails to potential clients).
1) Set rules in the recipient mailboxes to search for certain keywords?
2) Some sort of exchange tool to do the same thing
...but I'm sure this can't be done with built in tools by the sender. (think about how easy it would be for marketers to set reminders on their pesky emails to potential clients).
ASKER
I did some tests on this. Here's the result:
If I do set the reminder for the recipient, and the recipient is within the same domain and on the same exchange server, the recipient does get a reminder. If the recipient is in a different domain, he doesn't get a reminder (and I do see your point why this is the way it is implemented).
But it still leaves the question: Where are these values stored? How can I set them? I do recognize that I can only use it to set reminders for recipients within my own organization, but that is better than nothing.
Any ideas?
If I do set the reminder for the recipient, and the recipient is within the same domain and on the same exchange server, the recipient does get a reminder. If the recipient is in a different domain, he doesn't get a reminder (and I do see your point why this is the way it is implemented).
But it still leaves the question: Where are these values stored? How can I set them? I do recognize that I can only use it to set reminders for recipients within my own organization, but that is better than nothing.
Any ideas?
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<<My concern is that this a reminder for the sender and not recipient.>>
Unfortunatelly you are right. It is only the flag for the recipient. This one I have already set by my macro, so no need for an additional rule.
So as it looks now, I have no clue on how to set these reminder values for the recipient, unless I do it manually. Somehow this doesn't sound right for a product like outlook but I guess it is the way it is.
Thanks to both f you (neilsr and weinberk) for helping on this.
Unfortunatelly you are right. It is only the flag for the recipient. This one I have already set by my macro, so no need for an additional rule.
So as it looks now, I have no clue on how to set these reminder values for the recipient, unless I do it manually. Somehow this doesn't sound right for a product like outlook but I guess it is the way it is.
Thanks to both f you (neilsr and weinberk) for helping on this.
ASKER
Maybe I am fundamentally missing something here. Let us start this way:
when I write a message in outlook, I can set a reminder flag for the recipient (see attached screenshots). I do realize that this reminder is honored at the recipient side, i.e., the reminder pops at the recipient. If your statement were true, I wouldn't have the possibility to set the flag nor would it pop up a reminder at the recipient.
<<You could send a meeting request/ calendar app'nt but you would soon get ppl complaining about full calendars>>
This is no option (not only due to the fact you mentioned). The only way to do that is to manually set the flag for each message I'm sending (see screenshots), which is a rather timeconsuming and error-prone task.
<<Is this for internal emails only? Inside your domain?>>
It is both. Messages to the same domain and messages across domains.
<<If so then you could analyze incoming emails and have the reminder set in code on an incoming email>>
This is not an option. I could do that within my company, but not for my customers. I do not have access to the Outlook installtions of my customers.
So bottomline: Is manual setting of these flags the only way to do the job?
Thanks for your help!
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