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Holiday checklist: don’t forget to prepare your PC
Whether
you're leaving the office for a summer holiday or
taking a business trip, there are a number of things
you should do to prepare your computer for your time
away. |
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When you’re planning time away from the office, cancelling
appointments and letting people know that you'll be gone for
a few days will ensure your responsibilities are covered.
But in the rush to get away, these things can sometimes be
missed, so here is a handy checklist to ensure your work
runs smoothly while you’re gone.
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Decline upcoming meetings
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Update your voice mail greeting
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Make sure your mailbox doesn't exceed
size limits
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Block off time in your calendar
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Don’t let your password expire
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Secure your laptop
>>
Turn on Automatic Replies (Out of
Office)
Decline upcoming meetings
Firstly, you should decline or
cancel any meetings that are scheduled while you're gone -
this is guaranteed to get you in the holiday mood straight
away. If your business is running Microsoft Exchange server,
you can decline a meeting using Microsoft Outlook 2010,
Office Outlook 2007, or Office Outlook 2003 as follows:
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1) |
Open the
meeting occurrence and click
Decline. |
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2) |
If you’re
the organizer of the meeting, either arrange for a
co-worker to run it or send a cancellation. |
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To cancel the meeting in Outlook 2010, select the
meeting occurrence and then, on the
Calendar Tools
Meeting
tab of the Ribbon, in the Actions group,
click
Cancel Meeting. |
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To
cancel the meeting in Outlook 2007, select the
Meeting tab
and then click the
Cancel Meeting icon. |
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To cancel the meeting in Outlook 2003, open the
meeting occurrence and, in the
Actions
menu, click
Cancel Meeting. |
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Update your voice mail greeting
Record a voice message that lets
people know you're going to be out of the office for an
extended amount of time. Provide the name of the person to
contact for immediate assistance, and let people know when
you plan to return.
Then remember to cancel this message
upon your return!
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Make sure your mailbox doesn't exceed size limits
If you're away for a long time,
you run the risk of your Outlook mailbox exceeding the size
limit set by your IT department. A full Inbox may prevent
you from sending or receiving email while you're gone. So
before you go, use the Mailbox Cleanup tool in Outlook to
check and manage the size of your mailbox.
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To use Mailbox Cleanup in Office
Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2003, on the
Tools menu, click
Mailbox Cleanup.
To use Mailbox Cleanup in Outlook 2010, click the
File tab to open
Backstage view. Then, on the
Info
tab, click
Cleanup Tools.
You can view the total size of your mailbox and individual
folders, or find and archive items older than a certain
date.
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Block off time in your calendar
If your company uses Microsoft
Exchange Server, you can mark your Outlook calendar to show
co-workers that you're gone. That way, they'll see you're
not available and won't schedule meetings with you. To block
off the time, just create an appointment in Outlook that
shows you're out of the office:
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1) |
In Outlook
2010, with your Calendar open, on the
Home
tab, in the
New group, click
New
Appointment. In Office Outlook 2007 and Outlook
2003, on the File menu, point to
New, and
then click
Appointment. |
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2) |
In
Start time, select the date you're leaving. In
End time, select the date you're returning. |
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3) |
If you're
leaving for just one day, select the
All day
event
box. |
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4) |
Under
Show time as, select
Out of Office. |
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5) |
Click
Save and Close. |
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Don’t let your password expire
If you are required to regularly
update your network password, ask yourself when was the last
time you changed it. If you're planning to be away for more
than 14 days, maybe you should consider changing your
password on the day you leave to ensure it doesn’t expire
while you're gone. To change your password, press
CTRL+ALT+DELETE and select Change Password.
Note: If you are unable to change your password using
the Windows options after pressing CTRL + ALT + DELETE,
check with your system administrator for the proper
procedure in your organization.
Secure your laptop
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Laptop computers are a common
target of theft. If you are taking your laptop away with
you, keep your eyes on it at all times. If you're not taking
your laptop, take it home or lock it in your desk.
Turn on Automatic
Replies (Out of Office)
In Outlook 2010 you can use
Automatic Replies (Out of Office) to notify people who send
you email messages that you’re away. In Office Outlook 2007
and Outlook 2003, this feature is known as the Out of Office
Assistant. This Outlook feature enables you to set an
automated reply to messages sent to you while you're out. In
the reply, let people know who to contact while you're gone.
You can also set up rules to file the messages you receive
or to send special responses to specific people.
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To use Automatic Replies (Out of Office) in Outlook
2010, on the
File tab, in Backstage view,
click the
Info tab, and select
Automatic
Replies. |
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To use the Out of
Office Assistant in Office Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2003, on
the
Tools tab, click
Out of Office Assistant. |
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Source: Microsoft at Work (Working Remotely)
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Visit our website |
Back to main e-zine |
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Delta Comtech Ltd
Artillery House, Heapy Street
Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 7JB |
Tel:
0844 412 8102
info@delta-comtech.co.uk |
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