Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention relate to set of improvements to the out of office assistant that send out of office messages to senders of messages while a recipient is out of the office. One embodiment of the out of office assistant associates an out of office message with a calendar event to ensure the out of office message is sent only for the predetermined time period associated with the calendar event. Other embodiments of the out of office assistant generating different messages to people internal to an organization and people external to an organization, and the out of office assistant allows different rich text formatting for the different messages. In a further embodiment, a persistent reminder reminds the user that the out of office message application is turned on.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention relate to set of improvements to the out of office assistant that send out of office messages to senders of messages while a recipient is out of the office. One embodiment of the out of office assistant associates an out of office message with a calendar event to ensure the out of office message is sent only for the predetermined time period associated with the calendar event. Other embodiments of the out of office assistant generating different messages to people internal to an organization and people external to an organization, and the out of office assistant allows different rich text formatting for the different messages. In a further embodiment, a persistent reminder reminds the user that the out of office message application is turned on.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention relate to set of improvements to the out of office assistant that send out of office messages to senders of messages while a recipient is out of the office. One embodiment of the out of office assistant associates an out of office message with a calendar event to ensure the out of office message is sent only for the predetermined time period associated with the calendar event. Other embodiments of the out of office assistant generating different messages to people internal to an organization and people external to an organization, and the out of office assistant allows different rich text formatting for the different messages. In a further embodiment, a persistent reminder reminds the user that the out of office message application is turned on.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention relate to set of improvements to the out of office assistant that send out of office messages to senders of messages while a recipient is out of the office. One embodiment of the out of office assistant associates an out of office message with a calendar event to ensure the out of office message is sent only for the predetermined time period associated with the calendar event. Other embodiments of the out of office assistant generating different messages to people internal to an organization and people external to an organization, and the out of office assistant allows different rich text formatting for the different messages. In a further embodiment, a persistent reminder reminds the user that the out of office message application is turned on.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention relate to set of improvements to the out of office assistant that send out of office messages to senders of messages while a recipient is out of the office. One embodiment of the out of office assistant associates an out of office message with a calendar event to ensure the out of office message is sent only for the predetermined time period associated with the calendar event. Other embodiments of the out of office assistant generating different messages to people internal to an organization and people external to an organization, and the out of office assistant allows different rich text formatting for the different messages. In a further embodiment, a persistent reminder reminds the user that the out of office message application is turned on.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention relate to set of improvements to the out of office assistant that send out of office messages to senders of messages while a recipient is out of the office. One embodiment of the out of office assistant associates an out of office message with a calendar event to ensure the out of office message is sent only for the predetermined time period associated with the calendar event. Other embodiments of the out of office assistant generating different messages to people internal to an organization and people external to an organization, and the out of office assistant allows different rich text formatting for the different messages. In a further embodiment, a persistent reminder reminds the user that the out of office message application is turned on.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention relate to set of improvements to the out of office assistant that send out of office messages to senders of messages while a recipient is out of the office. One embodiment of the out of office assistant associates an out of office message with a calendar event to ensure the out of office message is sent only for the predetermined time period associated with the calendar event. Other embodiments of the out of office assistant generating different messages to people internal to an organization and people external to an organization, and the out of office assistant allows different rich text formatting for the different messages. In a further embodiment, a persistent reminder reminds the user that the out of office message application is turned on.

Abstract: Real time availability data (free/busy data) is provided for potential meeting attendees and/or assets. An availability service is queried for availability data for one or more attendees and/or meeting assets. The availability service determines the identity of an electronic mailbox server on which is stored current real time calendaring data for the desired attendees and/or assets. The requested data is retrieved by the availability service from one or more mailbox servers having data for each attendee and/or asset. Potential attendees may set permissions on their respective availability data to restrict the amount and types of data that may be retrieved by a given data requester. Data queries and data responses may be structured according to the Extensible Markup Language (XML) and application programming interfaces (API) may be exposed for allowing requesting applications to efficiently call the availability service for availability data.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention relate to set of improvements to the out of office assistant that send out of office messages to senders of messages while a recipient is out of the office. One embodiment of the out of office assistant associates an out of office message with a calendar event to ensure the out of office message is sent only for the predetermined time period associated with the calendar event. Other embodiments of the out of office assistant generating different messages to people internal to an organization and people external to an organization, and the out of office assistant allows different rich text formatting for the different messages. In a further embodiment, a persistent reminder reminds the user that the out of office message application is turned on.

Abstract: Real time availability data (free/busy data) is provided for potential meeting attendees and/or assets. An availability service is queried for availability data for one or more attendees and/or meeting assets. The availability service determines the identity of an electronic mailbox server on which is stored current real time calendaring data for the desired attendees and/or assets. The requested data is retrieved by the availability service from one or more mailbox servers having data for each attendee and/or asset. Potential attendees may set permissions on their respective availability data to restrict the amount and types of data that may be retrieved by a given data requester. Data queries and data responses may be structured according to the Extensible Markup Language (XML) and application programming interfaces (API) may be exposed for allowing requesting applications to efficiently call the availability service for availability data.