Email · Auto-responders
Send an auto reply while you are away.
An auto-responder fires off a pre-written reply to every email that lands in your inbox. Use it when you are out of office, on leave, between roles, or when you just want incoming senders to know their message was received.
Setup takes a few minutes via webmail. The auto-reply stays active until you switch it off, so remember to delete it when you are back.
Examples
What a good auto-reply looks like
A good auto-reply is short, names a return date, and gives the sender a person to contact in the meantime. Three patterns that work:
Thanks for your email — I am away from the office until Monday, 14 October. For anything urgent, please contact Sarah on sarah@yourcompany.co.za. I will reply on my return.
Our offices are closed for the festive period from 20 December and re-open on 6 January. Your message will be answered as soon as we are back.
Thanks for your enquiry — we have received your email and one of our team will be in touch within one business day.
Set up an auto-responder
Open a browser
Open any modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari) on a device that is connected to the internet.Go to webmail
Visit webmail.itdesign.co.za in the address bar and press Enter.Sign in
In the login popup, type your email address into the User name field, your password into the Password field, and press Enter.Open the auto-responders panel
Click your email address in the top-right of the screen, then choose Autoresponders from the menu.Add a new auto-responder
Click the Add Autoresponder button. Any auto-replies already set up are listed here too — you can edit or delete them from this screen.Write the reply
Fill in the fields with your subject line and message text. Once you save, the auto-reply is live and will keep firing until you delete it.Confirm it is working
A confirmation message will tell you the auto-responder has been created.
Tip
Test it by sending yourself an email from a different address — you should get your auto-reply back within a minute or two.
Remember to switch it off
Auto-responders stay active until you delete them. Add a calendar reminder for your return date so you do not leave it running longer than you meant to.
Still stuck?
Get a real human on it.
Send us the exact error or screenshot and we will get back to you with a step-by-step fix. Most replies land within a few business hours.