Policies - Auto Response Policy Configuration

Auto response policies automatically issue a response when an inbound message is received from an external sender. You can configure the text (or HTML) used in the response, as well as other variables. This policy could be used for the following reasons:

• Physical office move, closure, or inaccessibility.
• IT infrastructure outages.
• Unmonitored addresses.
• Natural disasters.

Considerations

Consider the following before creating a definition or policy: 

• Auto response policies apply the notification options based on the sender and recipient addresses.
• An auto-response policy does not apply to internal mail flow, and it is not possible to apply this policy to journal mail flow.
• Tracking options can be configured to prevent auto-response notifications from being resent after being issued once.
• To prevent mail loops, the policies aren't applied to other auto-response notifications (e.g., Exchange Out of Office replies).
• Auto responses sent out don't have stationery applied to them. If you've got stationery as part of your Mimecast subscription and use it to send out a disclaimer, you must add this to the message in your auto-response definition.
• Messages that are held, bounced, or rejected won't generate auto-response notifications.
• If an address alteration (or any other policy processing) changes a message's recipient addresses and becomes external to the account, any matching auto-response policies won't trigger a response.
• Auto response notifications are sent for messages in the delivery queue that have been delayed by pausing inbound delivery.
• Auto-response notifications won't be issued for the following:
  • Mailing list header fields:

“List-Id” “List-Subscribe” “List-Archive” “Precedence: list”

“List-Help” “List-Post” “Mailing-List” “X-Precedence: list”

“List-Unsubscribe” “List-Owner” “X-Mailing-List"

• • Automatically generated messages with the following headers:

“Auto-Submitted: auto-generated/auto-replied” “X-Auto-Response-Suppress” "X-Autorespond" “X-AutoReply-From/X-Mail-Autoreply” “Precedence: auto_reply”

“X-MC-System” “X-FC-MachineGenerated” "X-POST-MessageClass: 9; Autoresponder" “Delivered-To: Autoresponder” “X-Precedence: auto_reply”

“X-Autoreply: yes” “X-Mailer: MediaWiki mailer” “X-Facebook-Notify” “X-Autogenerated”

Configuring Auto Response Definitions

To configure an Auto Response definition:

1. Log in to the Mimecast Administration Console.
2. Navigate to Policies | Gateway Policies. 
3. Click on the Definitions drop-down.
4. Select the Auto Response Notification definition type from the list.
5. Either select the:
   
   • Definition to be changed.
   • New Auto Response Notification button to create a definition.

6. Complete the Description Properties section as follows:

Field / Option	Description
Description	Enter a description for the definition (e.g., Office Move).
Subject	Specify the text to be displayed in the Subject line of the notification. If left blank, the original subject line of the email is preserved, preceded by the text Auto Response.
From Address	Specify the email address that shows as the sender of the notification.
Reply to Header	Specify an email address that will accept replies to the notification, if different to the From Address.
Applies To	Select an option as required: Any Address: Applies to any external addresses, regardless of Auto Allow or Permitted Sender Policies. Manually Added Permitted Senders: Applies to addresses that have been added to the Permitted Senders list. Auto Allowed Senders: Applies to any address that is listed in the Auto Allow list.
Response Tracking Period	Enables or disables tracking of sent auto response notifications: Disabled: Issues the Auto Response notification each time a message matches the policy. 1 - 7 Days: We won't issue the Auto Response notification if it has already been issued in the selected time period.
Last Tracking Reset	Displays the date that tracking was last reset. Click on the Tracking Reset button to remove collected tracking data, so that new messages matching the policy will be issued with the auto response notification.

7. Complete the Plain Text Body and HTML Body sections as required.
8. Click on the Save and Exit button.

Using Variables

Variables can be included in both the Plain Text Body and HTML Body sections to populate specific elements based on the message contents. The following variables are supported:

Variable	Type	Example
Address Tags	[postmasteraddress] [postmastername] [fromaddress] [fromaddress-orig] [fromname] [fromname-orig] [toaddress] [toaddress-orig] [toname] [toname-orig]	<html> <head></head> <body>This is a delivery failure notification message indicating that a message [fromaddress-orig] addressed to email address: -- [toaddress-orig] With the subject of [subject] sent on the [messagedate] could not be delivered. Additional information follows: -- [postmasteraddress] -- [postmastername] If you sent the message to multiple recipients, you'll receive one of these messages for each one which failed delivery, otherwise they have been sent. </body> </html>
Message Tags	[from] [recipient] [subject] [messagedate]
Auto Response Tags	[replyto]

Configuring an Auto Response Policy

To configure an Auto Response policy:

1. Log in to the Mimecast Administration Console.
2. Click on Policies | Gateway Policies.
3. Click on Auto Response.
4. Either click on the: 
   • Policy to be changed.
   • New Policy button to create a policy.

5.   Complete the Options section as required:

Field / Option	Description
Policy Narrative	Provide a description for the policy to allow you to easily identify it in the future.
Admin Auto Response Configuration	Select the required Auto Response definition for the policy from the drop-down list.

6. Complete the Emails From and Emails To sections as required:

Field / Option	Description
Addresses Based On	Specify the email address characteristics the policy is based on. This option is only available in the "Emails From" section. The options are: The Return Address (Mail Envelope From): This default setting applies the policy to the SMTP address match, based on the message's envelope or true address (i.e., the address used during SMTP transmission). The Message From Address (Message Header From): Applies the policy based on the masked address used in the message's header. Both: Applies the policy based on either the Mail Envelope From or the Message Header From whichever matches. When both match, the specified value for the Message Header From will be used.
Applies From	Specify the Sender characteristics the policy is based on. For multiple policies, you should apply them from the most to least specific. The options are: Everyone: Includes all email users (i.e., internal and external). This option is only available in the "Emails From" section. Internal Address: Includes only internal organization addresses. While "Internal Address" is available in the Administration Console, this policy does not apply to internal mail flow. External Address: Includes only external organization addresses. This option is only available in the Emails From section. Email Domain: Enables you to specify a domain name to which this policy is applied. The domain name is entered in the Specifically field. Address Groups: Enables you to specify a directory or local group. If this option is selected, click on the Lookup button to select a group from the Profile Group field. Once a group has been selected, you can click on the Show Location field to display the group's path. Address Attributes: Enables you to specify a predefined Attribute. The attribute is selected from the Where Attribute drop-down list. Once the Attribute is specified, an attribute value must be entered in the Is Equal To field. This can only be used if attributes have been configured for user accounts. Individual Email Address: Enables you to specify an SMTP address. The email address is entered in the Specifically field.
Applies To	Specify the Sender characteristics the policy is based on. For multiple policies, you should apply them from the most to least specific. The options are: Everyone: Includes all email users (i.e., internal and external). This option is only available in the "Emails From" section. Internal Address: Includes only internal organization addresses. External Address: Includes only external organization addresses. This option is only available in the Emails From section. Email Domain: Enables you to specify a domain name to which this policy is applied. The domain name is entered in the Specifically field. Address Groups: Enables you to specify a directory or local group. If this option is selected, click on the Lookup button to select a group from the Profile Group field. Once a group has been selected, you can click on the Show Location field to display the group's path. Address Attributes: Enables you to specify a predefined Attribute. The attribute is selected from the Where Attribute drop-down list. Once the Attribute is specified, an attribute value must be entered in the Is Equal To field. This can only be used if attributes have been configured for user accounts. Individual Email Address: Enables you to specify an SMTP address. The email address is entered in the Specifically field.

7. Complete the Validity section as required:

Field / Option	Description
Enable / Disable	Use this option to enable (default) or disable a policy. Disabling the policy allows you to prevent it from being applied without having to delete or backdate it. Should the policy's configured date range be reached, it is automatically disabled.
Set Policy as Perpetual	Specifies that the policy's start and end dates are set to "Eternal", meaning the policy never expires.
Date Range	Specify a start and end date for the policy. This automatically deselects the "Eternal" option.
Policy Override	Select this option to override the default order that policies are applied. If there are multiple applicable policies, this policy is applied first unless more specific policies of the same type have also been configured with an override.
Bi-Directional	If selected, the policy also applies when the policy's recipient is the sender and the sender is the recipient.
Source IP Ranges (n.n.n.n/x)	Enter any required Source IP Ranges for the policy. These only apply if the source IP address used to transmit the message data falls inside or matches the range(s) configured. IP ranges should be entered in CIDR notation.

8. Click on the Save and Exit button.