Exchange 2010 – Automated Signature
I’ve been messing around with my Exchange2010 server today and found a solution to automating signatures; for example adding a disclaimer message or as I’ve seen in some work emails adding marketing messages to the bottom of emails.
In Exchange2010 you can do all this via a Transport Rule, this is new as you can’t do this on Exchange2007 or Exchange2003 as I have seen in a SBS 2003 set-up I manage.
To do this..
1. Open Exchange Management Console and navigate to “Organisation Configuration” > “Hub Transports” > “Transport Rules” > “New Transport Rule” .
2. Give the new rule a name and a commit and click next.
3. Select the condition “send to users that are inside or outside the organisation, or partners” and click next
3.1 May be worth to later create two rules one for sending to inside the organisation and another for sending to outside the organisation.
4. Select the action “Append disclaimer text and fallback to action if unable to apply”.
5. click the blue text “disclaimer text” and edit the field. click next and create the rule.
Test this by sending an email to someone other another address.
You can use the following macros for inserting user specific information to the signature..
Display Name: %DisplayName%%
First Name: %%FirstName%%
Last Name: %%LastName%%
Business Phone: %%Phone%%
Title: %%Title%%
As well as inserting Word formatted HTML..
This all seems a little pointless on my Exchange installation as I only have a few users but I imagine this could save quite a few pennies on storage as it stops the signature from being appended on Outlook and then saved in the sent folder, this frees up space in the mailbox.
I suppose it also centralises management of signatures for when you are adding disclaimer or marketing messages
Nice little find, I may implement this at my work. I presume this can be done on a per site/hub rule?
Yes it can, It can also be used to enforce legal statements as well, intended use, please don’t print this email.. This makes it consistent across the whole company as well as reducing mail box sizes.
I’d consider only having them on the first email as opposed to each reply.. You can specify different signatures for internal and external as well..
Yeahhh we do it at the moment, but it’s all a manual process. We’re still on Exchange 2007 but have a few clients with 2010. Also think our server is running 2010. Sounds like you have a lot of kit to play around with! Wish I had the time and hardware to play around and get to know stuff like this.
Can’t say I have the time at the moment but its all pretty stable so nothing really need attention..
Bit expensive though, planning on getting Bethere broadband with a few IP’s and bring everything in house save some money…Hopefully consolidate everything then…
Much rather be playing with this stuff in a proper enviroment.. Got exchange2003 in a live enviroment but exchange2010 just has my mailbox..
I’d like to do the same but my interest in computers outside of work is virtually none existent now. The software isn’t an issue I can get any of that
although i would like to try WHS. It’s the hardware costs and the electric bills to get with it! I only just recently built my first server and installed SQL etc. Then my second a week after, build the domain etc etc to be at a clients the next day!
I heard Be are on the way down with regards to quality now…
Didn’t know you co-located it all, must be expensive!
Yeah got a box in Redditch just outside of Birmingham, little expensive…
I’ve always been with Virgin, on 50mb and can’t fault it… so fast.. never slow.. but Be have the advantage of multiple IP’s.. may go with A&A but its a long way off yet.. never really want to go to ADSL to be fair!
My interest goes up and down.. but always something new to learn.. next I think is get a few x10 modules..
What are X10 modules?
Have a look at ID-net with the FTTC, quite expensive but quality ISP.
Doesnt necessarily work though. Unless i have configured it wrong, it always appends the disclaimer at the very bottom of the email. So if i am replying to thread of emails, it will but the signature at the bottom again, not at the bottom of the reply
Any ideas?
I suppose you are correct, I am unaware of how you would get around this…
However though, do you need to include a disclaimer/advertisement on a reply? If replying you’re likely to be contacting the correct receiver and attaching it multiple times is effectively using extra mailbox space in the receiver’s mailbox…