Email etiquette is important, and it’s inappropriate not to reply to emails. It’s complex whether to send an automatic reply to all emails, but it’s polite for businesses to acknowledge receipt. If you’re going on vacation, it’s recommended to send an auto reply to all emails, but make sure it’s polite and professional. Keep in mind that some emails may bounce, so it’s important to only receive personal or business emails. Healthcare professionals should also send an automatic response when they’re out of town for more than two days.
Email etiquette, sometimes referred to as netiquette in broad terms, is a tricky thing. It is certainly not appropriate not to reply to emails, especially from individuals, but we are all busy at times and may not be able to do anything other than acknowledging receipt of emails and promising to write in more detail in a second moment. The question of whether it is appropriate to send an automatic reply to all emails is also complex.
In general, it is considered inappropriate to send an automatic reply to all emails when you are fully capable of returning a reply. The practice is also becoming more common when people are able to reply to their own mail, and this would appear to be a violation of email etiquette. On the other hand, if you plan to go on a vacation and you are an individual, work for a small business, or have private practice as a lawyer or doctor, people may be waiting several days to several weeks hoping for a response from you that might take longer than they expected. If you receive large amounts of email, email etiquette experts recommend that you compose a proper response and send an auto reply to all emails if you expect to be absent from your computer or an email source for more than 48 hours during the working week.
The response you frame should be polite and professional, as you may receive letters from friends or professionals. Declare your absence, even if you don’t need to give a reason, and provide an estimate of when you expect to start replying to emails. Give yourself a few extra days, especially if you receive a large number of emails. This way you can fulfill your obligations to respond to emails while still giving yourself time to get back on track after being away for a few days.
Keep in mind that some of your emails are likely to bounce when you use an auto responder, especially if you get a lot of SPAM or Bacn emails. In fact, if you subscribe to newsgroups or social networking sites, you may want to unsubscribe while on vacation. That way you won’t fill other people’s mailboxes with multiple messages about how you’re away, which is considered rude. Ideally, if you’re going to be using an automatic reply to all emails while you’re away, you should make sure you only receive messages of a personal or business nature. If you don’t want to miss newsgroup or Bacn emails, sign up for them with a different email address than the one you use for personal or business correspondence.
Large companies or businesses that receive a significant amount of emails can use an autoresponder system to confirm receipt of emails. It is considered polite for any business to send an automatic reply to all emails because it acknowledges receipt. This situation is analogous to a busy waitress nodding at you in a restaurant. She lets you know that she sees you and that she will be at your table ASAP. A large company that will eventually respond to your email is essentially giving that friendly nod with the promise of a personal response within days or weeks.
It is especially important that doctors, therapists and all healthcare professionals who use email correspondence with patients send an automatic response to all emails when they will be out of town during the work week for more than two days. If a patient has an immediate problem, healthcare professionals can designate an alternate contact so the patient doesn’t have to wait several days and fail to address a health issue that may need immediate attention.
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