[Inbox] Auto-reply for Canvas messages

[sduffy4]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas LMS

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Please add a "out of office" feature to the Canvas messages so that students who use the Canvas Inbox to send messages during winter or summer breaks will know that faculty are off campus and unable to reply. 

[RyanGriffin]

I think there should be an option for automatic replies as well as signature sign off lines. These features help to keep everyone involved in the look as many individuals use this section to host other potentially vital information, and would save time from having to type your individual lines or colanders each time. These are common place features with email servers.

[DaniCotton]

This would make a big difference, and stop the huge amount of additional and unpaid time we have to spend going in to multiple inboxes. Having the inbox feature without an auto-reply available is honestly worse than not having it in the first place, in that it just creates new work, none of which is paid for. It's just another addition to the administrative workload.

It also seems like such a simple change for Canvas to do...

[ctraxler1]

This would be especially helpful during breaks and holidays...

[NicoleTrager]

As and Instructor I would like to be able to post an out of office for the inbox/ messenger function. 

[cmuir]

This is something needed very badly.  If a native auto-reply in Canvas messages isn't going to be implemented, then there should at least be an option to format e-mail notifications in a way that would allow students to receive e-mail auto-reply (make the from address in notifications the same as the reply-to).

[lesileksf]

Just chiming in--thanks to the person who first posted this nearly three years ago now. It's hard to believe this is not an option and that there is no response from Canvas on this! As has already been said, many students email me directly from within Canvas and it would be great to have an autoreply especially for holidays and breaks. Something quite odd to me is I always set up an autoreply in my regular campus email address during these times, and I do have my Canvas messages come to that address. Something I just noticed yesterday however, is that it doesn't seem autoreplies are sent to the Canvas messages I receive--I must be missing something, but when I look in my "sent" box of campus email, I see all of the other autoreplies to emails, but not to the Canvas messages. Anyone else experience this? If I've missed this issue in this thread, my apology.

[mvanmatre]

My main client just asked for this today - out-of-office reply. Our thought: it will inform students that they are being heard / that there's someone out there in the great beyond. So, stop panicking!

A past workaround suggestion that we re-tested to no avail: 

We have done some extensive testing last week and found out that the out of office functionality within Outlook and Gmail, automatically takes the 'from' email address (notifications@instructure.com) instead of the 'reply-to' email address. 

The solution for this problem seems to be very simple. Canvas needs to stop with adding the notifications@instructure.com as the from email address. Instead they should just use the long and ugly reply-to email address, which is linked to the inbox message within Canvas.

So, the community found a solve, just waiting for Canvas to make the shift.

[judy_rea]

I'd love this feature too. 

[judy_rea]

Please implement this idea. 

[JenniferSheppar]

Yes, please! As a school counselor who tries to be very responsive, it is frustrating to choose between (a) being unresponsive or (b) never having a break from work.

It also feels like a liability because if students report something scary like suicidal thoughts, there is nothing to tell them that nobody is hearing their cry for help!