Gmail – any way to bypass autoresponder in a certain case

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I am using Google Apps for Work.

I have a Google Apps account and mailbox (pmoore@example.com).

That mailbox has an alias assigned to it (inbox@example.com).

That mailbox has other aliases also assigned to it (patrick@example.com).

When I turn on Vacation Auto-Responder, it work as expected sending an automatic reply to any received messages (including those sent to the aliases).

What I want to achieve is for the Auto-Responder to NOT respond to any messages delivered to the (inbox@example.com) alias, but TO respond to all other messages delivered (including to the other aliases).

Possible Solution: I have considered a Filter, searching for to:pmoore@example.com,to:patrick@example.com, with the Send Canned Response option ticked in this case. This would work, but would be a bit of a pain to manage (updating Canned Response and re-activating Filter the Send Canned Response option every time I leave the office).

Has anyone encountered this problem and found any other solutions?

Best Answer

Personally I really like how the Gmail autoresponder works, so my approach would be to leave the autoresponder as is and work with the inbox@mydomain.com address differently. Google Apps has two alternatives.

  • Delegated access. Create an account for inbox@mydomain.com and access it from your main account using delegated access. Downside: This will require another Google Apps licence which is an added cost.
  • Google Groups. Direct messages to general addresses, like inbox@, to Google Groups. There is no extra charge involved, multiple people can manage the messages in any particular Google Group, and should you just want to have someone else manage the inbox@ messages in the future it's much easier to switch over access to the Group then it is to transfer an alias from one account to another.
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