Configure single Outlook 2003 Account to try multiple outgoing servers?

[scriptmonkey]

Is there a way to configure a single Outlook 2003 account to try
different SMTP servers for Outgoing mail?

I log in from two different locations, and both are behind firewalls.
And from each location I can't get to the other SMTP server to send my
mail.

To get around this, I've created two Outlook accounts to use. One for
each location. But this is not a good solution, because I have to
remember to use the correct account, and it's easy to make a mistake.
....When I do, the outgoing mail very quietly sits in my Outbox, and
doesn't get sent. People get very upset at me for not receiving
important documents in a timely manner.

I DON'T CARE which server my mail get's sent from. Because I can
RECEIVE incoming emails from both accounts at either location. ...It
doesn't matter to me which account my colleagues recieve the mail from.
....I just care whether it gets sent.

Can I have ONE account try two different Outgoing Mail Servers? Or is
there a way to get very noticable notification when my email doesn't
get sent right away?

I'm willing to have a VB routine try multiple accounts, and could read
and implement a sample if someone has it.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

No.

 

[scriptmonkey]

Wow.

While I admire a concise answer, I have to ask...

Can you have Outlook notify you if a mail doesn't get immediately sent?
(So I could laboriously but at least safely change the account and
resend it.)

At a bare minimum, can't VB determine if a Server is reachable at
startup, and configure the Default Account to be the correct one? (Or
the one that CAN send outgoing mails.)

Can't VB automation or CDO do anything to try and correctly change the
outgoing mail server.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

At a minimum, any mail that can't be sent will remain in your Outbox, and
you'll see an Errors message or icon at the lower right edge of the main
Outlook window.

If you wanted a programming answer, you might have asked in a programming
forum. Outlook VB/VBA provides no programmability interface for account
information. You might be able to use Redemption's ProfMan library
(http://www.dimastr.com/redemption/ ).

There is an Outlook Account Management API, but it's available to C++ and
Delphi programmers only, not VB. See http://www.outlookcode.com/d/index.htm
for links to docs.

Testing the availability of a particular SMTP server would also be possible,
but again, not with Outlook objects. Since CDO for Windows is a pure SMTP
mail component, I imagine that it can raise an error if an SMTP server is
unavailable.

You should be able to use CommandBars to change the sending account -- see
http://www.outlookcode.com/d/tips/commandbarfun.htm

 

[scriptmonkey]

Wow...

Alright, you really know your stuff. ...Checked to see if your book
was on O'reilly Safari. Would have snapped it up with one of my open
slots.

Ok, so I guess slapping the CDO, and Redemption object down to my
machine may enable me to use VB to test for SMTP server availability,
and dynamically configure the account on the fly. (I don't even want
to think about what kind of viruses that might open me up to.)

I don't know why, but kind of figured that with .NET, VB would be able
to finally do everything C could. ...I guess that still isn't true for
VBA.

Alright. This might be a fun weekend project. But in the meantime do
you, or does anyone know of a way to get BETTER notification when a
message doesn't immediately send. It hangs out in the Outbox like it's
keeping a secret. I need a way that it will let me know, because
....one more missed deadline, and my goose is cooked.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

use hosts and swap the IPs when you change carriers -see
http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives/2004/20040322.htm for specifics.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)



Join OneNote Tips mailing list: http://www.onenote-tips.net/

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

CDO for Windows is part of Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Nothing extra to
install. Have fun.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Cool! What would be neat would be to combine that with a CDO for Windows
script to test which server is available and then update the HOSTS file
automatically.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

use hosts and swap the IPs when you change carriers -see
http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives/2004/20040322.htm for specifics.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)



Join OneNote Tips mailing list: http://www.onenote-tips.net/

Is there a way to configure a single Outlook 2003 account to try
different SMTP servers for Outgoing mail?

I log in from two different locations, and both are behind firewalls.
And from each location I can't get to the other SMTP server to send my
mail.

To get around this, I've created two Outlook accounts to use. One for
each location. But this is not a good solution, because I have to
remember to use the correct account, and it's easy to make a mistake.
...When I do, the outgoing mail very quietly sits in my Outbox, and
doesn't get sent. People get very upset at me for not receiving
important documents in a timely manner.

I DON'T CARE which server my mail get's sent from. Because I can
RECEIVE incoming emails from both accounts at either location. ...It
doesn't matter to me which account my colleagues recieve the mail from.
...I just care whether it gets sent.

Can I have ONE account try two different Outgoing Mail Servers? Or is
there a way to get very noticable notification when my email doesn't
get sent right away?

I'm willing to have a VB routine try multiple accounts, and could read
and implement a sample if someone has it.

 

[scriptmonkey]

LMHosts file eh?

Hmmmm.... I'm a geek at heart, so I do have an appreciation for the
lateral thinking that solution requires. I was thinking "Outlook", and
hadn't really thought IP Aliasing or O.S. ...It's elegant and it may
work.

However, now I'm pondering what will happen if the IP address changes.
....Or what may happen to my other applications when I start dnsflushing
on a regular basis.

I guess I'll have to mess around with it.

Still hoping for a way to "enhanse" the notification one might get when
a message doesn't immediately post to an SMTP server. That more then
anything else might solve a lot of problems.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

since it will only affect the mail server by name, any other apps won;t be
affected, unless you configure them to use "mail" as the SMTP. Flushing will
only cause apps to go to the dns server rather than using cached IPs - you
may find it doesn't require flushing at all, especially if you do it when
you make the change in connections, not right before you need to send mail.

naturally, if either mail server changes it's ip, you'll need to change it -
but that shouldn't be too often, if at all.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)



Join OneNote Tips mailing list: http://www.onenote-tips.net/