Do not deliver before / SBS 2003 & Outlook 2003 Cached

[Ray]

Could anyone help with a small problem.

Using SBS 2003/Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003 in cached
mode when an outgoing e-mail is set with the "do not
deliver before" option it just sits in the local cache
outbox and will not synchronise up to the server. It
works perfectly if the computer is left on and Outlook
left open but if the computer is closed down it is not
sent by the server at the appropriate time.

Is there any way to make it go to the server to be sent
out on the required time as it used to in Exchange 2000
and Outlook 2000/XP

 

[Jeff Stephenson [MSFT]]

This is "by design". There are two uses for a delayed send/delivery: the
original intent was that it would make sure that a message is not delivered
before a certain time (this is what you want). The other is setup with a
rule - it allows you to defer the sending of the message by a certain number
of minutes. Many people have begun to use this as a "cover my behind"
rule - i.e. they delay all messages by 2 minutes, say, so that they have
time to reconsider whether they actually want the mail sent. If you're in
online-mode in Outlook 2003, both of those work. If you're working in
cached mode, however, only one of those is possible, so we chose the "cover
my behind" meaning - as you've discovered, there is a workaround for the
other meaning, which is to leave Outlook running. There would have been no
workaround for the "cover my behind" use.