Creating additional REPLY button

[Wendy]

I need to create an additional reply button on everyone's Outlook (25 users)
that if they get certain email messages, they could use this 'special reply'
to send a custom form that has a BCC and Category associated with it. But I
need to retain the REPLY features, such as addressing the TO automatically
and copying the original message into the new reply email.

I've created buttons that bring up specific Organizational forms for my
users but am stumped as to how to create another Reply button (to sit next
to the regular reply button) on the email toolbar.

Can anyone point me to an example of what I'm trying to do? A tutorial? I
added a toolbar to an email to add the button but then it only stuck on that
one email...

Please help, I'm feeling pretty stupid right now...

Thanks.
Wendy

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP]]

Outlook doesn't provide any direct way to reply to a message with a custom form. Is a little VBA macro a possibility? In a 25-user environment, it might be easier to do that than build and deploy a complete COM add-in. The code is relatively simple:

Sub DoMyReply()
Dim objOL as Outlook.Application
Dim objItem as Object
Dim objReply as Outlook.MailItem

Set objOL = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
Set objItem = objOL.ActiveExplorer.Selection(1)
If not objItem Is Nothing Then
If objItem.Class = olMail Then
Set objReply = objItem.Reply
With objReply
.Bcc = "(e-mail address removed)")
.Categories = "your category"
.Display
End With
End If
End If

Set objOL = Nothing
Set objItem = Nothing
Set objReply = Nothing
End Sub

See http://www.slipstick.com/dev/vb.htm if you need VBA basics.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Outlook and Exchange solutions at http://www.slipstick.com
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming: Jumpstart
for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.slipstick.com/books/jumpstart.htm