We use a Microsoft Exchange account at work and access work related emails via a shared account (multiple instances of Outlook working from the same account).

As it’s vital that certain emails don’t get overlooked in the general morass of emails and receipts it seems sensible to set up a rule to make these as important and assign a To Do flag to them. My experience of using Outlook as an Exchange client is though that most client side features are stored and operated locally on the machine which Outlook is installed (even signatures aren’t part of an account and don’t follow your profile between machines).

Is it possible to set a rule using Outlook that will apply to the mailbox as a whole rather than for it simply to run on the Outlook client on which the rule was set up? I’d like to be able to apply rules and set flags for all instances of Outlook accessing the share mailbox.

We only have client side access and would have to ask IT nicely to try and get something set up service side.

I think you would need a server side program, something like MAPIlab rules for exchange. But it might be better on Exchange that’s newer than 2003 that I’m using.

Some rules in Outlook are server side, some only on the computer.

I had a quick look and setting a ‘to do’ flag is on the computer side, unfortunately.

Could you not do the same thing but move all the ‘to do’ messages to a particular folder which then need to be actioned (and maybe moved to a different folder to mark them as such). This would work on server side.

Generally, it depends on what the rule does and how you set it up which determines if it is server side or not. Outlook will tell you though.

If it is a shared mailbox, you will need to be logged into that mailbox when you set the rule i.e. you need a mail profile that opens this mailbox as the primary.

From here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/manage-email-messages-by-using-rules-HA010355682.aspx

Server-based rules versus client-only rules
There are two types of rules in Outlook — server-based and client-only.

Server-based rules If you are using a Microsoft Exchange Server account, some rules that you create are server-based rules. These rules run on your mailbox on the Exchange mail server, even when Outlook isn’t running on your computer. Server-based rules must apply to messages when they are first delivered to your Inbox, and the rules must be able to run until they are completed on the server. For example, a rule that specifies that a message be printed can’t run until it is completed on the server. If a rule can’t be applied on the server, it is applied when you start Outlook and becomes a client-only rule.
Client-only rules Client-only rules are rules that run only on your computer. These are rules that can’t run until they are completed on the server, such as specifying to print certain messages. Client-only rules can only run when Outlook is running.
If your list of rules contains both kinds of rules, the server-based rules are applied first, followed by the client-only rules.

Actually, don’t client-side rules sync to outlook when you connect to the exchange server anyway? Eg if I set a client side rule on this computer and then set up outlook for the same account on another computer, won’t that computer sync my rules so that the client-side rules run on the new computer?

Obviously that won’t work on OWA or while no computers are running but that may not be an issue.

Actually, don’t client-side rules sync to outlook when you connect to the exchange server anyway? Eg if I set a client side rule on this computer and then set up outlook for the same account on another computer, won’t that computer sync my rules so that the client-side rules run on the new computer?

More than likely a preference thing stored within your profile.

Create the rules in VBscript’s Outlook Object Model, then push it from a login script. Can’t immediately think of a more elegant solution.

This sort of thing,

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb206765%28v=office.12%29.aspx

Thanks for all the tips, I’ll have play and see if we can sort something out.