OL98: (IMO) How to Request Read Notification with an IMO Install

Unlike the Corporate/Workgroup (CW) installation, Microsoft Outlook 98 IMO has no option to request notification when a message has been read. However, it is possible to simulate this using the Rules Wizard. This article describes how to accomplish this.

To provide for request notification when a recipient has read your message, you must assign a special Category to those messages. Then you must create a rule that will operate when you send these messages.

To Create a New Category

1. On the Edit menu, click Categories.
2. In "Item(s) belonging to these categories:" type the name of the new category, such as RRR, for Read Receipt Requested, and click OK.

To Create a Rule to Test for this Category

1. On the Tools menu, click Rules Wizard.
2. In the Rules Wizard dialog box, click New.
3. Click to select "Check messages after sending" and click Next.
4. Click to select "assigned to category."
5. In the Rules description window, click the underlined word, "category."
6. In "Message(s) belonging to these categories:", type the name you assigned to your category (such as RRR), and click OK and Next.
7. In "What do you want to do with the message?", click to select "Notify me when it is read" and click Next and Next.
8. Type a name for the rule, such as RRR, and click Finish.
9. Click OK to exit the Rules Wizard.

To Request a Read Receipt for a Message

1. Open and compose a new e-mail message.
2. On the View menu, click Options.
3. Click Categories.
4. Click to select your new category name (such as RRR), and click OK.
5. Click Close and click Send.

If the message recipient's mail server is capable of sending read receipts, you will receive a read notification message. Some mail servers send no read information.

NOTE: Unlike an Outlook CW installation, this procedure does not provide tracking information by logging the read receipt to the message in your Sent Items folder.

For information on Read Notification with a Corporate/Workgroup installation of Outlook, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: