"Delegating" is a key feature in Outlook and has helped many an office worker take care of some last minute business on Friday afternoon. The difference between delegating and just giving someone permission to access to your folders is that delegating is the only way to give someone "Send-on-behalf-of privileges" or permission to respond in your name.

What can a delegate do? A delegate has the same authority as someone to whom you have given permissions, plus the added authority to respond in your name. A delegate can be given access to the same six folders to which you can give permissions.

To name a delegate, go to Tools>Options and select the delegates tab. Once you select a delegate, the following window will appear:

In this window you can select the permission the delegate has in different areas of Outlook. You can set one of four levels of authority for each area.

• None - meaning your delegate has no access to this function.
  
  
• Reviewer - can read items.
  
  
• Author - can read and create items.
  
  
• Editor - can read, create, and modify items.

Check the box "Automatically send a message to delegate summarizing these permissions" to give your delegate written confirmation. If you have Private items in one of these folders, you can check "Delegate can see my private items" if you wish to share them.

How does your delegate access your folders? It is very easy in Outlook 2000:

1. Click on File>Open>Other Users Folder.

2. Select the name of the "other person" and the folder to which you have access.

3. The folder will then open in a new window.

To send a message on behalf of the individual who made you their delegate:

1. In Outlook, running under your own profile, display a new mail message.

2. Click View>From Field. This will add the "From" field to the header at the top of the message template.

3. Click on the From field and select the name of the person on whose behalf you are sending the message.

4. Type the body of the message, fill in the Subject and Recipient's address, and click Send.

5. The recipient will only see the name of the person on whose behalf the message was sent in their Inbox Information Viewer. However, when the message is opened, in the message header itself, the recipient will see something such as "Buddy Goodsmack on behalf of Craig Mercer". The recipient is not misled as to the identity of the sender.

6. If you attempt send a message from a user who has not made you a delegate, the following message will appear:

If you travel frequently, do not have reliable access to your corporate e-mail on the road, and have a trusted assistant, it is good business practice to make that assistant your delegate.

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