Based on my experience, there are a few cases where automated responses are the right thing to do. But it really depends a lot on your specific situation. Out-

Based on my experience, there are a few cases where automated responses are the right thing to do. But it really depends a lot on your specific situation. Out-of-office messages are, of course, a type of canned response that can be used well in scenarios where people you don't interact with on a daily basis may contact you and need to know when to expect a response or who else to contact. I worked for a magazine where we accepted article pitches from readers via email. We had a response to acknowledge receipt, link to guidelines, and tell them what to expect (we'll take a look and get back to you later). Acknowledgement goes a long ways toward building good will with customers/partners/audience in a lot of situations. Easy to overlook, but "I hear you. Thanks." makes people feel good, even if it's a canned response. I'll admit that these kinds of throw-away emails can contribute to the firehose of information and inbox overflow, but I'll deal with it. A lot of times a simple "Thanks, got it" email from a colleague lets me know I don't have to follow up later and can move on to the next fire drill.