An Autoresponder is a facility or program that can intercept your incoming Email and appear to intelligently select and send an automated tailored response to the sender, based on the content of the original incoming Email.

This is actually achieved by using a series of filters to search for a specific word or phrase, which could be contained within any of the major fields (text areas or boxes) in the incoming Email.

When a pattern match is found, the Autoresponder sends out the appropriate pre-defined message, which may be personalised.

If used correctly, autoresponders can help to make a business appear very efficient and customer focused, provided any relevant "human" follow-up is implemented within acceptable time scales.