A method of controlling an electronic device, the method comprising detecting, at the electronic device, occurrence of an event for turning on an out-of-office assistant, for each account, associated with a respective PIM service, that is operational on the electronic device, determining if the PIM service is operable to receive updates, when the PIM service is operable to receive an update from the electronic device to turn on an out-of-office notification, sending the update from the electronic device to the PIM service, otherwise, sending an out-of-office notification, from the electronic device, in response to receipt of an email message at the electronic device, via the PIM service.