Exchange E-mail - Resources and Rooms
Overview of Exchange Resource Booking feature
The Staff Exchange Service has improved calendaring support for booking rooms and equipment.
How the resources work
The resources as previously stated are special accounts, they do not have a specific user associated with them. By default we configure the accounts to automatically delete e-mail, this is because there is nobody who uses the account on daily basis to delete unwanted e-mail. By default these accounts are configured to only permit calendar items to be retained, and then only for as long as is necessary to book the resource. By default bookings a restricted to within the next 365 days.
Resources, by default, can be booked by anybody who uses Exchange (i.e. members of staff). This can be restricted by specifying users and / or groups in the Full Booking Rights and Tentative Booking Rights entries. Anybody not specified will then not be able to book the room.
See How to use Rooms with Outlook and How to use Resources with Outlook (below).
Each resource must have a named contact, this can be changed at a later date. This is the person who can authorise and request changes to the resource.
Each room can have one or more Resource Managers. These are people who are given the right to manage the resource. If they add the resource mailbox to their outlook profile, they can then grant people the right to view the resource calendar in the same way that a user can grant rights to people to view their own calendar. Resource Managers can delete any calendar items in the resource regardless of how they were booked. In the event that it is requested that other items are permitted in the resource, then they will also be able to modify / delete those as well. In addition to this Resource Managers decide what bookings are permitted when the Request Booking Rights entry has been defined. This is explained later.
Note you cannot delete a booking created by anybody else on the resource unless you are a Resource Manager for that resource.
Note only people and groups that are on Exchange can be granted rights on a resource.
Request creation of a room resource
How to Use Rooms in Exchange with Outlook
When you create a new meeting request if you click on Invite Attendees you will see a Location line below Subject. At the end of this is a button Rooms. Clicking this will show you a list of all rooms on the system, not just the ones you can book. Note: It does not filter out resources you cannot book.
Clicking on Scheduling Assistant will help you to see when the room is currently booked.
How to Use Resources in Exchange with Outlook
When you create a new meeting request if you click on the To: button you will see a Select Attendees and Resources dialogue. In the Search entry type Resource and you will see a list of all resources, not just the ones you can book. If you type Resource.Vehicle you will see just the vehicles, etc. Note: It does not filter out resources you cannot book.
Click on Scheduling Assistant to see when the resource is currently booked.
Modifying a Room / Resource
Exchange Groups (of people)
Ad-hoc Group Create Request
Using Outlook 2007 to Manage Groups
Using Outlook 2010 to Manage Groups
In departments with a number of Macintosh computers, please contact the Service Desk to manage your groups.
Naming Resources
Standards have been agreed for the creation of rooms and other resources. Each room or resource must have an account so that it can be used for calendaring.
Resource.ResourceType.ResourceSubType.Identity
For a meeting room:
Resource.Room.Building.ID
In this particular case the Building will be the text name of the building, e.g. Haslegrave, and the ID would be the official University room identifier, e.g. N115. If you do not know what it is for the room you will need to Ask Facilities Management for help. The naming convention has been used so that all resources of the same type are grouped together. Department identifiers are not permitted for rooms as departments can change name, move building or have resources moved between them. Using the official room identifier is therefore used to reduce the amount of complexity for departments and users of the system.
Should you require a resource creating you will need the following information.
ResourceType
of resource. One of:
- Room,
- Vehicle,
- Equipment,
- [Shared] Calendar (to avoid confusion with mailbox),
- [Shared] Tasks.
Sub Type
For Room this will be the building name.
For Vehicle:
- Van,
- Car.
For Equipment:
- Projector,
- Misc.
For [Shared] Calendar and [Shared] Tasks:
- The department id and then an identifier (unique within the department).
Department Id
For [Shared] Calendar and [Shared] Tasks only.
Identifier
For a Room this is the University Room Identifier for rooms e.g. N115.
For a Vehicle or Equipment, an identifier for the resource, such as a projector make and model.
For [Shared] Calendar and [Shared] Tasks this must be unique for the department.
Resource Manager(s)
User Ids of people who manage the resource / room, they will be given Full access to the resource / room, e.g. they can cancel someone else's booking. Usually administrative staff within a department who can manage the resource.
Named Contact
User ID of user who is responsible for the resource / room, may also be a Resource Manager.
Automatic Booking Rights
User(s) or group(s) that can automatically book this resource / room. People and groups specified here are permitted to book the resource without any approval from anybody else as long as the resource is not already booked and that the request is within the booking window.
Request Booking Rights
User(s) or group(s) that can request to book this resource / room; the booking must be approved by a Resource Manager. This request is then forwarded to the Resource Manager(s) and is entered into the calendar in a tentative state. The Resource Manager then approves or declines the request and this is then reflected in the resource calendar by either removing the entry or making it an approved booking.