Outlook/Exchange resource scheduling - best practices?

[Tom Geldner]

Our environment is Exchange Server 2000 with a mix of Outlook 2000 &
2002. We have about 20 employees.

I've read everything on Slipstick and followed most of the posts here on
this issue but nothing seems to address this directly. Here's what we're
trying to do...

We have a public calendar folder in Exchange that is supposed to hold all
of the special events and conferences we host onsite. They can be held in
either of two locations - our training facility or conference room. Both
have mailboxes setup for them and both have been set to accept / reject
meeting requests automatically via Outlook.

The problem is that some people have been scheduling these rooms
themselves on their personal calendars meaning that the events don't
actually show up on the combined calendar. And, the way our public
folders are configured, the resource calendars themselves show up under
Staff Calendars and are basically calendar.xnk links within individual
messages. That makes it a hassle to see what's scheduled in the
conference room for example because you have to open Public Folders, All
Public Folders, Staff Calendars, scroll to the right message, then double
click on the link in the message. YIKES. I'm not even sure this is the
right way to do it but that's how our IT consultant set it up.

What I'd like to do is have all events appear on one calendar and be able
to book the resources. I THINK I'd like to have just one or two people
responsible for scheduling them but I can also live with other solutions.

Anyway, what is the best way to handle this situation? Does the person
who schedules the meeting become unavailable for anything else? How do
you get around that?

I could really use some advice or pointers to guidelines. Again, the
Slipstick stuff is helpful but it doesn't seem to address the specifics
of our situation. Thanks in advance!

 

[Megan Kielman]

Have you looked at this tutorial?

http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/MF019.html

If you have questions about it let me know.

 

[Tom Geldner]

http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/MF019.html

Uh, did you even read my questions? We're way beyond what's in that
tutorial.

 

[Megan Kielman]

I don't see how you are beyond that, if you set it up per the tutorial then
you would accomplish what you are asking.

 

[Tom Geldner]

I don't see how you are beyond that, if you set it up per the tutorial
then you would accomplish what you are asking.

We are already set up exactly as described in the tutorial. My questions
were directed at:

1. using Public Folder calendars vs. private calendars.

2. best practices for handling multiple resources on one calendar.

3. booking directly in a resource calendar.

The tutorial simply addresses how to setup auto-processing of resource
requests. Not the best way to handle them in an organizational context.

 

[Megan Kielman]

">

1. using Public Folder calendars vs. private calendars.

Public Folders do not have the direct booking functionality that private
calendars have. Although you can view their Free/Busy information using
Group Schedules, you cannot "invite" the public folder to a meeting. Users
would need to manually book the time by open the calendar (Direct Creation).

This has been snipped from Slipstick:

------

Maintaining a resource in a public folder is a variation on the direct
creation theme. Users who want to schedule the resource make appointments
directly in the public folder. Use permissions on the folder to restrict who
has access to the resource.
The two disadvantages of this method are that the folder resource's
availability is not shown in the Meeting Planner, where you see the
free/busy times for everyone else, and you cannot invite the folder resource
to a meeting. You must book it directly by making an entry in its folder.

------------------

2. best practices for handling multiple resources on one calendar.

You wouldn't want to manage multiple resources in one calendar, it is best
to have a seperate mailbox for each resource. If you did manage multiple
resources w/ one calendar then you would essentially be blocking time for
both rather then one making it hard for people to know which resource is
being used and which isn't.

3. booking directly in a resource calendar.

What are your specific questions about direct booking?

 

[Tom Geldner]

Public Folders do not have the direct booking functionality that
private calendars have. Although you can view their Free/Busy
information using Group Schedules, you cannot "invite" the public
folder to a meeting. Users would need to manually book the time by
open the calendar (Direct Creation).

Sigh. I'm not talking about booking the folder. I'm talking about booking
multiple resources IN a public folder calendar.

This has been snipped from Slipstick:

//SNIP//

I already posted that I had been through the Slipstick stuff in detail.

You wouldn't want to manage multiple resources in one calendar, it is
best to have a seperate mailbox for each resource.

This is the way we are set up. We have separate mailboxes for each
resource.

You and I are talking in circles. Perhaps it's best if we discontinue the
discussion. I think that MVPs have probably assumed this thread is being
handled and aren't responding because of it. I'll probably start over.

The original question was mostly about best practices NOT about how to
set this stuff up. We already know what the possibilities are.

 

[Megan Kielman]

I will be interested to see if anyone can make sense out of what you are
asking. Good Luck!