Show subject line & location only - not the details of my calendar

[rgrafton0128]

Our office policy is to be able to view the busy times on employees calendars
but we don't want users to be able to see the details - ONLY THE SUBJECT LINE
& LOCATION because sometimes there is confidential information in the details
or in an attachment. We are using Outlook 2002. From what I remember, in
Outlook 2000 you could set up your calendar to allow only this view but I
can't seem to do it in Outlook 2002. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
as being able to see WHERE a person is when they are busy is a very useful
tool so we don't want to give up this feature.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

I'm not aware of any such option in outlook 2000. Are you actually viewing
the calendar or just their free/busy?

 

[rgrafton0128]

Thank you for the quick response Diane. We have our default permissions
setup as "reviewer" so that others can view everyones busy time and their
location and subject matter when one hovers over the blue area of a busy time
when scheduling a meeting. In Outlook 2002 their feature also allows us to
open up the actual calendar and see all the details for that entry and any
attachments that may be with it. I am pretty sure that with Outlook 2000 we
could set it to only allow others to see the subject and location line when
they would hover over the busy times. To answer your question, I am only
viewing their free/busy time this way but I can also go to File >Open Other
Users Folder and open anyone's calendar who has set up the default
Permissions to "reviewer". We have a very large office and many times we
need to physically locate someone so having the feature available to see
where they are when their calendar shows busy is a "must have" but it is very
dangerous that in order for this feature to be on others can actually view
all the details in that entry. Hope I explained myself clearer this time.
Thank you for your help.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

free/busy is different than the calendar. When you set up appointments,
free/busy is what you see on the scheduling tab and it only has the subject.

 

[rgrafton0128]

Yes, I'm aware of the difference. I can open up anyone’s calendar who has
set their default permission to Reviewer by going to FILE > OPEN >OTHER USERS
FOLDER > CALENDAR.

However, when I go to CALENDAR > ACTIONS > NEW APPOINTMENT, I get a box
titled “Untitled Appointment†with two tabs 1) Appointment and 2) Scheduling.
When I choose Scheduling tab and add a name thru the “ADD OTHERS†button, I
can then hover over a busy entry and the Time, Subject and Location will
display. While that info is displayed, if I left or right click on that
info, the COMPLETE meeting notice then opens up – INCLUDING all the details
and any attachments.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Version of outlook?

If you have permission to see items on attendees calendar, you can open and
view the item. if you do not have permission to see the details, you will
not.

 

[rgrafton0128]

As stated in earlier postings, I am using Outlook 2002. Our office needs to
be able to view the location and subject line when looking at an employee's
busy schedule; hence everyone has set their default permission to the
REVIEWER role to be able to do this. Unfortunately, this option ALSO allows
everyone to open up the details of that appointment. Sometimes the details
in a person's appointment may contain confidential information so we need to
be to assign a role that will allow others to view ONLY THE TIME, LOCATION,
AND SUBJECT. I believe Outlook 2000 was set up like this but can't figure
out how to limit what can be seen in Outlook 2002.

 

[jo]

Dear Diane,
experiencing exactly the same issue with v2003. If possible, please post
solution for both 2002 and 2003.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

When you edit threads, we lose information as we can't always see the
previous posts, hence the question about the version.

What is seen in free busy is controlled by permissions. Setting permission
to None will should just the availability, not the subject. Reviewer has
permission to open the persons calendar, so they will be able to see all
details and open appointments (except private appointments). If an older
version showed only the subject in the scheduling tab and did not allow you
to open appointments, it was was just how that version worked - users with
reviewer permission could still open the calendar directly and see
everything (using File, open, other users... )

Outlook 2007 offers free/busy specific permissions, older versions do not.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

If users open a calendar using File, Open, Other users... can they see and
open appointments? The same permissions are used for free/busy.

 

[rgrafton0128]

Diane, although I don't like the answer, thank you for answering my question.
Am extremely disappointed that Microsoft didn't address this issue until
Version 2007 and their help documents regarding Permissions wasn't clearer
about what others could see when choosing any level other the None. Due to
the documentation not being very clear, our office default is "Reviewer"
level permission and unknown to use until now, this left open the possibility
for very sensitive information to be viewed by those who should not have had
that capability. Sometimes the lessons learned are painful. Thank you again.

 

[jo]

Thank you, this I knew already.
I only wanted to know, whether there is some other alternative besides
"None" and "Reviewer" which is obviously not the case.
There is a half-escape from this situation with marking appointments with
sensitive content as private. However private appointments publish neither
their subject nor the location.
Hence I only can join rgrafton in expressing disappointment about how the
topic is ignored by M$ through several versions of Outlook.
Wishing you a nice day.

 

[lee boston]

Our office policy is to be able to view the busy times on employees calendars
but we don't want users to be able to see the details - ONLY THE SUBJECT LINE
& LOCATION because sometimes there is confidential information in the details
or in an attachment. We are using Outlook 2002. From what I remember, in
Outlook 2000 you could set up your calendar to allow only this view but I
can't seem to do it in Outlook 2002. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
as being able to see WHERE a person is when they are busy is a very useful
tool so we don't want to give up this feature.

 

[lee boston]

set permission for default to none but click folder visible box so it is
checked. then in free/busy you will just be able see subject/time and not
have ability to click and see full calender entry. (Outlook 2003/07)

 

[rgrafton0128]

Thank you for the reply Lee. I was so excited when I read your response.
Makes sense. Unfortunately, we are using Outlook 2002. When I followed your
instructions, all that can be seen is the legend colors on the line where
there are appointments. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[lee boston]

Hi "r" - I really don't know about ol2002. in 03 and 07 we hover the mouse
over the legend color bar in scheduling for a second and the subject location
details display in a popup like box just next to the cursor location. again
this is for users whose own calendar permissions have the default set to
"None" and the box for folder visible checked and not left blank. If folder
visible box is left blank then we see the behavior you describe, i.e., no
info displayed just the free busy time blocked out with the appropiate legend
color. good luck - lee