Room and resource mailboxes are special mailboxes within Microsoft Exchange since they enable the Auto Accept Agent which monitors for and automatically answers meeting requests based on established rules. This agent handles initial scheduling, cancellations, and updates in response to the meeting organizer’s affiliation with the room and the room’s/resource’s meeting rules.
Meeting rules, or booking options, include things like:
- Allowing repeating meetings
- Allow scheduling only during certain hours
- Always decline if the end date is beyond a limit
- Maximum duration of a meeting
- Maximum booking lead time (or the maximum number of days in advance that the resource/room can be booked)
Booking options can be configured by the manager/owner of the room.
Once the booking options are set, however, there are still more to consider. You may want some people to be able to automatically book the room if it is available while others will need their request approved by the room’s manager/owner. The access that people have to the room is configured by group membership. These groups are a standard established within the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering.
Each room will have the following associated with it:
| Name/Type | Name Standard | Example Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Room Mailbox/User | [AD Prefix]-RM-[Bldg #]-[Room #] | ENG-RM-0001-100A | This is the mailbox with the room calendar and what the room/resource owner would connect to when configuring booking options. |
| -delegates/group | [mailbox name]-delegates | ENG-RM-0001-100A-delegates | Delegates of the room/resource calendar responsible for approving meeting requests when necessary. Group membership is controlled by IT. |
| -managedby/group | [mailbox name]-managedby | ENG-RM-0001-100A-managedby | Responsible for the membership of groups associated with this room/resource (the groups listed here). Can change the membership of each group. |
| -bookinpolicy/group | [mailbox name]-bookinpolicy | ENG-RM-0001-100A-bookinpolicy | Members can book the room/resource automatically if it is available. Any other requests are declined. |
| -requestinpolicy/group | [mailbox name]-requestinpolicy | ENG-RM-0001-100A-requestinpolicy | Members can request the room/resource if it is available (delegates will approve/decline the request). Other requests are automatically declined. |
| -requestoutofpolicy/group | [mailbox name]-requestoutofpolicy | ENG-RM-0001-100A-requestoutofpolicy | Members can book the room/resource automatically if it is available. Other requests will be forwarded to a delegate. This presumes the delegate will work with the meeting organizer of any conflicting requests prior to approval. |
| -fullaccess/group | [mailbox name]-fullaccess | ENG-RM-0001-100A-fullaccess | Members have full access permissions to the mailbox. They can open the mailbox directly and interact with the calendar. They do not need to |
These groups must exist for all room/resource mailboxes. They don’t all, however, have to have any members (the -managedby and -fullaccess groups will usually always include someone).