2007 | Thomas' Work Space

Time-zone issues when creating meeting requests

2011/09/14 plagwitz 4 comments

Do the clouds change with the time zones you are in, or can the cloud also change your time zone? Smile We are seeing strange inconsistencies of time zones in meeting requests with on-premise resource mailboxes from hosted student accounts…

When students say they see the “correct” time in *their* calendar, they should verify their time zone settings. In OWA/NINERMAIL, upper right corner: Options / See All Options / left menu: Settings / top menu: Calendar / you can check your time zone. In OWA / upper right corner: Options / See All Options / left menu: Settings / top menu: Regional / bottom drop-down:, you can change your time zone, like in the last dropdown here:

From setting up calendaring infrastructure for a university using Windows Live Accounts only, I remember that users, when they manually created their accounts, failed to look at the time zone dropdown. So instead of at Greenwich time, they ended up at Pacific time which seems the default for MS products.

That’s one of the reasons why I am glad not having to use Windows Live Accounts for the enterprise anymore. Now how can time zones be not set up properly for student accounts in a hosted environment? And this time we see not only the Pacific, but also Monrovia…

The answer seems to be: Even though large institutions may be creating 25000 accounts when they start using live@edu, there seems to be no way to set a default time zone in live@edu to where the client predominantly does business. It seems still the server time that sets the default offered to the new user on login. I could tell you a story or two why that needs fixing…

Categories: audience-is-IT-staff Tags: 2007, 2010, 2011, calendaring, live@edu, ms-exchange, outlook, outlook-live, resources, scheduling, timezones

Room and Equipment handling using MS-Exchange Resource Mailboxes: Sharing Resource Calendars with Students in Outlook Live. A running log

2011/09/13 plagwitz 6 comments

Our users can view the free/busy information of our Resource mailboxes in the Scheduling Assistant of their Meeting request – and also, though even less convenient and more limiting, in the GAL.
1. This includes student accounts (hosted) being able to view resource mailboxes (on premise) free/busy – which seems the default, different from the solution to achieve this here – or are resource mailboxes permissions more liberal than regular mailboxes?
To allow users the more convenient access to the calendar of the resources (without being able to book through this interface), we have used this:

# permissions: make default user a reviewer (read-only) of resource mailbox calendar

# so that default user cannot schedule through the calendar & bypass resourcescheduling attendant

Set-MailboxFolderPermission

-Identity LRCLcdproject01@uncc.edu:\Calendar

-AccessRights Reviewer -User Default

# work around apparent permissions bug:

# http://www.flobee.net/found-a-bug-with-set-mailboxfolderpermission/

Set-MailboxFolderPermission

-Identity LRCLcdproject01@uncc.edu:\non_ipm_subtree\freebusy data

-AccessRights Reviewer -User Default

Based on this, we have successfully tested sharing our resource calendars with staff accounts (which are on premises).
1. We have been hoping to share calendars of our resources also with our student user accounts (which are hosted). However, “Default” in the above does not seem to include these. When students use the built-in “Add Calendar”feature from their Outlook Live/NINERMAIL, they receive a permission error: “The calendar for the mailbox you chose can’t be opened. You may not have permission to open this calendar”.
Student staff cannot view the resource calendars. A limited workaround could be to share calendars with individual student staff, so that they can display these calendars to walk-up clients. However, we cannot even share such resource calendars manually with individual students. While, when impersonating the resource, I can send out an invitation email to student staff, the student again gets an error when clicking the “Add calendar” link in the invitation mail: “This folder could not be opened. you might not have permission to open it, or it might not exist anymore”.
We also cannot see our student staff’s busy time, even if this busy times when working for us: “No information (Error code: undefined”):

A similar issue elsewhere seems to have been addressed successfully by adding federation for
1. multiple tenancies within live@edu in “Sharing Free Busy across the cloud”, example:
```
Get-FederationInformation
```
```
–DomainName <the other Live@edu tenant> | New-OrganizationRelationship
```
```
–Name <the other Live@edu tenant>
```
```
-FreeBusyAccessEnabled $true
```
```
-FreeBusyAccessLevel LimitedDetails
```
2. and for mixed hosted/on-premises environments “Set up Federated Free/Busy and Calendar Sharing between Exchange 2010 SP1 and Outlook Live”, which is a bit too evolved for posting a short sample/summary here.
Another workaround could be to add calendar internet publishing privileges to individual resource mailboxes and sharing calendars with student staff, having them display these to walk-up clients.
1. What data gets published needs to be careful considered. However, it should be possible to hide personal information and just display usage of resources, using the built-in sharing levels (note that organizer may have been put in subject by Resourcebookingasssistant configured with AddOrganizerToSubject, so subject should not be included for calendars “LRCAssistant” and “LRCTutor”## which are offices held/resources booked by students):
  1. CalendarSharingFreeBusySimple Share free/busy hours only
  2. CalendarSharingFreeBusyDetail Share free/busy hours, subject, and location
  3. CalendarSharingFreeBusyReviewer Share free/busy hours, subject, location, and the body of the message or calendar item
2. Code samples are given here (for hosted):
  1. ```
  New-SharingPolicy -Name "Calendar Sharing Policy"
```
```
  -Domains "anonymous:calendarsharingfreebusysimple"
```
```
  set-mailbox <all LRC resource mailboxes here>
```
```
  -SharingPolicy "Calendar Sharing Policy"
```

Categories: audience-is-IT-staff, e-infrastructure, service-is-library, Uncategorized Tags: 2007, 2010, 2011, calendaring, live@edu, ms-exchange, outlook, outlook-live, resources, scheduling

How LRC tutors&assistants maintain their schedule

2011/09/01 plagwitz 1 comment

In Ninermail,
in the tutor calendar for your language/LRCassistant calendar (you can filter the complete list here)
do this: https://plagwitz.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/lrc-outlookexchange-2010-resource-calendaring-how-to-book-an-lrc-resource-by-making-a-meeting-request-in-owa/,
for all your tutoring hours,
1. in one block (there is an easier way to cancel part than using 30-minute increments (so that later you can flexibly cancel part or all of your time (for details see how to cancel a meeting request), if you have to, and students can sign up for tutoring timeslots));
2. with weekly recurrence until the end of the current academic term;
3. with the subject of the meeting request stating the levels you are tutoring for/”LRC Assistant” (do not put your name or email in the subject).
Note that your resulting work schedule will appear in your own NINERMAIL calendar, and, if you have requested, you will be remindedd of your shift.

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff Tags: 2007, 2010, 2011, calendaring, live@edu, ms-exchange, outlook, outlook-live, resources, scheduling

The new way from Fall 2011 how teachers and students check LRC equipment in and out with LRC student assistants

2011/09/01 plagwitz 2 comments

After booking an LRC resource, if the resource is a piece of physical equipment (versus a room or tutor hours), the teacher/student needs to check it out from the LRC student assistant in COED433. We are testing the following procedure:
Check-out procedure when picking up
1. On the secondary screen of the PC at the reception desk (mirroring mode), in whatever browser the LRC assistant is not using, the teacher or student that wants to check out an LRC resource
  1. logs into her university email in OWA/NINERMAIL
  2. opens their “meeting request” with the resource from her calendar
  3. or, if they have no prior meeting request, create one now
2. the LRC assistant on her screen, views the “meeting request” to make sure
  1. that the checkout time is not in the future OR the item is not past due. If necessary and possible (= no conflicts, duraiton dos not exceed maximum allowed), adapt the meeting request start time , and end time, but mark in the notes field if the item was returned late
  2. what the item is, including the number (if any)
3. handles the item
  1. gets the item from storage shelves in COED436; make sure it is the same number as in the meeting request
  2. checks item, with the user, for functionality and completeness
4. in the MS-Excelfile: checkoutin.xlsm (auto-loaded during login of LRC assistant, if not open it from the recent files list in MS-Excel or from c:\temp),
  1. presses button:”check-in code” which generates a unique code in the file and puts it in the windows clipboard)
  2. even if the user has multiple meeting requests in her calendar, the LRC assistant can use the same code for all her meeting requests
5. in the “meeting request”, in the big notes field at the bottom:
  1. pastes the code at the end of the the subject line
  2. adds necessary remarks regarding broken or incomplete equipment (if any)
  3. sends the updated request
  4. logs the teacher/student out of OWA
6. If you need large amounts of equipment for an entire class, I recommend having select students access NINERMAIL during class (or prior and wherever they are ready to book equipment), book the equipment for your class hour with meeting requests (1 for each piece of equipment required). The person who booked it has to be present during pickup and is responsible for the equipment. One student can book as many pieces as she can carry. Since I hope to have 2 reception desk computers and 2 LRC assistants at the reception desk, 2 students picking up should make for the fastest checkout process.
Check-in procedure when returning: same as above, in reverse.

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers Tags: 2007, 2010, 2011, calendaring, live@edu, ms-exchange, outlook, outlook-live, resources, scheduling

The new way of booking LRC rooms and equipment from Fall 2011: Why?

2011/09/01 plagwitz 2 comments

With the upgrade to Outlook 2011, MS-Exchange 2010, and live@edu, unfortunately, we had to revise our booking system over the summer. Please note: Teachers cannot not use calendars in the public folders of Outlook desktop anymore since ”Public folders are going away”. The earlier instruction has been updated accordingly and links now to here.
Fortunately, this upgrade also allowed us to expand our booking system, to now include:
1. more than rooms and tutors. You can now also book LRC equipment – see the complete list of LRC resources that you can book or check out . And we hope to set up that you can truly sign up for tutoring.
2. more than staff: We hope that, with Ninermail (live@edu), students will also be able to book and check out. We hope to achieve better resource utilization this w
3. more and faster information to act on, and thus a better workflow
  1. you get an immediate response
  2. you can get always a positive response since in “scheduling assistant”, you can see the prior bookings, both times and organizers (hover your mouse over busy times), and can thus either can fit your request into the schedule, or contact the prior organizer for a resolution.
  3. your bookings and cancellations are immediately disseminated through the scheduling assistant and resource calendars, for others (students, teachers, support staff) to work with/around
Read more here on how to book LRC resources

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-staff, audience-is-teachers, e-infrastructure Tags: 2007, 2010, 2011, calendaring, ms-exchange, outlook, outlook-live, resources, scheduling

The new way of booking LRC rooms and equipment from Fall 2011: How?

2011/08/31 plagwitz 7 comments

Read here why.
You can book LRC resources like rooms, equipment, even tutor hours:

as
1. faculty & staff: from [MS-Outlook“(pretty much) whatever version”]:
  1. on the desktop Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2011 (preferred option for faculty & staff) – if you are familiar with Outlook Desktop, it is the recommended tool
  2. or at http://mail.uncc.edu, using Outlook Web Access (OWA) at http://mail.uncc.edu, in most browsers – we, however, decided to focus our training of new users on OWA.
2. student: in Outlook Live (the only option for students) at Ninermail or http://outlook.com,
through

creating from menu:”new” a “meeting request” (for details see How to book an LRC resource)
and adding a resource (or several: temporarily, to compare which one’s availability fits best into your own schedule; permanently, to book multiple items at once, as long as all start/end times are the same) by clicking on the “Resources”, like here
1. all LRC resources names begin with “LRC” and will appear if your search the Global address list (GAL) for “LRC”; all bookable rooms and equipment have been given an email address listed here):
2. e.g. to book the LRC main classroom, send to LRC RoomCOED434 class <LRCRoomCOED434@uncc.edu>
and adding other meeting participants, e.g. co-teachers of your class, or LRC staff if you need more than routine support
1. If you hold a class in the LRC, to remind students of the new location, teachers could also try and add your class, if you made a convenient group of all students in your class in Outlook.
and, from the “scheduling assistant”, choosing a time when the room/equipment is free (= blank), not blocked (= solid or hatched) (and all participants),
and adding a subject with class number and possibly special instructions:

if you do not allow self-access students on free seats: *EMPTY ROOM*
if you do not allow tutoring in corners: *NO TUTORING*:
I will ask the LRC assistants (unfortunately we have large gaps in the schedule) and tutors to load and check the lrcroomcoed434@uncc.edu so that tutors can relocate with their students on time.

and sending it (like email to a person) to the room or equipment

What happens next?
1. await responses: Read more in What happens after the meeting request.
2. monitor calendars: you can link into your OWA the calendars of those resources that you use frequently (e.g. a piece of equipment, an LRC classroom or tutor office for the language you study). Read more in View Calendars.
If you need to release the resource, i.e. to free up the room/equipment for others to use – esp. helpful when you have the LRC booked for your entire class, but won’t meet there this week), open the meeting form your calendar and click in the top menu the buttons cancel series, ”send update” (for details see how to cancel a meeting request)
SummaryList of Links:
For further reading: Microsoft explains Scheduling for Outlook Livein more detail here:
1. Request a meeting
2. Use the Schedule Assistant
3. you can also Create an appointment or Set a Repeating Item
4. Cancel a (single/recurring) meeting

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, e-infrastructure, service-is-library, training Tags: 2007, 2010, 2011, calendaring, live@edu, ms-exchange, outlook, outlook-live, resources, scheduling

LRC Outlook/Exchange 2010 Calendaring: What happens after the meeting request? Automated or manual responses and reminders

2011/08/30 plagwitz 3 comments

If you have been invited to a meeting, e.g. a co-taught class in the LRC, you will see in your inbox an email-like meeting request with pre-set answer options:

Wait, there is more: Proposing:
If you followed the instructions in TBA:request meeting, you should immediately get an acceptance response from the resource:
If something went wrong, read the denial response for how to overcome the issue:

there are resource specific policies, like maximum booking duration, listed here: TBA: list resources
if there is a conflict with a prior booking of the resources, please go back to the meeting request scheduling assistant and find a time when the resource is available.
if you requested a recurring/repeating meeting, like for a weekly class meeting in the LRC, there may be individual conflicts. Note that we have set the resource scheduling options for the non-conflicting instances of your request to be accepted (in most cases). For how to deal with the conflicting instances, study the conflict information in the denial response.

Note that the LRC calendars are set up so that the LRC staff is copied (as delegates) on LRC resource requests (as a backup for issues and paper trail for reporting):
If you find you get too many meeting reminders that you do not need, when requesting a meeting, turn the default reminder option off:

The reminder can also be set to off as default in the calendar settings for a resource.

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-staff, audience-is-students, e-infrastructure, service-is-library Tags: 2007, 2010, 2011, calendaring, live@edu, ms-exchange, outlook, outlook-live, resources, scheduling

Room and Equipment handling using MS-Exchange Resource Mailboxes: Configuration with OWA instead of PowerShell

2011/08/30 plagwitz 1 comment

As once can easily find documented for MS-Exchange 2007, if you are the owner of the mailbox, you can use the OWA-feature “open other mailbox”.
As impersonated user for this mailbox , you can access the “Options / Settings”:
for the “resource” scheduling
for its “calendar”
This is maybe not as much fun as PowerShell’s Set-MailboxCalendarSettings and set-CalendarProcessing (click as you go, no batching), but easier on your MS-Exchange admin and especially practical for quick modifications and tests,