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Chapter 5 Kerio Outlook Connector
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5.9 Scheduling of meetings
In MS Outlook, a special tool can be used for scheduling of meetings (details on what meetings
are and how they are used, see section 1.7.7). This tool is called Free/Busy server. MS Outlook
extended by Kerio Outlook Connector allows using of the Kerio MailServer’s built-in Free/Busy
server.
The Free/Busy server helps the meeting initiator schedule their events for times when invited
attendees are free (the meeting does not collide with any other event in their calendars). It
is, therefore, easier to find a time range where all attendees required to participate in the
meetings are free. This feature help us avoid many phone calls and emails that we would
otherwise make or send.
Free/Busy server exploits information on user’s free time from the calendar of the particular
user. However, the meeting initiator can only see when the attendee is free or busy. It is not
possible to view particular details on the user’s activities.
Free/Busy information is displayed in the event’s edit window on the Scheduling tab in the
section addressing meetings. Free/Busy is enabled automatically when attendees are entered
in the list. To the right from the list, you can find Free/Busy information (see figure 5.35).
The Free/Busy feature also provides information on how much busy the user is. Degree of
user’s busyness is suggested by the color. The color key is shown at the bottom of the window.
Warning: Free/Busy information is displayed only for attendees with an account in the Kerio
MailServer (usually, this function is used to set meetings with colleagues). Such an information
is not displayed for external users.
The Free/Busy calendar displays all meetings and events included in the default calendar folder
and its subfolders. If you want that some events (e.g. items of a private calendar) are not
shown in the Free/Busy calendar, create a new calendar folder out of the branch of the default
calendar and its subfolders.
5.9.1 Creating a meeting using the Free/Busy server
Meetings are created in a similar way as events:
1. Open a new event dialog to enter subject and site where the event (meeting) will take place.
2. Switch to the Scheduling tab
3. and enter individual participants of the meeting (see figure 5.35). Once participants are
added, their free/busy calendar items relevant for the particular time set for the meeting
is displayed. Level of user busyness is shown by the blue color (unfortunately, MS Outlook
does not support viewing of busyness level). The users with no data on the free/busy
server (users with no account, users that do not use the calendar) are marked with grey.
Warning: It is necessary to specify each user by their usernames and domains
(username@domain). Aliases cannot be used to display Free/Busy information.