Getting the Most Out of the Microsoft Outlook Client : Using Outlook 2007 (part 1)

Like every evolution of Outlook, Outlook 2007 expands on the collaborative tools available to the end user when connecting to an Exchange server. This section covers many of these collaborative tools and new collaborative features available in the Outlook 2007 client.

Viewing Shared Calendars in Multiple Panes

Tracking appointments and setting meetings have quickly become high priorities for employees in today’s business world. To simplify these types of functions, Outlook 2007 allows a user to view multiple Exchange Server calendars in a shared pane. In previous versions of Outlook, an additional calendar would be opened in a new window. In Outlook 2007, if a user has configured their calendar with View rights, other users can view those calendars as well as their own at the same time lined up side by side to view or compare them.

To open additional calendars, perform the following steps:

1.	Choose File, Open, Other User’s Folder.
2.	Choose the name of the user and select Folder Type: Calendar. The calendar opens in the main window and automatically removes the mailbox owner’s calendar. New to Outlook 2007 is a prompt to allow a user to request access to a calendar to which they don’t currently have access.
3.	To view both your own calendar and the additional calendar, look at the left pane. There is an area under the monthly calendar that provides check boxes for what calendars the end user wants to view. This is split into My Calendars and Peoples Calendars. Check the My Calendar check box and another check box to view both your own calendar and an additional calendar. Tip When viewing multiple calendars, keep in mind that each additional calendar is shown in a different color; also note that the corresponding check box on the left is seen in the same color.
4.	Continue to add the desired calendars, and click on the check boxes to remove or add calendars to the view.
5.	When you are finished, click the My Calendar check box and deselect all the additional calendars.

Tip

When in the Calendar view, you can click the Open a Shared Calendar hyperlink and you will be prompted to enter the name of the user whose calendar you want to view. Enter the name of the calendar to open and click OK. This automatically shows both the mailbox owner’s calendar and the new calendar(s).

Enabling Calendar Sharing in Outlook 2007

By default, the full details of a user’s calendar are not shared. Other users in the organization have the ability to view free/busy information, but that is all. If the calendar owner wants to allow others to view the full details of their calendar, or to write to their calendar, the default permissions must be modified.

To enable the mailbox owner’s calendar to be shared, follow these steps:

1.	From the Folder List view, right-click Calendar in the navigation pane (if you don’t see Calendar in the list, click the Folder List icon at the bottom of the navigation pane).
2.	Click Change Sharing Permissions.
3.	From the Calendar Properties page, on the Permissions tab, click Add.
4.	Browse or enter the name of the user who will get access to the calendar, and click Add.
5.	Click OK when the users have been added.
6.	The user must now specify what permissions are to be granted. Outlook provides predefined roles for permissions that appear in the Permission Level box. Clicking the drop-down menu and choosing a predefined permission level shows what permissions are being granted, making it easy to choose the desired permissions. To create a unique set of permissions, choose an initial permission level and then check the boxes and radio buttons to assign the unique permissions, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Changing calendar permissions.
7.	Click OK when finished. The user(s) specified will have those rights to the end user’s calendar until the end user specifically removes them by going through the same process mentioned, and then clicking on the user or group with permissions to the calendar and choosing Remove.

Note

When you grant another user Read access to your calendar, they will be able to read your calendar entries. They will not, however, be able to read calendar items that are marked as Private.

Sharing Other Personal Information

Outlook 2007 allows users to share their personal information (such as the Inbox, contacts, and tasks) with other users. This is done via the same method listed previously with the difference being that the permissions are set for the Inbox, Contacts, or Tasks folders.

To enable Inbox sharing, for example, follow these steps:

1.	Right-click on the Inbox in the Folder view.
2.	Choose Change Sharing Permissions.
3.	Add the users or groups and set their permissions as described previously in the “Enabling Calendar Sharing in Outlook 2007” section.

Delegating Rights to Send Email “On Behalf Of” Another User

In some situations, such as when a user has an administrative assistant, they might want to give someone the ability to send messages or meeting requests on their behalf. This results in a message that will come from “user B on behalf of user A.” To enable a user to send email on someone else’s behalf, follow these steps:

1.	Go to Tools, Options, and select the Delegates tab.
2.	Click Add.
3.	Add the name of the user or group that needs the rights.
4.	When finished, click OK.
5.	Choose the permission level for each component of Outlook.
6.	If desired, select Automatically Send a Message to the Delegate Summarizing These Permissions.
7.	If desired, select Delegate Can See My Private Items.
8.	Click OK when finished.
9.	From the Options page, select how meeting requests should be delivered. The available options are shown in Figure 2. The default setting for the delivery of meeting requests is “My delegates only, but send a copy of meeting requests and responses to me.” This is the recommended setting. Figure 2. Adding permissions to delegates.

Note

Although Outlook does not have a predefined maximum number of delegates that can be assigned, Microsoft performed its tests with a maximum of four delegates. Best practices recommend that users assign only one other user with Editor Permissions. Adding additional editors is a common cause of unpredictable behavior with meetings and appointments in Outlook.