Schedule a Meeting Room Reservation

Issue/Question

How do I schedule or request a room reservation for a meeting in Outlook?

Environment

• Microsoft Windows 7+
• Microsoft Outlook
• Room Resource that is managed through Exchange

 Note:  There are several different methods in place for room scheduling throughout the university. Ensure that the room in question is managed through Exchange before completing this process.

Resolution

Draft a New Meeting within Outlook

1. Click the New Items▼ drop down from the Home tab of the Outlook menu.
2. Click Meeting to open the new meeting window. Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+Q

Add meeting attendees and details

1. Add desired attendees to the To… field.
    Note: Do not add the room resource directly to the To… field. It must be added as a resource as outlined below to properly reserve the room from other appointments.
2. Add a Subject for the meeting.
3. Add a meeting description in the message body. This will be sent to all attendees and the room resource manager. Room managers may require that certain details be included in the message such as number of attendees, meeting purpose, or equipment needed. Check with the resource manager for specific departmental requirements.

Add the room resource to request a reservation for the room

1. Click the Rooms… button located adjacent to the Location field to open the Select Rooms: All Rooms dialog box.
2. Located the desired room in the list and click once to highlight the entry.
    Note: You can use the search box at the top of the list to filter the list.
3. Click the Rooms button at the bottom to add the room resource to the location field.
4. Click OK to close the Select Rooms dialog box.
5. You will see that the room resource has been added to the To... and Location fields for this Meeting Appointment.

Add Date and Time to the meeting request

1. Check the room availability via the Room Finder panel or by opening the shared room calendar to ensure the room is tentatively available during the time you are going to request.
2. For a single meeting event:
   1. Enter a Start and End Date and Time in the respective fields. Click the calendar symbol within the date fields to expand the date picker to ease entry.
3. For a recurring meeting schedule:
   1. Click Recurrence in the Meeting tab of the draft meeting menu to open the Appointment Recurrence dialog box. Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+G
      1. Review and complete each field within this box to set the desired recurrence pattern.
          Note: Ensure you set an End after number of occurrences or an End by date appropriate to your meeting.
      2. Click OK to return to the meeting draft.
      3. The date and time fields will be replaced with a Recurrence description that details the parameters you configured for the recurrence pattern. If you need to adjust this, repeat these steps.

Send the Meeting request

1. Review all entries, then click the Send button to send the meeting request to all attendees and the room resource.
    Note: The room reservation is not confirmed until you receive a reply indicating this from the room resource manager.
2. If you are editing a meeting that was sent previously, you may receive a dialog box to Send Update to Attendees. In this case, select the appropriate option and click OK.

Getting a Response

You will receive a response from the room resource indicating the status of your request. This will be determined by how the resource has been configured by WKU IT:

• Moderated Request will be reviewed, approved or denied by the room manager. When you receive an approval or denial depends on when the room manager reviews your request.
• Self-service group(s) If you are in the designated group, your request will be automatically accepted, assuming the room is available. If you are not in the designated group, your request will be either reviewed by the room manager or automatically denied, depending on how the room was set up.
• Self-service for all All requests are automatically accepted based on room availability.