>> Rather than using a Public Folder for your resource, you should use
>> a Mailbox for your resouces.
>>
>> Exchange 2003 Auto Accept Agent vs. direct booking
>>
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=5EAC9A70-699B-495A-A920...
>>
>> The Auto Accept Agent is a server-side store event sink available in
>> Exchange 2003 SP1 which provides automatic server-side processing of
>> meeting
>> requests sent to resource mailboxes. The Agent handles initial
>> scheduling,
>> cancellations and updates and sends responses to the meeting organizer -
>> meaning less scheduling conflicts and allowing receptionists and
>> conference
>> room owners to spend their time more productively.
>>
>> What are the advantages of using Auto Accept Agent?
>>
>> 1.. The agent runs on the server 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. The
>> agent responds immediately and the requestor does not have to wait for
>> the
>> receptionist to return from lunch.
>> 2.. The agent checks the availability by looking at the calendar
>> (resource
>> schedule), not the Free/Busy information. This reduces the number of
>> issues
>> caused by free/busy update lag.
>> 3.. It can decline individual conflicting instances within a recurring
>> meeting request.
>> 4.. In case of declined meeting request with conflicts (or a meeting
>> request accepted with conflicts) the response includes date/time
>> information
>> on which instances conflict.
>> 5.. All comments and attachments are removed from the meeting requests.
>> Only the time and date information will remain on the meeting item. This
>> prevents the delegate from viewing and confidential or private
>> information.
>> It also keeps the mailbox trim.
>> 6.. Meetings marked as private are processed immediately. Additionally,
>> the private flag is stripped from meeting requests so the receptionist
>> will
>> always have clear visibility to what is on the calendar.
>> 7.. It replaces the need for excessive permissions needed to allow
>> direct
>> booking and does not require delegate permissions or configuration
>> 8.. Much more robust than Outlook "auto-booking".
>> 9.. Reminders are removed from the conference room's copy of the
>> meeting.
>> This avoids "reminder hell" in the event the conference room mailbox is
>> directly opened in Outlook.
>> 10.. It handles meeting requests from all clients including OWA.
>> 11.. The resource mailbox owner retains their rights on the resource
>> mailbox and will remain the ultimate authority on the mailbox.
>> Does Auto Accept Agent have any disadvantages compared to direct booking?
>>
>> 1.. The agent code must run on every Exchange server that has a
>> resource
>> mailbox, since CDOEX is used to process requests and can only access
>> local
>> mailboxes.
>> 2.. Delegates (e.g. Receptionists) will be less aware of the number and
>> nature (urgency) of incoming requests.
>> 3.. Currently the booking window will be limited to 6 months. This can
>> be
>> changed but it's not recommended. It will take a while for requestors to
>> become accustomed to this hard limit. Important: Any request beyond the
>> six-month window, including recurring meetings extending past it, will
>> automatically be declined.
>> 4.. Delegates will have to check the Inbox, Sent Items, and Deleted
>> Items
>> for unexpected items, but can do so more infrequently.
>>
>> With that said, I would also like to talk about direct booking and its
>> advantages and some considerations while using it.
>>
>> Why direct booking?
>>
>> Direct booking is an Outlook-specific feature that uses the organizer's
>> Outlook client (Outlook 2000 or later) to book an appointment directly
>> into
>> a resource mailbox schedule. The Outlook client of the person organizing
>> the
>> meeting performs all the necessary tasks, such as conflict checking and
>> placing the reservation on the resource calendar. To set up direct
>> booking,
>> follow:
>>
>> 291616 How to direct book a resource in Outlook 2002 or in Outlook 2003
>>
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;291616
>>
>> Advantages of Direct booking:
>>
>> 1.. Immediate confirmation/denial of booking request.
>> 2.. It has the logic to avoid double-booking.
>>
>> With these advantages in mind, some disadvantages of Direct booking
>> include:
>>
>> 1.. Direct booking requires granting organizer read/write permissions
>> on
>> the calendar. Hence, users can just go onto the resource's calendar and
>> delete existing meetings to free up space for their own meetings.
>> 2.. Organizer must remember to designate resource as "Resource" and not
>> "Required" or "Optional". No conflict checking is done if resource
>> specified
>> as one of the latter (rule on resource's inbox should be created to
>> generate
>> reply to this effect).
>> 3.. Since there is availability against free/busy, latency in free/busy
>> replication can result in double-booking.
>> 4.. Conflicts aren't detected beyond the range of published free/busy
>> and
>> can result in double-booking.
>> 5.. Outlook Web Access does not currently support the "direct booking"
>> of
>> meeting requests.
>>
>> Direct booking should not be used in conjunction with automatic booking
>> done
>> by the Auto Accept Agent. There is also configuration associated with
>> direct
>> booking that could conflict with Auto Accept Agent settings. For example,
>> the default setting for direct booking is to accept all requests,
>> regardless
>> of conflicts. There is also a direct booking setting that automatically
>> declines all recurring requests. These settings are only honored by
>> Outlook
>> and only when the resource is specified as a resource attendee. You
>> should
>> not register a resource mailbox for Auto Accept Agent in Exchange 2003
>> when
>> you set up a resource for direct booking in Outlook. This is discussed in
>> the below article
>>
>> 903290 You should not register a resource mailbox for Auto Accept Agent
>> in
>> Exchange 2003 when you set up a resource for direct booking in Outlook
>>
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;903290
>>
>> How to Set Up a Conference Room as a "Resource" in Outlook 2000
>>
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2000/maintain/cfsetup.mspx
>>
>> How to Successfully Book a Resource
>>
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/55/maintain/cfbook.mspx
>>
>> 291616 How to direct book a resource in Outlook 2002 or in Outlook 2003
>>
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;291616
>>
>> Nikki Peterson
>>
>> "eMTee"
gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:1157725284.485637.324920@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...>>> Hi,
>>> We have a Shared Calendar located in a Public Folder, and users are
>>> good at booking resources as 'Resources'.
>>>
>>> However, when someone goes back to open that item in the Shared
>>> Calendar located in a Public Folder (to amend it) the only things
>>> listed in the Shceduling tab are people (required and optional
>>> attendees) not the Resource - even though it has laready been booked.
>>> This means that people cannot remove that resource if it wants to be
>>> changed to another one. THe other thing is that people think that there
>>> is no resource booked, and end up adding the resource many times
>>> (though geting the 'it is already booked' message.
>>>
>>> Background: We have Exchange server. Each user is on outlook 2003. I
>>> set up the bookable resources using ht emethods decrbied under the
>>> "Outlook 2000 and later (direct booking)" of
>>>
http://www.slipstick.com/calendar/skedresource.htm.
>>>
>>> Under Resouce Scheduling, each resource has at Publishing Editor
>>> permissions for a distribution group that contains all users.
>>>
>>> It would seem (usually) that the meeting organiser can see the
>>> resources listed when re-visiting an appointment, but that others
>>> cannot (despite having permissions to do so!)
>>>
>>> Any help very gratefully received.
>>>
