Managing Your Cowboy Mail Calendar: FAQs and Best Practices

Self Help Article (External)

Purpose

This self-help article will assist Cowboy Mail users in effectively managing calendar use standards, publishing calendars, confirming calendar permissions, and turning off calendar notifications in Microsoft Outlook. It provides clear instructions and best practices to optimize calendar collaboration and user experience.

Requirements

Cowboy Mail Calendar FAQs

• How do I Manage the Calendar Use Standards of Microsoft Outlook
• How do I publish an Outlook Calendar?
• How do I confirm Calendar Permissions in Microsoft Outlook?
• How do I turn off Outlook calendar notifications?

How do I Manage the Calendar Use Standards of Microsoft Outlook

By following these practices, you establish a streamlined and organized approach to managing meeting requests and recurring events within the Microsoft Outlook platform.  This ensures that your interactions with meeting invitations are consistent and error-free, promoting efficient coordination among attendees.  Adhering to these guidelines provides clarity and reliability in your scheduling practices, ultimately leading to enhanced productivity and smoother collaboration within your professional environment.  By embracing these principles, you contribute significantly to the seamless functioning of your team or organization, promoting effective communication and optimal utilization of resources.

Meeting Requests:

1. Processing Meeting Requests:

2. Only one designated person should process meeting requests to avoid conflicts.

3. Do not move a meeting request from your Inbox to another folder before accepting/declining it.

4. Cross-Device Interaction:

5. Do not delete a meeting request on one client after accepting it on another.

6. Avoid processing the same meeting invite on multiple computers or devices with different Outlook versions.

7. Interaction Limitation:

8. Do not interact with a meeting request after it has been processed to prevent confusion or conflicts.

9. Resource Rooms:

10. Reserve all Resource Rooms as a Room location or Resource attendee when scheduling meetings.

11. Email Clients:

12. Do not use third-party email clients to process calendar items to maintain compatibility and consistency.

Forwarding Meetings:

1. Meeting Forwarding:

2. Do not forward meeting requests if you are not the meeting organizer to prevent attendee list discrepancies.

3. Avoid forwarding as tracking may not function correctly for the forwarded users.

4. Attendance List Update:

5. The Meeting Organizer should send the attendance list to all attendees by sending a meeting update to maintain accuracy.

Meeting Edits:

1. Modifying Meetings:

2. Do not modify the meeting item if you are not the meeting organizer to prevent confusion.

3. Do not move an already-accepted meeting to another time on your calendar to avoid corruption issues.

4. Meeting Changes:

5. If you cancel, update, or delete a meeting, send the meeting update to everyone to keep all attendees informed.

Recurring Meetings:

1. Recurring Meeting Modifications:

2. Avoid using recurring meetings if frequent modifications are required to prevent confusion.

3. Do not set recurring meetings with indefinite endings to maintain clarity and structure.

4. Meeting Duration Guidelines:

5. Meetings that occur more than once a month should not extend beyond 1 year.

6. Monthly meetings should not extend beyond 5 years.

7. Yearly meetings should not extend beyond 10 years.

8. Changing Recurring Meetings:

9. To change an entire series of meetings, cancel the original meeting and create a new one to avoid inconsistencies.

By adhering to these guidelines, you ensure efficient and accurate management of meeting requests and recurring events in Microsoft Outlook.

How do I publish an Outlook Calendar?

You may publish a calendar from the Settings menu of an Outlook for Web browser window. 

1. First logon to https://cowboymail.okstate.edu
2. Then click the Settings icon, then select “View all outlook settings” from the bottom of the menu as shown below.
3. Select Calendar from the Settings menu then Shared calendars from the sub menu as shown below.
4. Select a calendar to publish from the drop down menu and select any desired permissions. 
5. Then click the Publish button to generate a link to your calendar.
6. NOTE: Anyone with the link can view the published calendar without authentication.

How do I confirm Calendar Permissions in Microsoft Outlook?

Ensuring proper calendar permissions is crucial for effective collaboration and organization within any workplace. By adhering to the outlined steps and best practices, you establish a structured and secure system for managing calendar access in Microsoft Outlook.

Instructions

Step 1: Verifying Delegate or Owner Permissions

1. Open Calendar Using Add Calendar:

2. Launch Microsoft Outlook and go to the File tab.

3. Select Account Settings, then click on Delegate Access.

4. Ensure users with delegate or owner permissions open the calendar using the Add Calendar option in Outlook.

Step 2: Enabling Shared Calendar Improvements

1. Enable Shared Calendar Improvements:

2. In Outlook, click on File and go to Options.

3. In the Outlook Options dialog box, select Calendar from the left sidebar.

4. Scroll down to the Shared Calendars section.

5. Check the box for Turn on Shared Calendar Improvements.

6. Click OK to save your changes.

Step 3: Managing Full Mailbox Rights

1. Ensure Proper Permissions on Mailbox and Calendar:

2. If a user has full mailbox rights to a mailbox, avoid setting specific permissions on the calendar itself.

3. Verify that no one has the calendar listed under both “My Calendars” and “Shared Calendars” simultaneously.

4. To check calendar permissions, right-click on the calendar name and select Properties. Ensure that only appropriate permissions are set.

Additional Tips

By following these steps and best practices, you can confirm and maintain accurate calendar permissions, ensuring smooth collaboration and communication within your organization.

Please see the Microsoft Outlook Configuration Standards page for assistance with your Outlook setup, configuration, and best practices. Microsoft Outlook Configuration Standards

How do I turn off Outlook calendar notifications?

1. Open Outlook, select the File tab, then Options. In the Calendar section, Uncheck "Default reminders"
2. Select Advance, and in the Reminders section, uncheck "Show reminders" and "Play reminder sound"