In today’s fast-paced business world, conflicts around scheduling meetings can needlessly become a source of frustration for many professionals.
A frequent scenario is the clash between teams that require access to shared resources at the same time, such as meeting rooms or general equipment. This is particularly common in office buildings housing multiple companies, since facilities are usually shared between them.
These situations often lead to delays, rescheduling, and sometimes even missed opportunities, which ultimately add to the burden of office managers and other individuals with similar duties.
In this article we discuss how easy it is to check, manage, and share the availability of Microsoft Exchange meeting rooms and other resources through effortless Outlook synchronization.
Microsoft Outlook Room Finder
Microsoft Outlook is the client application that connects to Microsoft Exchange Server, which is the backend system that powers its functionality. In addition to well-recognized email capabilities, both Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Server support an extremely useful tool for arranging and coordinating business meetings and other appointments. With Outlook’s Room Finder, users can easily book facilities whenever they create a new appointment on their Exchange/Outlook calendar:
In addition, users can check real-time availability through Outlook’s Scheduling Assistant. It is a native feature which offers a visual representation of the available timeslots for a company’s facilities, the ones found in Room Finder. It then crossmatches these timeslots with the availability of the invitees in the calendar appointment, allowing for efficient scheduling without the risk of booking overlapping meetings in the same space:
These Microsoft Exchange/Outlook features are easy to use and can make a significant difference in a busy workday. Although simple, they bring greater productivity and timesaving by allowing professionals, including office managers, to focus on their higher priority tasks.
Check this Microsoft guide to discover how to add meeting rooms and other resources to your company’s Exchange Server, through the Microsoft 365 admin center. Though, do keep in mind that this is a task for an IT Administrator since it requires a certain level of access permissions.
Why the Need for Outlook Synchronization?
While these features are great, they only work for users whose accounts are linked to the same Exchange Server. In other words, the information on meeting rooms and other company resources is synchronized to all the accounts linked to an Exchange Server “A”, but it cannot be natively shared with users on an Exchange Server “B”. This is the case for Outlook accounts that are not hosted on any Exchange Servers, or other Exchange Server accounts that are not held by Exchange Server “A”.
In such cases, users must manually add conference rooms and all their resources to their accounts. This process can become time-consuming, and it drives attention away from other higher-priority tasks.Here are a couple of scenarios where this can happen:
- At a company where each department has its own Exchange Server, for example: user@marketing.company1.com and user@sales.company1.com
- A co-working space with shared conference rooms. While everyone works for different companies, they still need to coordinate and manage the availability of conference rooms whenever a more secluded setting is required for online meetings.
- An office receiving temporary employees from an overseas branch, which is not likely to host the same Exchange Server.
- External employees who are temporarily joining a company’s office for a business venture.
- During Mergers & Acquisitions, since participating companies will likely have distinct Exchange Servers. This can complicate resource management, as users from the entities involved need to collaborate on meetings and access shared conference rooms.
The only realistic way to solve this problem without having to waste ridiculous amounts of time on manual processes would be through automatic synchronization. However, since this is not natively supported, third-party integrations or applications are the way to go.
As such, we have one suggestion to share that will hopefully spike your interest!
Outlook Synchronization with CB Exchange Server Sync
CB Exchange Server Sync by Connecting Software is an out-of-the-box solution designed for Microsoft Exchange synchronization, as you may guess by its name.
It performs bi- or unidirectional synchronization of any number of:
- Emails
- Contacts
- Calendars
- Notes
- Folders
- And yes, meeting rooms and resources too!
With CB Exchange Server Sync you can synchronize any combination of these items across multiple Exchange Server accounts. The synchronization process is highly customizable and easy to configure according to your preferences.
To set up this service, you use what are called "sync pairs". These are the configurations where you define the pairs of accounts you want to synchronize information to and from. Sync pairs make it easy to manage and control the flow of information you synchronize with CB Exchange Server Sync.
It is an incredibly versatile resource, which can be used to:
- Synchronize your professional and personal calendars
- Allow employees to access their Exchange Server accounts without having to be on-site
- Solve the dilemma of dealing with different Exchange Servers during Mergers & Acquisitions
And much more!
Exchange Meeting Room Synchronization in Action
As an example of what you will see, here you can observe CB Exchange Server Sync handling the synchronization of Lynn’s Exchange Server account with the mailbox created for the “Crystal” conference room at their office. All it takes is the click of a button once everything is configured, and you are good to go.
Worth noting: In case you are not a fan of the light theme of CB Exchange Server Sync, we also have a dark theme available for use!
This expert solution brings you real-time, stress-free synchronization that will save you from having to dig into manual processes that will not be nearly as efficient or productive. Whether you need to only synchronize meeting rooms, or all the items we listed, CB Exchange Server Sync has your back!
What about Gmail Accounts?
In case you are looking to synchronize the meeting rooms of a Microsoft Exchange account with a Gmail or Google Workspace account, or vice-versa, we have a version for that too! It’s our CB Exchange Server Sync for Gmail and Google Workspace, which we just updated to be able to support this awesome feature.
This solution essentially performs the same functions as CB Exchange Server Sync, but instead of forming sync pairs with two Exchange/Outlook accounts, you can form them using an Exchange/Outlook account and a Gmail/Google Workspace account.
No matter your circumstances, our friendly team is here to support you every step of the way. We're happy to assist you and ensure the smooth progress of your project!
About the Author
By Diogo Gouveia
“After completing my studies in the United Kingdom, I joined the Marketing team at Connecting Software to create content on software integration and a variety of other IT topics. If you have any observations or suggestions, please reach out."