Meeting Announcements in Outlook

The Outlook calendar allows you to do a number of basic scheduling tasks, most of which you are likely familiar with. However, did you know Outlook also provides ways for teams to request and coordinate meeting times? The following is a guide to help get you started with meeting announcements in Outlook.

Meeting Invitees: Accept or Decline a Meeting Request When a meeting organizer sends you a request for a meeting, it will first appear in your Outlook Inbox. Soon after the request arrives, Outlook automatically adds the meeting to your calendar and marks it as 'tentative' - this is done to keep you from missing a meeting in case you do not see the request in time. However, you will still need to view the request in order to accept it, decline it, or let the organizer know if changes need to be made. Open the request, view the meeting information, and make a decision. It's important that you make a choice and do not simply delete the request; doing so may cause you to lose the request. Click either Accept, Tentative, or Decline. To send you response with no comments, select Send the response now, followed by OK. To include a comment with your response, select Edit the response before sending, type your comment, and click Send. The third option, Don't send a response, will add the meeting to your calendar, but the organizer will not be notified of the choice you made. Note that if you were not directly invited (someone forwarded you this invite) and you select this option, you will not receive any updates to the meeting request. To propose a new time for the meeting, click Propose New Time. Find a time when all invites are available (you can use AutoPick Next for this). Click Propose Time and Send. You are automatically considered to have tentatively accepted the request. To cancel you attendance after you have already accepted, or to cancel a meeting on behalf of the meeting organizer, open the occurrence in your Outlook calendar. Under Actions, select Reply to All with Message. Type the information in the message box and click Send. Delete the occurrence from your calendar by selecting Delete from the File menu. If you run Outlook on two computers (such as home and work) and accept a meeting, don not delete the request from the Inbox of the other computer. If the request is still there, accept it again. Deleting a request on one computer after you have already accepted it on another computer can cause the meeting to disappear entirely. Remove a Cancelled Meeting from Your Calendar If you receive a notification of a cancelled meeting, simply deleting the notice from your Inbox will not remove the meeting from your calendar. To delete it permanently, click Remove from Calendar, or go to the appointment yourself and click Delete.

Meeting Organizers: Create a Meeting Request In your Outlook calendar, locate the Actions menu. Click Plan a Meeting. To add attendees, click Add Others, and then click Add from Address Book. Type or select an individual, and click whether that person's attendance is Required, Optional, or Resources. Resources will appear in the Location box; to get details (such as free/busy times) on a location, click on its name in the list. Note that in many cases, you must have certain permissions to schedule a resource. Resources may also be selected from the Location drop-down box. Click a time when all invitees are available. You may use AutoPick Next to find the next available free time for all invitees, based on their busy/free schedules. Click Make Meeting. In the Subject box, type a description for your meeting. If you did not schedule a location before, enter one in the Location box. If this will be a recurring meeting, click Recurrence and fill out the necessary information. Review and select any other options you may want. You may also attach a file (such as a meeting agenda) to the request. Click Send. Note that you automatically become the "organizer" for this meeting, and will be the only one able to make changes and send updates. You may also make a meeting out of an existing appointment on you calendar. Open that appointment, click Invite Attendees, select invitees, etc. The appointment will be converted to a meeting request. Update or Change a Request Open the meeting in your Outlook calendar. Make your change to the request in the appropriate fields. Some functions (such as meeting recurrence) may be found under the Actions menu. Click OK and Send Update. Add or Remove an Attendee to an Existing Meeting Open the meeting in your Outlook calendar. Add the new attendee to the To line of the original meeting occurrence, and click Send Update to notify all attendees. To remove an attendee, delete their name from the To line and click Save and Close. If it's necessary to notify everyone else, click Send Update instead. You may also wish to type a message in the Message field, as there's no actual 'uninvited' message that goes along with the update. The uninvited attendee will receive a cancellation notice. Cancel a Meeting To cancel a single meeting, open the appointment and click the Delete button. In the window that appears, you have the option to Send cancellation and delete meeting or Delete without sending a cancellation. Even though you are given the option, you are advised to send out a cancellation so that attendees' calendars will be updated. Click OK. The invitees will receive a cancellation if they accepted the request, tentatively accepted, or have not yet responded. To cancel a recurring meeting, you may follow the same procedure, but note that all past occurrences will also be deleted. To preserve the past dates, open the meeting, set a new end date, and then send an update to attendees.