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By Jim Boyce

By using group schedules in Outlook 2003, you can view the free/busy status information for members of your team or another group of people. You can use group schedules to help you identify when team members are available for tasks, meetings, or other events.

You can easily create meeting requests from a group schedule, and you can send e-mail messages to members of the group from the group's schedule dialog box. If you have been given the required permissions for a team member's Calendar folder, you can even open the member's calendar if your team uses Microsoft Exchange Server.

Create a group schedule

You can create multiple group schedules in Outlook 2003. Each group schedule can include any selection of people, so you might create one schedule for all team members and other schedules for selected members.

Follow these steps to create a group schedule:

1. In Outlook 2003, open your Calendar folder.
2. On the Actions menu, click View Group Schedules to open the Group Schedules dialog box.
3. Click New, type a name for the group schedule, and click OK. The group's schedule dialog box appears.

   

Add members or a calendar to a group schedule

You can add members to a group schedule from the Address Book or add a calendar from a public folder if your organization uses Exchange Server. Follow these steps to add members:

1. In the group's schedule dialog box, click Add Others and click Add from Address Book. The Select Members dialog box appears.

   

2. Click a contact, and then click To. Repeat this step to add other members from your Address Book. You can choose members from different address lists.
3. Click OK.
4. To add a public Calendar folder if your organization uses Exchange Server, click Add Others and click Add Public Folder. The Select Folder dialog box appears.

   

5. Click the public folder, and click OK.
6. Click Save and Close.

By adding a public Calendar folder to a group schedule, the calendar's events are available for scheduling purposes. You can incorporate group-wide or company-wide events into your schedule. You might use the public Calendar folder to identify company-wide meetings and other special events or to identify the availability of a specific resource.

Give someone permission to view your calendar

If your organization uses Exchange Server, a user can open another user's calendar to view and add or modify appointments, subject to the permissions of the folder. To give someone permissions for your Calendar folder, follow these steps:

1. On the Go menu, click Folder List.
2. Right-click the Calendar folder, and click Properties.
3. Click the Permissions tab.

   

4. Click Add, select a user in the list, click Add, and click OK.
5. On the Permissions tab, select a permission level in the Permission Level box. You can select a permission level according to the actions you would like to allow the other person to perform in your Calendar folder.
6. Click OK.

View someone's calendar

You can view someone's calendar from a group schedule if that person has given you permissions for the Calendar folder. To view the calendar:

1. Open your own Calendar.
2. On the Actions menu, click View Group Schedules.
3. Click the group schedule, and click Open.
4. In the Group Members list, click the Open Member's Calendar icon to the left of a name. The Calendar folder opens.

Schedule a meeting from a group schedule

Now you are ready to use the group schedule to schedule a group meeting.

1. Open your own Calendar folder.
2. On the Actions menu, click View Group Schedules.
3. Click your group's schedule, and click Open.
4. Look through the dates in the group's schedule dialog box to find a block of time when all of the required attendees are available.
5. Highlight the desired block of time for the meeting, click Make Meeting, and then click New Meeting with All.
6. To send the meeting request to the group, on the Appointment tab, type the information you want to include in your meeting request, and click Send.

To schedule a meeting with one team member

Send e-mail to group members from a group schedule

It's easy to send e-mail messages to group members from a group schedule. To send a message:

1. Open your own Calendar.
2. On the Actions menu, click View Group Schedules.
3. Click the group schedule, and then click Open.
4. To send a message to one member, right-click the member's name in the Group Members list, and click Send Mail. A new message form appears; it has the To field filled in with the member's e-mail address.

   Note  You can also click a time block beside a member, click Make Meeting, and then click New Mail Message.

5. To send a message to everyone in the group, click Make Meeting, and then click New Mail Message with All. A new message form opens with the To field already filled in with the group members' e-mail addresses.

Efficient schedule management

By using Outlook 2003, you can easily manage the schedules for your team. After creating a group schedule, you can add members to the schedule, view each others' calendars, schedule meetings, and send e-mail messages to the group. Outlook 2003 can help you successfully manage your group's schedule.

About the author   Jim Boyce has authored over 50 books about computers and technology; many of these books are about Microsoft Office System. He regularly contributes to several online sites and publications. His latest book is Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 Inside Out, which is available from Microsoft Learning.