Question

Scheduled appointment needs prompt for outlook resource

Asked by: kcarmical

Is there a way to set up a prompt dialog box when someone schedules an appointment on a resource calendar to prompt for additional equipment/resources?
 
For example we have three conference rooms (A, B and C) that have access to the same AV PC which projects on a screen.  The three rooms can be used individually or together for larger groups.  If someone is using the PC in room A and another person books a meeting at the same time in room B I need to prompt them to request a laptop since they will not be able to use the AV PC.

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Asked On
2009-10-22 at 08:15:05ID24834851
Tags

MS Outlook

Topic

Outlook Groupware Software

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
8

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Answers

 

by: BlueDevilFanPosted on 2009-10-22 at 12:34:24ID: 25638075

Hi, kcarmical,

No, there is no way to do this in Outlook.  The only solutions are to look for a 3rd-party program that does this and integrates with Outlook, or write a solution of your own.  Even then it's not real straightforward since you don't just want to prompt you want to prompt for certain conditions.  

 

by: kcarmicalPosted on 2009-10-22 at 12:38:05ID: 25638120

Thanks!  

 

by: kcarmicalPosted on 2009-10-22 at 12:39:16ID: 31644577

Looks like we will have to design out own solution.

 

by: BlueDevilFanPosted on 2009-10-22 at 12:42:08ID: 25638153

You're welcome.

I might be able to help a bit.  If you're prepared to dedicate a computer to the task of monitoring the resource mailboxes, then I can provide you with a simple script that will watch the mailboxes and send message back to anyone who reserves them.  You can modify that script to add conditions.  Let me know if you're interested and I'll post the script and instructions.

 

by: kcarmicalPosted on 2009-10-22 at 12:44:26ID: 25638174

That would be great!
We can take a look at the script and see if it will meet our needs or get us pointed in the right direction.

 

by: BlueDevilFanPosted on 2009-10-22 at 18:36:48ID: 25640745

Here's the code for doing this.  Here's what you need to do to use it.  This assumes you are using Outlook 2007.  It will work to some degree in 2003, but will need some changes to be usable.

1.  Create an account for this solution to run under
2.  Log in using that account
3.  Start Outlook
4.  Click Tools->Macro->Visual Basic Editor
5.  If not already expanded, expand Microsoft Office Outlook Objects and click on ThisOutlookSession
6.  Copy the code from the Code Snippet box and paste it into the right-hand pane of Outlook's VB Editor window
7.  Edit the code as needed.  I included comment lines wherever something needs to or can change
8.  Click the diskette icon on the toolbar to save the changes
9.  Close the VB Editor
10.  Click Tools > Trust Center
11.  Click Macro Security
12.  Set Macro Security to "Warnings for all macros"
13.  Click OK
14.  Close Outlook
15.  Start Outlook.  Outlook will display a dialog-box warning that ThisOutlookSession contains macros and asking if you want to allow them to run.  Say yes.

The code monitors the three resource account calendars.  When an item is added Outlook fires the ItemAdd event.  If the appointment was for conference room A, then the code sends the organizer a message asking them for their AV needs.  If the appointment was for conference rooms B or C, then the code checks to see if conference room A is booked at the same time.  If it is, then the code sends the organizer a message telling them that room A is booked and asking for their needs.  You can modify the code to meet your needs.  The computer running this solution must be left running all the time.  Of course Outlook must be open for the code to work.

Dim WithEvents olkRoomA As Outlook.Items
Dim WithEvents olkRoomB As Outlook.Items
Dim WithEvents olkRoomC As Outlook.Items
 
Private Sub Application_Quit()
    Set olkRoomA = Nothing
    Set olkRoomB = Nothing
    Set olkRoomC = Nothing
End Sub
 
Private Sub Application_Startup()
    'Change the mailbox paths on the next three lines.'
    Set olkRoomA = OpenOutlookFolder("Mailbox - Conference Room A")
    Set olkRoomB = OpenOutlookFolder("Mailbox - Conference Room B")
    Set olkRoomC = OpenOutlookFolder("Mailbox - Conference Room C")
End Sub
 
Private Sub olkRoomA_ItemAdd(ByVal Item As Object)
    SendMessage "AV Needs", "Please remember to send us your AV needs.", Item.Organizer
End Sub
 
Private Sub olkRoomB_ItemAdd(ByVal Item As Object)
    If IsBooked(olkRoomA, Item.Start, Item.End) Then
        SendMessage "AV Needs", "Conference room A is in use.  Please send us your AV needs.", Item.Organizer
    End If
End Sub
 
Private Sub olkRoomC_ItemAdd(ByVal Item As Object)
    If IsBooked(olkRoomA, Item.Start, Item.End) Then
        SendMessage "AV Needs", "Conference room A is in use.  Please send us your AV needs.", Item.Organizer
    End If
End Sub
 
Private Sub SendMessage(strSubject As String, strMessage As String, strRecipient As String)
    Dim olkMsg As Outlook.MailItem
    Set olkMsg = Outlook.Application.CreateItem(olMailItem)
    With olkMsg
        .subject = strSubject
        .HTMLBody = strMessage
        .Recipients.Add strRecipient
        .Recipients.ResolveAll
        'Change the address on the next line.  This is the person that will receive the AV requests.'
        .ReplyRecipients.Add "John.Doe@company.com"
        .ReplyRecipients.ResolveAll
        .Send
    End With
End Sub
 
Private Function IsBooked(olkCalendar As Outlook.Items, datStart As Date, datEnd As Date) As Boolean
    Dim olkMatch As Outlook.AppointmentItem
    olkCalendar.Sort "Start"
    olkCalendar.IncludeRecurrences = True
    Set olkMatch = olkCalendar.Find("[Start] <= '" & Format(datStart, "ddddd h:nn AMPM") & "' AND [End] >= '" & Format(datStart, "ddddd h:nn AMPM") & "'")
    If TypeName(olkMatch) = "Nothing" Then
        Set olkMatch = olkCalendar.Find("[Start] <= '" & Format(datEnd, "ddddd h:nn AMPM") & "' AND [End] >= '" & Format(datEnd, "ddddd h:nn AMPM") & "'")
        If TypeName(olkMatch) = "Nothing" Then
            IsBooked = False
        Else
            IsBooked = True
        End If
    Else
        IsBooked = True
    End If
End Function
 
Function OpenOutlookFolder(strFolderPath As String) As Outlook.MAPIFolder
    ' Purpose: Opens an Outlook folder from a folder path.'
    ' Written: 4/24/2009'
    ' Author:  BlueDevilFan'
    ' Outlook: All versions'
    Dim arrFolders As Variant, _
        varFolder As Variant, _
        bolBeyondRoot As Boolean
    On Error Resume Next
    If strFolderPath = "" Then
        Set OpenOutlookFolder = Nothing
    Else
        Do While Left(strFolderPath, 1) = "\"
            strFolderPath = Right(strFolderPath, Len(strFolderPath) - 1)
        Loop
        arrFolders = Split(strFolderPath, "\")
        For Each varFolder In arrFolders
            Select Case bolBeyondRoot
                Case False
                    Set OpenOutlookFolder = Outlook.Session.Folders(varFolder)
                    bolBeyondRoot = True
                Case True
                    Set OpenOutlookFolder = OpenOutlookFolder.Folders(varFolder)
            End Select
            If Err.Number <> 0 Then
                Set OpenOutlookFolder = Nothing
                Exit For
            End If
        Next
    End If
    On Error GoTo 0
End Function

                                              
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by: kcarmicalPosted on 2009-10-23 at 05:13:42ID: 25643584

Thanks!
We will give it a try.

 

by: BlueDevilFanPosted on 2009-10-23 at 14:45:09ID: 25648991

You're welcome.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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