Working in a Two Calendar Environment
From Provider Notes
For more information about ISC's Exchange Service, visit the Provider Web at [1].
Operating in a two calendar environment
Generally speaking, it is advisable for organizations to try and minimize the time that their users will spend working in a two calendar environment. This can be accomplished by coordinating calendar migration with other units, especially those with which your group typically schedules. In addition, using the email first, calendar second approach may allow providers to compress the amount of time when users within your local unit are using two calendar clients. However, even with the best plans, there will probably be a short period of time when two calendars will be in play.
In addition, for the short to medium term, users in the University's Schools and Centers (whether they are on Meeting Maker or Exchange) will have to schedule meetings and receive meeting invitations from users who may be on either system.
Implications of having users split between calendars
As long as a significant amount of a user's contacts are running a different calendaring system, users should email invitations. This is somewhat 'clunky' and these invitations can not carry all possible metadata, but will ensure that users on either system will get the invitation and will get it in a consistent manner.
- In Meeting Maker, users can email invitations, by clicking the "Email Guests" button on the Guests tab, which is displayed after adding guests to meeting. Meeting Maker will create a message with all the meeting's details. If the guest has configured Meeting Maker with their email address, the addressing will be automatic. If not, the meeting's organizer will need to manually type in the guest's email address.
- In Exchange, the process is more straight forward, because messages are generated by default for every meeting. Even guests not using Exchange will receive an email message about a meeting proposal.
- In both cases, the user will need to manually add the meeting to his/her calendar when receiving an invitation from the sytem they are not currently using.
Implications of maintaining two calendars
Maintaining two calendars involves not only an increase in time for managing them, but also potential for confusion, as Meeting Maker and Exchange's calendar capabilities do not precisely match each other. Real-world testing has resulted in these suggestions:
- Enter each item in both calendars at the same time - don't assume you will remember to put it in the other calendar later.
- If you use visual aids (such as color coding) to help you organize your calendar, make sure you are as consistent as possible across calendars.
