There is a new Outlook Add-in (Preview) available.
At Add-on Products we have been working hard in 2023 to make a new Outlook Add-in ready for our customers. It is now ready to be released as a preview feature for our customers to start getting familiar with the functionality of this Add-in before rolling out it to all their users.
The Outlook Add-in is a replacement of our current Outlook Add-in and are built on the same Microsoft technology for Office Add-ins. The reason for building this new Outlook add-in is to align it not only with Microsoft’s New Outlook but also to bridge the feature gap between our COM Add-in and the existing Outlook add-in. Missing features that for some customers have made the transition from the Com Add-in to the Outlook Add-in difficult.
We hope to have the Outlook Add-in fully released early 2024.
Note: The Add-in will require External Authentication to be setup and will come with its own installer that need to be deployed on the server. Hereafter the section System/Client Apps will be available in Resource Central. Deployment to end users will still happen by publishing the manifest.
The installer for the New Outlook Add-in Preview can be gotten on request to Add-On Products Support. Documentation about the New Outlook Add-in can be found on our support site under OfficePlace Booking - Client Apps.
The following sections about the Outlook Add-in will describe the biggest changes compared to our current Outlook Add-in
New user interface design
A ‘Find Colleague’ feature is also implemented in the new Outlook Add-in. You may be familiar with this feature from our Workspace app. It enables you to search for a colleague and view their reserved desk or meeting room, so that you can book a nearby desk. The feature can be disabled on the system level if it is not needed.
Create your meeting and order in one step.
When you are creating your meeting, it is possible to place the order before sending out the meeting invitations to your attendees. This function was also possible in the ResourceFinder Com Add-in but not in the current Outlook Add-in.
Below shows a draft meeting with a selected resource
Opening the order form reveals the familiar order form layout. No changes there.
Book Virtual resources – also from Floor plans.
Booking of Virtual Resources will be available for booking in this Outlook Add-in. Furthermore, The Virtual resources will be available from the floor plan both from The ResourceFinder Com Add-in and the new Outlook Add-in. The floor plan configuration will allow you to draw and display Virtual resources in ResourceFinder like other resources. Below is an example of a virtual resource drawn on a floorplan together with the two resources, Meeting Room 1 and Meeting Room 2, making up the parts of the Virtual Resource.
Shared Calendars
With this new Outlook Add-in, the booking in shared calendars is now fully supported from the booking and all the way to correct information to the Assistant Organizer. We welcome this long-anticipated feature and hope that it will bring much joy.
Bulk update of items
Like Resources it is now possible to do Bulk Update of Items. The feature functions like it does with Resources, so it should be very familiar to use.
The feature will improve the Items configuration efficiency a lot.
New buffer time settings
The buffer time in Resource Central has been changed to be configurable within a time range of 0 to180 minutes.
This should give a lot more flexibility and a longer possible buffer time than in previous versions of Resource Central
Booking Manager – Reservations with orders
When using the Booking Manager, it is now possible to filter on reservations with or without orders. This should make it easier when considering which reservations to move around as the consequence of moving a meeting with an order might be bigger compared to being able to choose to move another resource reservation without orders to free up time for an important meeting.
The Booking Manager features a filter option, visible below, and each reservation includes an order icon in the mouse-over.
Filtering on sublocations with sublocations
With the below parameter it will now be possible to filter only on a location that has both parent- and sublocations. Past behavior would always have included its sublocations’ resources in the result as well.
Location.AllowFilterIndependenceLocation
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