Exchange - Someone Scheduled Directly with Me Instead of Using my Bookings Page

Issue/Question

• Someone sent me an invite to a meeting directly instead of using my Bookings page. 

Environment

• Oregon State University
• Exchange Email

Explanation

Starting November 1, 2022, new students will be in Exchange email instead of Gmail, so they can now see the free/busy calendar information for advisors, instructors and other employees. However, anyone can send a calendar invite to anyone else via email, even without Exchange.

Resolution

There is no way to prevent someone sending you a calendar invite directly, but here are a couple of recommendations to address this issue:

1. Decline the unwanted meeting invite with a message that says to use your Bookings page instead. Include a link to your Bookings page.
2. You may want to set your calendar settings to not auto-accept invites:
   1. In Outlook, select File -> Options -> Calendar
   2. Scroll down to the section "Automatic accept or decline" and click "Auto Accept/Decline"
   3. Uncheck "Automatically accept meeting request"

Assistance

For assistance, contact the Service Desk.