You can invite other people to a meeting, or book resources. DeskNow can automatically show you the availability of required attendees/resources, and track the replies from other attendees.
To invite attendees or book resources for a meeting, simply create a new event and then click on the Attendees tab.
In this window you can add an attendee or resource by looking up its address (using the Pick button, or typing directly the attendee's or resource email address). Click the Add button to add the attendee(s) to the list of attendees.
Below the Add and Pick buttons, on the left pane you will see the names of all the attendees and resources.
Tip: the Administrator can define resources in the Administration / Resources page. He/she can also view the schedule for a resource by just clicking on its name.
By clicking on the relative icon, you can change:
the delivery mode. This defines if and how an invitation is sent to this attendee:
invite via email with iCal. This is the default, and will send the invitation using an internet standard. The event will appear in the attendees calendar. This can be used with other DeskNow users, or users that use a standards compliant calendaring application (Outlook and Notes - not Outlook Express).
invite via email with plain text. Use this option if the attendee does not have an iCal client. DeskNow will send a plaintext email. Replies from the attendee regarding his/her availability will not be tracked
do not send invitation
Tip: you can set what is the preferred delivery mode of an attendee by editing its contact details in your contacts.
the attendance level:
required attendee/resource
optional attendee/resource
In this pane an icon will also display the attendee response:
accepted
declined
delegated
waiting for reply
tentatively accepted
unknown (this is typical of attendees not invited using iCal)
In the right pane, DeskNow will show the known availability of each attendee for the given day. Refer to the colour table below to decode the meaning of each color (free, tentative, busy, out of office, unknown). These status codes are typically set by the user when they create an event in their calendar.
A vertical white stripe (bounded by a green and red line) highlights the event's begin and end time.
To display availabilities for the previous of next day, simply click on the Prev or Next button.
To display the availability for all hours in the day, simply click on the Show full day button.