If you are an executive assistant who needs to book a meeting room in Exchange Online for more than a year in advance, you might encounter a problem. By default, Exchange Online has a booking window of 395 days for room mailboxes, which means you cannot reserve a room beyond that period. This can be frustrating if you need to plan ahead for important events or meetings.
Fortunately, there is a way to bypass this limitation and book a meeting room for any date in the future. In this article, you will learn how to exclude executive assistants from the 395 days booking policy and how to configure the room mailbox settings to allow longer reservations. You will also find some FAQs and a summary of the main points at the end of the article.
Table of Contents
What is a Room Mailbox in Exchange Online?
A room mailbox is a special type of mailbox that represents a physical location, such as a conference room, auditorium, or office. You can use a room mailbox to schedule and manage the availability of the room for meetings or events. You can also set various properties and policies for the room mailbox, such as capacity, permissions, delegates, booking options, and more.
To create a room mailbox in Exchange Online, you need to use the Exchange admin center or the Exchange Online PowerShell. You can also convert an existing user mailbox or shared mailbox to a room mailbox.
What is the Booking Window for Room Mailboxes?
The booking window is the maximum number of days in advance that a room mailbox can be booked. By default, the booking window for room mailboxes in Exchange Online is 395 days. This means that if you try to book a room for a date that is more than 395 days from today, you will get an error message saying that the room is unavailable or declined.
The booking window is designed to prevent users from booking rooms too far in the future, which could cause conflicts or confusion. However, some users might have a valid reason to book a room beyond the default booking window, such as executive assistants who need to plan ahead for long-term projects or events.
How to Exclude Executive Assistants from the Booking Window Policy?
If you are an executive assistant who needs to book a room for more than 395 days in advance, you can ask your Exchange administrator to exclude you from the booking window policy. This will allow you to book any room for any date in the future, regardless of the booking window setting.
To exclude executive assistants from the booking window policy, the Exchange administrator needs to run the following PowerShell cmdlet:
Set-CalendarProcessing -Identity <RoomMailboxIdentity> -AllBookInPolicy $false -BookInPolicy "<User1Identity>,<User2Identity>,..."
The -Identity parameter specifies the identity of the room mailbox that you want to configure. The -AllBookInPolicy parameter sets the value to $false, which means that only the users specified in the -BookInPolicy parameter can book the room. The -BookInPolicy parameter lists the identities of the executive assistants who are allowed to book the room, separated by commas.
For example, if you want to exclude the executive assistants John Smith and Jane Doe from the booking window policy for the room mailbox Conference Room 1, the Exchange administrator can run the following cmdlet:
Set-CalendarProcessing -Identity "Conference Room 1" -AllBookInPolicy $false -BookInPolicy "John Smith,Jane Doe"
After running this cmdlet, John Smith and Jane Doe will be able to book Conference Room 1 for any date in the future, while other users will still be subject to the booking window of 395 days.
How to Change the Booking Window for Room Mailboxes?
Alternatively, if you want to change the booking window for all users who can book a room mailbox, you can use the -BookingWindowInDays parameter of the Set-CalendarProcessing cmdlet. This parameter specifies the maximum number of days in advance that the room mailbox can be booked. The valid values are from 0 to 1080 days.
For example, if you want to change the booking window for the room mailbox Conference Room 1 to 730 days, you can run the following cmdlet:
Set-CalendarProcessing -Identity "Conference Room 1" -BookingWindowInDays 730
This will allow any user who can book Conference Room 1 to do so for up to 730 days in advance. However, this will also affect the executive assistants who were previously excluded from the booking window policy. They will no longer be able to book the room beyond 730 days.
Therefore, you need to decide which option is more suitable for your scenario: excluding executive assistants from the booking window policy or changing the booking window for all users.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Question: How can I check the current booking window for a room mailbox?
Answer: You can use the Get-CalendarProcessing cmdlet to view the current booking window for a room mailbox. The -BookingWindowInDays property shows the maximum number of days in advance that the room mailbox can be booked. For example, to check the booking window for the room mailbox Conference Room 1, you can run the following cmdlet:
Get-CalendarProcessing -Identity "Conference Room 1" | Select-Object -Property BookingWindowInDays
Question: How can I check the current booking policy for a room mailbox?
Answer: You can use the Get-CalendarProcessing cmdlet to view the current booking policy for a room mailbox. The -AllBookInPolicy property shows whether all users can book the room or only the users specified in the -BookInPolicy property. The -BookInPolicy property shows the list of users who can book the room. For example, to check the booking policy for the room mailbox Conference Room 1, you can run the following cmdlet:
Get-CalendarProcessing -Identity "Conference Room 1" | Select-Object -Property AllBookInPolicy,BookInPolicy
Question: How can I book a room mailbox in Outlook or Outlook on the web?
Answer: You can book a room mailbox in Outlook or Outlook on the web by creating a new meeting request and adding the room mailbox as a resource. You can also use the Scheduling Assistant to check the availability of the room mailbox and select a suitable time slot. For more details on how to book a room mailbox in Outlook or Outlook on the web, you can refer to this article.
Summary
In this article, you learned how to book a meeting room in Exchange Online beyond 395 days. You learned that Exchange Online has a default booking window of 395 days for room mailboxes, which prevents users from booking rooms too far in the future. You also learned how to exclude executive assistants from the booking window policy or change the booking window for all users by using the Set-CalendarProcessing cmdlet. You also learned how to check the current booking window and booking policy for a room mailbox by using the Get-CalendarProcessing cmdlet. Finally, you learned how to book a room mailbox in Outlook or Outlook on the web by creating a new meeting request and adding the room mailbox as a resource.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. The information and instructions provided in this article are based on the current settings and features of Exchange Online as of the date of publication. Exchange Online is subject to change and update without notice, and the information and instructions in this article may not reflect the latest version or functionality of Exchange Online. The author and publisher of this article are not responsible for any errors, omissions, damages, or losses that may result from the use of or reliance on the information and instructions in this article.