Sending Events and Appointments to Others

You can send events, appointments, and cancellations to other Outlook users. When an event is canceled , Outlook sends cancellation notices to anybody who has been invited to an event or appointment. So if you and your doctor use Outlook to schedule medical appointments, Outlook might actually be smart enough to let your doctor know that the appointment was canceled, even if it isn't actually going to pick up the phone.

Note that an event with invitations is called an invited event , and an appointment with invitations is called a meeting .

The following steps show you how to invite others to appointments or events.

1. Begin by opening any appointment you created earlier.

2. Notice that the appointment has two tabs: Appointment and Attendee Availability. Click the Attendee Availability tab.

3. At the moment, you are the only attendee, as the one who created the appointment. Click Invite Others to display the Select Attendee and Resources dialog box, shown in Figure 18.7.

   Figure 18.7. Invitees will be notified by email of the meeting and any subsequent changes (figure shown in Corporate/Workgroup mode).

   

4. Choose the attendees you want to invite, noting that there are three categories: Required, Optional, and Resources. Click OK when you're done. Invitations will be sent to the Required and Optional attendees. To avoid sending an invitation to any given attendee, click the envelope next to the attendee's name in the All Attendees list, and choose Don't Send Meeting to this Attendee.

5. Note that the Save and Close button on the Standard toolbar has been replaced by Send. Note also that the appointment has now changed into a meeting. Once you invite others to an appointment, it becomes a meeting. Click Send to finish the appointment and to send notices to the different invitees.

Responding to an Invitation

When you send an invitation, required invitees will receive an email that displays as an appointment, as shown in Figure 18.8. To respond to an invitation, click Accept, Tentative, or Decline. Choosing Accept or Tentative adds that appointment to your calendar. Your response is also sent via email to the appointment or event originator. A notation then shows up in the originator's calendar indicating that a response has been received. The person can then plan accordingly .

Figure 18.8. The Accept, Tentative, and Decline buttons send email back to the host.

Canceling an Appointment

Suppose that you and your doctor conduct scheduling by using Microsoft Outlook. If you cancel your appointment via Outlook, an email to that effect is sent to your doctor. When you delete an appointment that has invitees, you can choose to delete the appointment and send a cancellation notice, or just delete without sending a notice. Choosing the delete/cancel option displays the appointment onscreen; click Send to complete sending a cancellation notice.

When you receive a cancellation notice, you are presented with an opportunity to remove that appointment from your calendar. Click Remove from Calendar to move the appointment into the electronic wastebasket.