Outlook Resource Scheduling / Calendar Planner
Does Outlook have a scheduling / calendar planner tool? No, and Yes. Outlook has a shared calendar function, but it is very limited in functionality and scalability. However, the good news is that it is possible to add highly effective and scalable resource scheduling to Outlook without affecting the way people use Outlook.
Timewatch’s Whitespace® for Outlook is a simplified version of the Whitespace® resource scheduling system that has been specifically designed to add on to Outlook. Whitespace® for Outlook provides simple, cost effective resource scheduling facilities for Outlook. With Whitespace® for Outlook you can see all of your employees’ Outlook (and Teams) calendars on one screen, view employee availability and employee capacity over a range of dates, report upon Outlook shared calendars, and even make, move and edit appointments. With Whitespace® for Outlook you can see and report upon your employee’s Outlook and Teams calendars.
[Learn about the limitations with Outlook shared calendars here]
How to use Microsoft Teams and Outlook for resource scheduling
Your business is more efficient when you have total visibility of who is doing what, where, when, and why. It is even more efficient when you know exactly what each employee’s availability and capacity is in the future, as you can maximize their utilization.
Timewatch’s Wallchart® system allows to view all employees Outlook calendars together.
You can create one global view of everyone to scroll through, or you can create targeted views of specific employee groups, for example by: skill, office, team, any other grouping you need. With an Outlook group calendar visible on one screen, you can instantly see employee availability and capacity, report upon Outlook shared calendars, and make, move, edit and report on employee appointments.
How do I create a resource scheduler in Outlook?
Outlook and Teams are great collaboration and personal calendar tools, but they don’t provide company-wide calendar visibility.
Our new Wallchart® system unlocks the full potential of Outlook, by bringing the following features to Outlook:
- View any number of employee calendars side-by-side (Outlook is limited to four)
- Group employees by definable attributes, eg. skill, office, timezone, language, anything grouping you need
- Allow sorting and searching by resource availability and capacity so you can find the right employees for a job and the ones with the necessary availablity
- Bring reporting and analytics to Outlook and Teams calendars (something Outlook and Teams don’t have)
- Add security to company booked appointment so users can’t accidentally move or delete them (something Outlook and Teams cannot do)
- Expand upon Outlook and Teams’ five appointment types: busy, free, out-of-office, etc. This allows organizations to create their own booking categories, eg. training, consultancy, customer meetings, chargeable, non-chargeable, whatever you need
- Allow custom fields to be added to appointments: purchase order number, ticket number, chargeable/non-chargeable, contact number, anything you needed to report upon
- Allow Outlook and Teams to turn appointments into time sheets and timesheets into invoices where needed
Organization-wide resource visibility
“If an organization can see actual availability for all resources, scheduling staff save a huge amount of time and effort” says Timewatch specialist Phil Jones. “If you are trying to schedule a group of team members, Timewatch allows you to see who is available without sending out a group invite only to later discover that half of your potential resources are already booked or – worse – something changes after you have fixed a date.”
With increased remote working, it is even more important for team managers and schedulers to be able to instantly see what their teams are doing. Our Outlook resource scheduling system solves this without changing any current working practices. Employees continue using Outlook as they normally do, but organizations can rely on our central view to provide a consolidated view of their resources outlook calendars. Team leaders, managers and schedulers finally have the visibility they need, without having to implement yet another system for people to enter the same data into.
Secure
“With Timewatch’s Teams and Outlook resource scheduling system, all meetings and appointments can now be viewed centrally and securely,” says Jones. “Employees often use Outlook for both personal items as well as company appointments, which is why the details of items marked as ‘private’ are hidden in the wallchart”.
How does Outlook resource scheduling help your business?
It’s simple:
- See work calendars for individuals, groups or your whole organization
- Configure appointments to hold all the data your organization needs
- Report upon and see availability in the future
- Analyze what staff have been working on
- See resources that are available in real time and schedule a group or individual calendar instantly
- Safe, secure, with full privacy protocols
Want to Learn More?
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us via chat, or book a call with a product specialist who can show you the system in operation.
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Other posts you may be interested in:
 | Resource SchedulingFull blown resource scheduling with a two-way Outlook sync |
 | Employee Scheduling DashboardHow to customize the perfect scheduling (and capacity planning) dashboard for business success |
 | New Resource Scheduling Report WriterHow to customize your resource scheduling reports and analytical output |
 | Outlook Analytics And Calendar ReportingHow reporting on Outlook calendars helps businesses view employee capacity and workload, and navigate through the COVID-19 crisis better |
 | Product UpdateOur latest Report writer is now available to all customers, all products. Previously the report writer was only available to our private server Corporate and Enterprise customers on certain products. From November 2021, our Essentials and Pro customers as well as Corporate and Enterprise customers will also be able to add our Report Writer (and Dashboard Designer) to their system. Now everyone can create their own reports and dashboards and have the perfect reports for their business. |
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replaces year planning whiteboards, scheduling dry erase boards, magnetic calendar planners and annual markerboards
Outlook Calendar Sync – OCS, TESS