46.4 Managing Resources

Resources are items that can be scheduled for meetings or other uses. Resources can include rooms, computer projectors, cars, and more. The GroupWise administrator defines a resource by giving it an identifying name and assigning it to a user. Resources can be included in a busy search, just as users can. Resource IDs are entered in the To box. A user assigned to manage a resource is the owner of that resource.

The owner of a resource is responsible for accepting and declining appointments for the resource. In order to do so, the owner must have full proxy rights to the resource. As a resource owner, you can select to receive notification of appointments for the resource.

You can add multiple resources to a Resource Pool, which prioritize resources for use by the order in the pool list. When you schedule a resource via a resource pool, the appointment will automatically use Busy Search and schedule the highest priority resource that is available in the resource pool list.

46.4.1 Understanding Resources

Each resource in a Contacts folder is marked with Resource. When you double-click a resource, the resource item view displays.

Use the resource item view page to specify a name for the resource, a phone number, resource type, email address, owner, and comments about this resource.

In the Owner field, you can specify a contact that is already in your address book, or you can use the arrow button to create a new contact entry.

Adding a Personal Resource

The GroupWise Address Book includes resources defined by your GroupWise administrator. You can add a personal resource to the Frequent Contacts folder or another personal Contacts folder.

  1. In the Folder List, select the Contacts folder where you want to add a personal resource.

  2. Click New Resource on the toolbar.

  3. In the Name field, specify the name for the resource.

  4. In the Phone field, specify the phone number of the contact responsible for the resource.

  5. In the Type field, specify the type of resource.

    You can specify Resource or Place. If you specify Place, the resource description is automatically added to the Place field in the appointment. If more than one place is added to an appointment as a resource, only the first one will be displayed in the Place field.

  6. In the Email Address field, specify the email address of the person to receive notifications about this resource.

  7. In the Owner field, specify the owner of the resource.

  8. In the Comments field, specify any comments you might have for the resource.

    For example, you might want to specify how big a conference room is or what type of equipment is in the room.

  9. Click Close, and then click Yes to save your changes.

Modifying a Personal Resource

  1. In the Folder List, select the Contacts folder where you want to modify a personal resource.

  2. Right-click the resource, and then click Details.

    Resources are marked by the Resource icon icon.

  3. On the Details tab, modify any information as needed.

  4. Click Close, and then click Yes to save your changes.

Accepting and Declining Resource Requests

You can accept or decline requests for a resource only if you are the owner and have been granted Read and Write rights. Personal resources cannot be shared with other users through proxy rights.

  1. In the Main Window or Calendar, click File > Proxy.

    or

    Click the Folder List header drop-down list (above the Folder List; it probably displays Online or Caching to indicate what mode of GroupWise you are running in), and then click Proxy.

  2. Click the resource you own.

    If the resource you own is not listed in the Proxy pop-up list, click Proxy, type the name of the resource in the Name field, and then click OK.

  3. Double-click the item you need to accept or decline.

  4. Click Accept or Decline on the toolbar.

Receiving Notification for Another User or Resource

  1. Click Tools > Options.

  2. Double-click Security, and then click Notify.

  3. Select the name of a user for whom you are a proxy, or select the name of the resource you own.

    If the user or resource is not listed in the Notification list, type the name, and then click Add User. You can select the name from the Address Selector dialog box by clicking Address Book icon.

  4. Ensure that Subscribe to alarms and Subscribe to notification are selected.

    You are automatically subscribed to alarms and notification for yourself. If you deselect Subscribe to alarms and Subscribe to notification for yourself, you no longer receive alarms and notifications. If you unsubscribe to alarms and notifications for yourself, you will need to repeat steps 1-4 in this topic for your user name to enable them again.

  5. Click OK.

Notify must be open or minimized in order to receive notification or alarms. For more information, see Starting Notify.

Creating a Rule for a Resource

If you are the owner of a resource, you have full Proxy rights to that resource, including the ability to create rules for it. The following steps show you how to create a rule that accepts all requests for an available resource. This is an example of one rule that is useful for a resource. You can create other rules that perform different actions. For example, you might create a rule that declines requests for a resource that is already scheduled.

  1. Click the Mode Selector icon, and then click Proxy.

  2. Click the resource you own.

    If the resource you own is not listed in the Proxy dialog box, type the name of the resource you own in the Name field, and then click OK.

  3. Click Tools > Rules, and then click New.

  4. Type a name for the rule.

  5. Click Appointment. Ensure the other item types are deselected.

  6. Click the Appointment conflict exists drop-down list, and then click No.

  7. Click Add Action > Accept, type a comment if desired, and then click OK.

    The actions in Step 6 and Step 7 instruct the rule to accept the appointment for the resource only if the resource is available.

  8. Click Save, and then click Close.

Deleting a Personal Resource

To delete a personal resource:

  1. In the Folder List, select the Contacts folder where you want to delete the personal resource.

  2. Right-click the resource, and then click Delete.

    Resources are marked by the Resource icon icon.

  3. Click Yes to confirm the deletion of the resource.

46.4.2 Understanding and Creating Resource Pools

Resource pools are used to simplify the resource scheduling process by prioritizing resources for use from a resource pool list that you create in your Personal Contacts folder. When you add a resource pool to the appointment, Busy Search will automatically select the highest priority resource that is available in the resource pool and display it in parentheses next to the resource pool name in the Appointment window. Priority is determined by the order of resources in the list. If you want to select a different resource from the resource pool, click Busy Search before sending the appointment and change the resource manually.

Each resource pool in a Contacts folder is marked with Resource. When you double-click a resource pool, the resource pool item view displays.

You can create a resource pool from the File or right-click menu. There is also a toolbar item for New Resource Pool when you have the Folder Context toolbar option enabled.

To create a new resource pool:

  1. In the Folder List, select the Contacts folder where you want to add a personal resource.

  2. With Folder Context enabled on the toolbar, click New Resource Pool.

  3. Specify a name for the resource and include comments if required.

  4. Click Add to select resource pool members.

  5. After choosing an address book and resource in the Look in and Look for drop-down menus, respectively, click To to add the resource to the Selected list.

  6. Continue the process in Step 4 and Step 5 until you have all the desired resources selected for your new resource pool.

    If you need to change the order, you can simply drag and drop resources where you want them for priority.

  7. When you are finished adding resources, click Save to save the resource pool.