Good to know
Condeco Outlook Com+ plug-in
The Condeco Outlook Com+ plug-in enables users to search for meeting spaces from the appointment window in Microsoft Outlook. Exchange Sync is compatible with the Condeco Outlook Com+ plug-in 6.4 and above, however, bookings made directly via Microsoft 365 (by inviting a meeting space to the meeting) can be seen via the Room Grid option but cannot be opened or edited via the plug-in.
Condeco mobile app
The Condeco mobile app enables users to make bookings in Condeco (Condeco-initiated bookings). However, you cannot edit bookings created in Microsoft 365 directly in the app because Condeco cannot modify the calendar appointment they originated from. It is possible however to edit those appointments using the mobile device’s calendar.
Set up and clean down times
As Microsoft 365 does not have a notion of setup and clean-down times, Condeco does not enforce any set up and clean down times for synchronized bookings. When an Exchange room is mapped to a Condeco meeting space, any pre-defined set up time/clean down time is removed.
Deleting historical bookings
Historical bookings cannot be deleted from Condeco. If a historical booking is deleted from the Microsoft 365 calendar, it will remain in Condeco.
Linked spaces
As Microsoft 365 has no concept of linked spaces, they are not supported by Exchange Sync and we recommend they are not set up in Condeco.
Business hours
We do not recommend applying business hours to synchronized spaces unless they are also applied to the corresponding resource calendar in Microsoft 365. Condeco cancels bookings outside business hours upon synchronization with Microsoft 365 which may result in a disrupted user experience if the business hours do not match.
Advanced booking period
Exchange Sync does not consider any advance booking period when creating bookings originating from Microsoft 365 because this functionality is driven by the Microsoft 365 room policy. Any advance booking period must be the same in both systems. Cancellation rules are not supported.
Advance booking rules
Condeco ignores advance booking rules when working in synchronization with Microsoft 365. Microsoft 365 does not provide any advance booking rules so the default rules will apply.
Booking types
Microsoft 365 does not provide a booking type so Microsoft 365-initiated bookings default to the booking type configured in the Condeco group the meeting space belongs to. If no default is available, none will be selected.
Recurrence limits
Condeco does not support unlimited recurrences. If a meeting space is booked in Microsoft 365 with an unlimited recurrence, Condeco cancels the booking and sends an email to the user advising that an end date must be set for the recurrence. The user will need to re-book the meeting space.
Both Microsoft 365 and Condeco support a limit to the number of instances in a series and we recommend setting both limits to the same value.
Specific recurrences
Specific recurrence patterns are not supported by Exchange Sync.
Series – past occurrences
Condeco does not support the editing of past bookings so, in scenarios where instances are in the past and a meeting is updated to a new time in Microsoft 365, Exchange Sync will create a new series in the new slot but will not delete any past bookings.
Smart recurrences
Condeco Smart Recurrences are bookings where a substitute meeting space is offered for dates if the specified meeting space is not available. Smart recurrences in Condeco are not available for Exchange Sync-enabled rooms.
Exceptions
Microsoft 365 does not save the exception generated when a change is made in a recurrence series. However, Condeco maintains the exception every time it is generated in Microsoft 365 and is synchronized using Exchange Sync. This behavioral inconsistency can lead to out-of-sync issues when, for example, a user edits a single instance of a recurrence booking in Microsoft 365. The modified instance is considered an exception, but the series cannot be updated because Microsoft 365 does not support this behavior. Condeco creates a separate booking for the new series created in Microsoft 365 and does not overwrite the previous booking.
In previous versions, this could lead to out-of-sync errors, however, with Exchange Sync, the chances of this are significantly reduced due to an improved exception handler.
Waitlist
Condeco waitlist functionality is not supported.
Access rights
User access in Condeco, such as whether meeting spaces are self-bookable or they need to be requested, is governed by Condeco group settings. User access in external calendars is governed by Active Directory groups. We recommend creating AD groups that mirror the rules applied to the Condeco groups to ensure the access can be reproduced.
Managed meeting spaces
Managed meeting spaces are not currently supported in Exchange Sync.
Notice period for managed meeting spaces
We do not recommend using notice periods as Microsoft 365 will not enforce them.
Mapped rooms synchronization
When new Exchange rooms are added to Microsoft 365, it may take up to 24 hours to reflect on the Exchange Room Mapping page in Condeco.
Deleting mapped Exchange rooms
It is important to unmap an Exchange room from the Condeco resource before deleting the room from Exchange.
Deleting a meeting space from a booking created using the Outlook add-in
When a meeting space is removed from a Microsoft 365 initiated booking, Condeco deletes the slot in the room calendar and notifies the organizer that the booking has been deleted in Condeco. However, since Exchange Sync does not have access to the organizer’s calendar, the original Microsoft event will still include the invited meeting space. If the organizer then updates the event, a new meeting space request is generated and the booking for the meeting space is created again (if the slot is available) and synchronized back to Condeco.
Multi-space behavior
When a meeting is created in Microsoft 365 and multiple meeting spaces are added, Exchange Sync books all the meeting spaces in Condeco and links them as a single booking (conference). The meeting space added first is considered the primary space and the remainder are considered secondary. Condeco booking workflows are dependent on the primary meeting space.
Microsoft 365 has no concept of primary and secondary meeting spaces so the spaces have no real attachment to each other, aside from both being invited to the same meeting. If the meeting is moved to a different time, Microsoft 365 sends a separate notification for each meeting space to Exchange Sync. As soon as Condeco receives the first notification for either a primary or secondary meeting space in a conference booking, it actions the changes for all meeting spaces in the conference booking. This eliminates out-of-sync issues if one of the spaces is not available at the new time, for example. The following notifications are still processed but the updates have already been done.
Services
Microsoft 365 does not have an equivalent feature for Condeco services so when a booking with services is edited in Microsoft 365, the booking is declined if a service item is no longer available. For example, a lunch service may not available at the new meeting time.
No email notifications when booking an Exchange room via Outlook
When making a booking for an Exchange room using Microsoft Outlook, no email notifications are generated by Condeco.
No support for multiple Microsoft 365 aliases on a single mailbox.
Exchange Sync does not support multiple Microsoft 365 aliases on a single mailbox mapped to a single meeting space in Condeco. Furthermore, it also does not support multiple aliases on a mailbox that are mapped to different meeting spaces in Condeco. If such aliases exist, it may result in missed bookings in Condeco or overlapping bookings in Microsoft 365.