Exchange EWS FAQs

Refer to the following frequently asked questions for information on commonly encountered questions when setting up Exchange integration for your environment.
 

1. Q. What is the normal flow from reserving a room in Eptura Workplace and it showing up in exchange calendar?
   
   Using the client's exchange credentials, we connect to exchange by impersonating the room being reserved. Once that connection is made, the room then invites the currently logged-in user as well as any attendees added to the reservation.
    
2. Q. What is the normal flow from reserving a room in Outlook calendar and the reservation displaying in the user's Hummingbird app?
   
   Going from Outlook to Eptura Workplace: The user enters a reservation into Outlook. Using the user's credentials, the reservation is sent to exchange. Based on the setting in Exchange (Office 365), the reservation is either accepted or rejected by the room. Once the room resource accepts the reservation in Exchange, Exchange sends an update signal to the servers at Eptura Workplace. That signal is then processed and used to create a matching reservation in the Eptura Workplace application. The newly created Eptura Workplace reservation displays and can be viewed throughout Eptura Workplace, including in the Hummingbird app.
    
3. Q. What data points are able to be passed from Outlook appointments into Eptura Workplace?
   
   The following data points are retained: the start/end date of the reservation, when the reservation was last edited, the reservations ID in Exchange, the name of the person who created the reservation, and all attendees included on the reservation. Depending on the privacy settings defined for the reservation, the subject line and body text entered on the reservation in Exchange may also be passed to Eptura Workplace.
    
4. Q. Are attachments added to Outlook appointments pulled into Eptura Workplace?
   
   No. We do not look at the attachments property when the communication happens between Exchange and Eptura Workplace. An attachment uploaded to a reservation created in Exchange would follow the rules your organization has defined in Exchange, and would only be accessible from Exchange. The basic reservation details will be reflected in Eptura Workplace, but attachments would not be as attachments are not passed to Eptura Workplace with the other meeting information (we only make calls to the information we need).
    
5. Q. Can Webex or similar meeting details be incorporated into Eptura Workplace reservations and notifications?
   
   If the details for the meeting are included in the body of the reservation, then those details can be pulled into the reservation notes when a reservation created in Exchange is passed to Eptura Workplace.
    
6. Q. How are meeting attendees notified of meetings created/updated/canceled in Eptura Workplace?
   
   Attendees receive notifications on the status of their reservations via email. We also allow for notifications to be sent via Slack for clients using the available Eptura Workplace Slack Integration.
    
7. Q. How are meeting attendees notified of meetings created/updated/canceled in Exchange?
   
   When a reservation originates from Exchange, we allow Exchange to handle all notifications so that we avoid sending duplicate alerts to meeting attendees.
    
8. Q. Is there a range of IP addresses Eptura Workplace would use to connect with their Exchange integration?
   
   As far as the integration is concerned, no IP ranges are specified in connecting to Exchange. We do however touch on IP whitelisting in our user documentation for environments that are defined to deny incoming traffic by default.
   
   The IP addresses that need to be whitelisted for Azure are 13.65.198.71 for Inbound traffic, 40.74.225.140 for Outbound, 157.55.84.85 for connections, and 13.66.39.42 for notifications. We also have IP ranges for Rackspace that can be provided upon request. Click here for information on whitelisting the email notification servers.
    
9. Q. Does the Exchange service account require access to personally identifiable information (PII) or is there a way to set it up and not pull any personal data?
   
   The service account can be defined to limit access to only the room resources available and in scope. These settings prevent the service account from interacting with specific user calendars while still allowing for integration. The only PII passed to Eptura Workplace will be the email addresses of the meeting attendees included on the reservation. It should also be noted that Eptura Workplace is GDPR compliant and stores all data securely using methods that exceed the requirements for storing basic PII.
    
10. Q. Client wants to share room info only, and only give access to rooms at a single location. Is it possible to use Exchange integration and not collect any personal information for the Exchange users?
    
    Yes. This can be handled when defining the scope for the service account. The service account can be defined to only allow access to room resources; however, it should be noted that the email addresses and names of meeting attendees are still passed to Eptura Workplace as part of this integration.
     
11. Q. Does this service account leave us open to the internet? How are we able to lock down access?
    
    The service account uses the credentials to execute requests via the Microsoft EWS API. We do not maintain active and open connections.
     
12. Q.  Do we have the EWS URL specified somewhere versus dynamically getting the EWS service URL via Exchange Autodiscover?
    
    We prefer that the EWS URL is created dynamically using the Exchange Autodiscover process; however, if for some reason the client's configuration does not support the Autodiscover method, we can still connect with an EWS URL provided to us. As with URLs validated using the Autodiscover test performed using the Microsoft test connectivity site (https://testconnectivity.microsoft.com/), the client should be able to prove that the EWS URL can pass the Autodiscover test.
     
13. Q. Do you require legacy IMAP/SMTP protocol or can Eptura Workplace leverage native exchange?
    
    No. Legacy protocols are not required. We handle all communication via the EWS API.

14. Q.  Does booking through Eptura Workplace or Hummingbird change the default meeting reminder time on the meeting in my Outlook calendar?

No. The meeting reminder time will use the user's default settings for their Outlook reminder. You can read more about the Eptura Workplace and Hummingbird reminders here.