Appointments with external participants

In order to schedule common appointments with external participants as internal participants, the appointment details have to be exchanged between the Open-Xchange Server and the calendar application of the external participant.

There are two different scenarios:

You create or change an appointment

If you activate the Notify all participants by E-Mail checkbox when creating an appointment, external participants will receive an E-Mail with the appointment details as an iCal attachment. The E-Mail with the appointment details is sent to external participants if an internal participant

  • creates the appointment,

  • adds participants,

  • or deletes the appointment.

With the details sent, external participants can manage the appointment in their calendar application.

Information on adding external participants to an appointment can be found in : Adding external participants without an addressbook entry.

An external participant creates or changes an appointment

If an external participant sends you an E-Mail with the appointment details attached in iCal format, you can

  • answer the appointment invitation by accepting or declining the appointment,

  • update an existing appointment if other participants have changed their confirmation status.

How to answer an appointment invitation from an external participant:

  1. Switch to the E-Mail module.

  2. Display the E-Mail with the appointment invitation in the H split or V split view.

  3. Use the control elements displayed below the E-Mail header to reply to the invitation:

    • Enter a comment.

    • If you want to participate click on Accept.

    • If you do not want to participate, click on Decline.

Result: The appointment is entered in your calendar. The external participant is notified by E-Mail about your answer.

How to update the attendance status of an external participant:

  1. Switch to the E-Mail module.

  2. Display the E-Mail with the changed attendance status in the H split or V split view.

  3. Click on Update appointment below the E-Mail header.

Result: The appointment will be updated in your calendar.