Friday, 1 August 2025

Managing Resource Mailboxes in Exchange Online

         

 


Managing Resource Mailboxes in Exchange Online:

 Resource mailboxes, such as those for conference rooms and equipment, are essential for efficient scheduling and resource allocation within an organization. This guide covers creating, configuring, and managing these mailboxes to optimize their functionality and ensure seamless integration with your organization's workflow.

Understanding Resource Mailboxes

Resource mailboxes are special types of mailboxes in Exchange Online that represent physical resources, such as conference rooms, projectors, or company vehicles. They allow users to reserve these resources through Outlook or other calendaring applications. Unlike user mailboxes, resource mailboxes do not have a user account associated with them and are primarily used for scheduling purposes.

Managing resource mailboxes in Exchange Online (part of Microsoft 365) involves creating, configuring, and maintaining mailboxes that represent meeting rooms or shared equipment—like conference rooms or projectors. These are of two main types:

  1. Room Mailboxes – for physical locations (e.g., conference rooms).
  2. Equipment Mailboxes – for non-location resources (e.g., company car, projector).

You can manage resource mailboxes in Exchange Online primarily through the Exchange Admin Center (EAC) for a graphical interface or PowerShell for command-line control and automation. These resources are special mailboxes used for scheduling things like conference rooms or company equipment.

Creating Resource Mailboxes

Resource mailboxes come in two types: Room Mailboxes for physical locations (e.g., conference rooms) and Equipment Mailboxes for non-location-specific resources (e.g., projectors, company cars).

Using the Exchange Admin Center (EAC):

  1. Access the Exchange Admin Center: Log in to the Microsoft 365 admin center and navigate to the Exchange admin center.
  2. Navigate to Resources: In the EAC, go to Recipients > Resources.
  3. Create a New Resource Mailbox: Click the + Add a mailbox button and select either Room mailbox or Equipment mailbox based on the type of resource you want to create.
  4. Configure the Mailbox:
    • Name: Enter a display name for the resource (e.g., "Conference Room A").
    • Email address: Specify an email address for the resource mailbox (e.g., confrooma@yourdomain.com).
    • Capacity: (For room mailboxes) Enter the maximum number of people the room can accommodate.
    • Location: (Optional) Enter the location of the resource.
    • Phone: (Optional) Enter the phone number for the resource.
  5. Save the Mailbox: Click Save to create the resource mailbox.

 

Using PowerShell:

You can also create resource mailboxes using the New-Mailbox cmdlet in PowerShell. First, connect to Exchange Online PowerShell

Connect-ExchangeOnline

Then, use the following command to create a room mailbox:

New-Mailbox -Name "Conference Room 1" -DisplayName "Conference Room 1" -PrimarySmtpAddress "confroom1@yourdomain.com" -Room

 

what is Equipment Mailbox:

equipment mailboxes are resource mailboxes specifically designed for scheduling and managing shared resources like conference rooms, projectors, company vehicles, and other equipment.



Create the Equipment Mailbox

Use the New-Mailbox cmdlet with the -Equipment parameter. This parameter is what distinguishes it from a regular user or shared mailbox



Using powershell:

New-Mailbox -Name "Projector-IT-01" -DisplayName "IT Department Projector" -Equipment


Configuring Booking Options

Once created, you need to configure how the resource can be booked. This includes setting up automatic processing and defining who can book it.

 Using the EAC:

Go to Recipients > Resources and select the resource mailbox you want to manage.

 In the flyout pane, click on Booking.

  Here you can configure key settings:

  • Booking delegates: Choose whether booking requests are automatically approved or require approval from a delegate.
  • Booking options: Set policies like allowing recurring meetings, defining the booking window (how far in advance a resource can be booked), and setting the maximum duration.
  • Allow conflicting meetings: By default, this is off to prevent double-booking.

Using PowerShell:

Use the Set-CalendarProcessing cmdlet for detailed configuration

To set auto-acceptance for meeting requests:

Set-CalendarProcessing -Identity "confroom1@yourdomain.com" -AutomateProcessing AutoAccept

To set a booking window of 180 days and a maximum duration of 8 hours:

Set-CalendarProcessing -Identity "confroom1@yourdomain.com" -BookingWindowInDays 180 -MaximumDurationInMinutes 480

To assign a delegate to approve requests:

Set-CalendarProcessing -Identity " confroom1@imech544.onmicrosoft.com"-AllBookInPolicy $false -AllRequestInPolicy $true -ResourceDelegates  prasad@imech544.onmicrosoft.com

 

Managing Permissions

You need to grant users permission to see the resource's calendar or manage it directly.

Using the EAC:

  1. Select the resource mailbox.
  2. Click on Delegation.
  3. Add users to the desired permission levels:
    • Send as: Allows the user to send messages as the resource mailbox.
    • Send on behalf: Allows the user to send messages on behalf of the resource.
    • Full Access: Gives the user full access to the mailbox, including the ability to open it and manage its contents.

Using PowerShell: These permissions control access to the mailbox itself, while calendar permissions control who can view or edit calendar items.

  • To grant Full Access permission:

Add-MailboxPermission -Identity "confroom1@yourdomain.com" -User "user@yourdomain.com" -AccessRights FullAccess

To grant a user 'Editor' access to the calendar: This allows them to create, edit, and delete items on the resource's calendar.

Add-MailboxFolderPermission -Identity "confroom1@yourdomain.com:\Calendar" -User "user@yourdomain.com" -AccessRights Editor

 

Room List In exchange online:

A Room List is a special type of distribution group in Exchange Online that organizes room mailboxes. Its primary purpose is to populate the Room Finder in Outlook and Microsoft Teams, making it easy for users to find and book available meeting spaces by location.

Understanding Room Lists

Before diving into the creation and configuration process, it's important to understand what room lists are and why they are useful.

  • Purpose: Room lists simplify the process of finding and booking available meeting rooms. Instead of searching through a large list of all mailboxes, users can select a specific room list that contains only rooms relevant to their needs (e.g., "Conference Rooms - Building A").
  • Functionality: Room lists are essentially distribution groups with a specific attribute that identifies them as room lists. This attribute allows Outlook and other scheduling tools to recognize them and display them appropriately in the room finder.
  • Benefits:
    • Improved User Experience: Makes it easier for users to find and book rooms.
    • Efficient Scheduling: Streamlines the meeting scheduling process.
    • Better Resource Management: Helps organize and manage meeting room resources effectively.

 

Using Powershell: 

# Install the Exchange Online Management module if you haven't already

# Install-Module -Name ExchangeOnlineManagement

 

Connect-ExchangeOnline

Create a Room List Distribution Group:

New-DistributionGroup -Name "Building A - Conference Rooms" -RoomList

Add Room Mailboxes to the Room List

Once the Room List is created, you must add the individual room mailboxes to it. You can do this one by one or for all rooms in a specific location.

# Get all room mailboxes with "Building A" in their name

$rooms = Get-Mailbox -RecipientTypeDetails RoomMailbox -Filter "Name -like 'Building A*'"

 

# Loop through the results and add each room to the Room List

$rooms | ForEach-Object { Add-DistributionGroupMember -Identity "Building A - Conference Rooms" -Member $_.Name }