UCL INFORMATION SERVICES DIVISION
IT for SLMS
IT for SLMS: Live@UCL – Outlook 2007
– Calendar – Scheduling Free/Busy time
1. Document Information
Document Name
Outlook2007-schedule-free-busy.docx
Service
live@UCL (calendar)
Author
Kristina Drew
Contributors
Issue Date
01/08/2013
2. Document History
Version
Date
Summary of change
1.0
01/08/2013 Republished with ‘IT for SLMS’ branding
outlook2007-schedule-free-busy.docx
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UCL INFORMATION SERVICES DIVISION
IT FOR SLMS
Contents
1. Document Information ......................................................................................... 1
2. Document History ................................................................................................ 1
3
Introduction .......................................................................................................... 2
4
How to schedule free/tentative/busy/out of office calendar entries ...................... 2
5
Table: Understanding free/tentative/busy/out of office ......................................... 3
3 Introduction
This document covers how to mark entries in your live@UCL calendar using Outlook
2007 to indicate your availability.
You may wish to add an appointment or activity to your calendar that is for
information only and still want people to know that you are available for meetings.
By default, Outlook marks your activities as “Busy” – i.e. to others viewing your
Calendar you will appear to be unavailable. But you can change how an activity is
marked so that others can see whether are free, busy or out of the office.
4 How to schedule free/tentative/busy/out of office calendar
entries
1. In Calendar view, click on the New button to create a new appointment
2. Create a new appointment
3. In the Appointment tab, in the Options group, click on the box next to Show As
4. From the drop down list, you can choose from the following status items:




Free
Tentative
Busy
Out of Office
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UCL INFORMATION SERVICES DIVISION
IT FOR SLMS
Every item that is entered into your calendar has a status attached to it. This is
important whenother people view your calendar or look at your status for meeting
invitations.
5 Table: Understanding free/tentative/busy/out of office
The table below explains the meaning of each of these status options:
Option
“What it means”
How entry is marked
in your calendar
Free
You can schedule/accept other
appointments at this time
With a solid white block
on the left hand side
Tentative
You are unsure if this meeting will
go ahead (if you are the organiser)
or if you will attend (if you are
invited)
With diagonal lines
running down the left
hand side
Busy
You are unable to attend any other
appointments at this allocated time
With no block on the left
hand side
Out of office
You will be away at the allocated
time
With a solid burgundy
block on the left hand
side
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