IT pros can use third-party tools to extend Microsoft Exchange into the room and equipment management and scheduling arena. However, in many cases, organizations simply need to be able to semi-automate the scheduling of equipment and conference rooms in order to mitigate the need for a person to be involved in the process.
In Exchange 2010, you can accomplish this task with the use of room and resource mailboxes. A mailbox in Exchange is associated with a user, and the user has an Active Directory domain account to which his mailbox is connected. Although room and resource mailboxes still rely on the use of an Active Directory domain account, when you create a room or resource mailbox, the underlying Active Directory account is disabled. You can associate another user account with the resource mailbox so that a person has some control over what could quickly become chaos.
Creating a resource mailbox – GUI
The first step in creating a resource mailbox is to open the Exchange Management Console and navigate to Recipient Configuration | Mailbox. To add a new resource mailbox, right-click the Mailbox option and choose New Mailbox from the shortcut menu. This opens the Introduction page. From this page, choose the Room Mailbox option.
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Screenshot by Scott Lowe for TechRepublic
How to create a resource mailbox in Exchange 2010
by Scott Lowe MCSE | November 24, 2010, 7:30am PST | Image 1 of 12
Choose the new mailbox type
Choose the new mailbox type - Image 1 of 12
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