|
Delegates
Access to Outlook mailboxes for
administrative assistants
Outlook makes it easy to give someone
limited access to your calendar, task list, inbox or
other mailbox folder. The owner of the mailbox has full
control through Outlook’s Delegates feature, and folder
permissions.
You don’t need to contact Exchange
Hosting Service to change these permissions. You can do
this at any time for any reason. Your changes take
effect immediately.
There are two different ways to grant
access to your mailbox folders. The recommended solution
is to use the Delegates feature, which is designed
specifically for administrative assistants.
Alternatively, you can manipulate folder permissions
directly.
This document will provide instructions
for both methods, discuss the pros and cons of each
approach, and discuss the Send As method for sending
messages under another person's name.
![]()
Delegates Feature Method
From the mailbox owner’s workstation,
start Outlook, go to the Tools menu, choose Options, and
click the Delegates tab. The following dialog will
appear.
On the Delegates tab in Outlook, you can
see all your delegates listed, and easily verify the
level of access each delegate has to each of your
folders. Click the Add button to add a
Delegate.
You can give your delegates various
levels of access to your calendar, and other folders.
The three basic levels are reviewer (can read items),
author (can read and create items), and editor (can
read, create and modify items). You control the
permissions separately for each delegate of course, and
you can also control the permissions separately for each
folder. Your delegate, for example, could have editor
permission on your calendar, reviewer permission on your
task list, and no access to your inbox. See the
illustration.
From the delegate’s workstation, to gain
access to the boss’ calendar:
- Start Outlook, go to the File menu,
choose Open Special Folder, and select Server
Folder.
- Type a portion of the boss’ name, or
choose it from the global address list by clicking the
Name button.
- Choose the folder you want to open,
such as Calendar. Click OK.
- The boss’ calendar will appear in a
new window (if you are a delegate).
Note the checkbox above that says
"Delegate receives copies of meeting-related messages
sent to me." This means that your delegate will receive
meeting invitations which were sent to you. Think about
that before you make everyone in your group a delegate.
A meeting request sent to one other person might get
copied to everybody.
![]()
The method detailed above is the
preferred method. Some people insist on doing it another
way, so we provide those instructions below. We
recommend you use the method shown above and skip this
next section. You don't need to do both, it's one or the
other.
![]()
Folder Permissions Method
From the mailbox owner’s workstation...
Start Outlook, go to the View menu, and
click Folder List, if necessary, so you can see the
folder list.
In order to give your
assistant permission to add your mailbox to a profile,
right-click the top-level icon labeled “Mailbox – Your
Name” and choose permissions. Click the Add button to
add the assistant. Give the assistant the “Reviewer”
role on the top-level mailbox folder.
Right-click the folder you want to
share, such as the Calendar, and choose
Properties.
Choose the Permissions tab. The
following dialog will appear.
Click the Add button, select the
assistant’s name and choose the appropriate role, such
as Editor.
Repeat this process for each folder you
want to share.
From the assistant’s workstation...
To add the boss’ mailbox to your
profile, you need to access the Advanced properties
dialog shown below. This dialog is accessed differently
in Outlook XP and Outlook 2000.
 |
In Outlook XP
- Go to the Tools menu and choose Options.
- Click the Mail Setup tab page.
- Click the Email Accounts button.
- Verify that View or change
existing email accounts is selected and click
the Next button.
- Verify that Microsoft Exchange
Server is selected and click the Change button.
- Click the More Settings button.
- Choose the Advanced tab page.
|
|
In Outlook 2000
- Go to the Tools menu and choose
Services.
- Choose Microsoft Exchange
Server in the list of services and choose
Properties.
- Choose the Advanced tab page.
|
In either Outlook XP or Outlook 2000 the
dialog will appear as below.
Click the Add button and type a portion
of the boss’ name in the box. Click OK three times to
return to Outlook. If you have the necessary
permissions, the new mailbox will appear in your folder
list, and you will be able to open some of the folders
in it (depending on permissions).
![]()
Pros and Cons:
The Delegates feature is easier to set
up, and easier to use. It summarizes all delegates and
their permissions in one convenient dialog box. The
delegates method gives you a separate window for each
boss' calendar, which many people prefer.
The folder permissions method makes it
possible for the assistant to add the boss’ entire
mailbox to his or her folder list, and access everything
in one window, which many people prefer.
Go figure.
![]()
Send As
If you are a delegate, one of the
permissions you may have is to send messages on someone
else's behalf.
Messages sent in this manner appear, for
the most part, to have come from the person who
delegated authority, not the person who sent the
message. However, the message will actually say it is
from "Jane Deaux on behalf of John Deaux." You may want
to do some testing to see if this adequately
misrepresents the actual sender of the
message.
To use this feature, first you need to
be a delegate with appropriate permissions. The details
are above. Then here's the trick. Click the New Message
button, and in the compose message form, click the View
menu, and choose to view the "From field." Type the
boss' name in the From field of the message send form.
See the illustration.
Note that you can not use the From field
to send messages from another user unless you have been
given Send As permission by the other
user. | 
